Golden Age Musicals

Golden Age musicals were a defining part of popular culture, featuring romantic comedies, big dance numbers, and feel-good plots. Spanning the 1940s and 1950s, this era shaped the landscape of musical theatre. This page lists musicals that premiered during these decades.

Musicals by Year

1940 Musicals

Cabin in the Sky

Musical Type: Golden Age (1940)

Creators: Vernon Duke, John La Touche, and Lynn Root

Louisiana Purchase

Musical Type: Golden Age (1940)

Creators: Irving Berlin and Morrie Ryskind

Pal Joey

Musical Type: Golden Age (1940)

Creators: Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and John O’Hara

Panama Hattie

Musical Type: Golden Age (1940)

Creators: Cole Porter, Herbert Fields, and Buddy DeSylva

1941 Musicals

Best Foot Forward

Musical Type: Golden Age (1941)

Creators: Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane, and John Cecil Holm

Lady in the Dark

Musical Type: Golden Age (1941)

Creators: Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin, and Moss Hart

1942 Musicals

By Jupiter

Musical Type: Golden Age (1942)

Creators: Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

This Is the Army

Musical Type: Golden Age (1942)

Creators: Irving Berlin

1943 Musicals

Carmen Jones

Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)

Creators: Georges Bizet and Oscar Hammerstein II

Oklahoma!

Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)

Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

One Touch of Venus

Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)

Creators: Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash, and S.J. Perelman

Something for the Boys

Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)

Creators: Cole Porter, Herbert Fields, and Dorothy Fields

1944 Musicals

Bloomer Girl

Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)

Creators: Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, Sig Herzig, and Fred Saidy

Mexican Hayride

Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)

Creators: Cole Porter, Herbert Fields, and Dorothy Fields

On the Town

Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)

Creators: Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green

Song of Norway

Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)

Creators: Edvard Grieg, Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Milton Lazarus

1945 Musicals

Carousel

Musical Type: Golden Age (1945)

Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

1946 Musicals

Annie Get Your Gun

Musical Type: Golden Age (1946)

Creators: Irving Berlin, Dorothy Fields, and Herbert Fields

Call Me Mister

Musical Type: Golden Age (1946)

Creators: Harold Rome and Arnold Auerbach

Pacific 1860

Musical Type: Golden Age (1946)

Creators: Noël Coward

St. Louis Woman

Musical Type: Golden Age (1946)

Creators: Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Arna Bontemps, and Countee Cullen

1947 Musicals

Allegro

Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)

Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

Brigadoon

Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)

Creators: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner

Finian’s Rainbow

Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)

Creators: Burton Lane, Yip Harburg, and Fred Saidy

High Button Shoes

Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)

Creators: Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn, and Stephen Longstreet

Street Scene

Musical Type: Opera (1947)

Creators: Kurt Weill, Langston Hughes, and Elmer Rice

1948 Musicals

Kiss Me, Kate

Musical Type: Golden Age (1948)

Creators: Cole Porter, Bella Spewack, and Samuel Spewack

Look Ma, I’m Dancin’!

Musical Type: Golden Age (1948)

Creators: Hugh Martin, Jerome Lawrence, and Robert E. Lee

Magdalena

Musical Type: Golden Age (1948)

Creators: Heitor Villa-Lobos, Robert Wright, George Forrest, Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, and Homer Curran

Where’s Charley?

Musical Type: Golden Age (1948)

Creators: Frank Loesser and George Abbott

1949 Musicals

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)

Creators: Jule Styne, Leo Robin, Joseph Fields, and Anita Loos

Lost in the Stars

Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)

Creators: Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson

Miss Liberty

Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)

Creators: Irving Berlin and Robert E. Sherwood

South Pacific

Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)

Creators: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan

Texas, Li’l Darlin’

Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)

Creators: Robert Emmett Dolan, Johnny Mercer, John Whedon, and Sam Moore

1950 Musicals

Call Me Madam

Musical Type: Golden Age (1950)

Creators: Irving Berlin, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse

Guys and Dolls

Musical Type: Golden Age (1950)

Creators: Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling, and Abe Burrows

Out of This World

Musical Type: Golden Age (1950)

Creators: Cole Porter, Dwight Taylor, and Reginald Lawrence

1951 Musicals

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Creators: Arthur Schwartz, Dorothy Fields, George Abbott, and Betty Smith

Flahooley

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Creators: Sammy Fain, Yip Harburg, and Fred Saidy

Paint Your Wagon

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Creators: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner

Seventeen

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Creators: Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, and Sally Benson

The King and I

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

Top Banana

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Creators: Johnny Mercer and Hy Kraft

Two on the Aisle

Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)

Creators: Jule Styne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green

1952 Musicals

Hans Christian Andersen

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

Creators: Frank Loesser, John Fearnley, Beverly Cross, and Tommy Steele

New Faces of 1952

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

Creators: Various Artists

Three Wishes for Jamie

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

Creators: Ralph Blane, Charles O’Neal, and Abe Burrows

Two’s Company

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

Creators: Vernon Duke, Ogden Nash, Sammy Cahn, Charles Sherman, and Peter DeVries

Wish You Were Here

Musical Type: Golden Age (1952)

Creators: Harold Rome, Arthur Kober, and Joshua Logan

1953 Musicals

Can-Can

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Creators: Cole Porter and Abe Burrows

Hazel Flagg

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Creators: Jule Styne, Bob Hilliard, and Ben Hecht

Kismet

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Creators: Alexander Borodin, Robert Wright, George Forrest, Charles Lederer, and Luther Davis

Me and Juliet

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

The Boy Friend

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Creators: Sandy Wilson

Wonderful Town

Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)

Creators: Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Joseph Fields, and Jerome Chodorov

1954 Musicals

By the Beautiful Sea

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Creators: Arthur Schwartz, Dorothy Fields, and Herbert Fields

Fanny

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Creators: Harold Rome, S.N. Behrman, and Joshua Logan

House of Flowers

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Creators: Harold Arlen and Truman Capote

Peter Pan

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Creators: Moose Charlap, Jule Styne, Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and J.M. Barrie

Salad Days

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Creators: Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds

The Girl in Pink Tights

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Creators: Sigmund Romberg, Leo Robin, Jerome Chodorov, and Joseph Fields

The Golden Apple

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Creators: Jerome Moross and John La Touche

The Pajama Game

Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)

Creators: Richard Adler, Jerry Ross, George Abbott, and Richard Bissell

1955 Musicals

Ankles Aweigh

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Creators: Sammy Fain, Dan Shapiro, Guy Bolton, and Eddie Davis

Damn Yankees

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Creators: Richard Adler, Jerry Ross, George Abbott, and Douglass Wallop

Pipe Dream

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

Plain and Fancy

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Creators: Albert Hague, Arnold Horwitt, Joseph Stein, and Will Glickman

Saturday Night

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955) / Late 20th Century (1997)

Creators: Stephen Sondheim and Julius J. Epstein

Seventh Heaven

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Creators: Victor Young, Stella Unger, and Victor Wolfson

Silk Stockings

Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)

Creators: Cole Porter, George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, and Abe Burrows