60+ Legit Musicals – The Full List of Shows
These legit musicals feature scores that incorporate classically trained singing, often with lyrical melodies, clear tone, and room for vibrato. The list is sorted by time period and includes shows where legit vocal style shapes all or part of the music.
On This Page:
Golden/Post-Golden Age Musicals (1940s–1960s)
Late 20th Century Musicals (1970s–1990s)
Contemporary Musicals (2000s–Current)
Pre-1940 Legit Musicals
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1925)
Creators: Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and Herbert Fields
Music Genre: Operetta
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1929)
Creators: Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, Elisabeth Hauptmann, and Michael Feingold
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1938)
Creators: Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson
Music Genre: Operetta
Musical Type: Opera (1935)
Creators: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Dorothy Heyward
Music Genres: Blues / Jazz / Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1933)
Creators: Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1920)
Creators: Jerome Kern, Clifford Grey, Guy Bolton, Victor Herbert, Anne Caldwell, Buddy DeSylva, and P.G. Wodehouse
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1927)
Creators: Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II
Music Genres: Blues / Jazz / Musical Theatre / Operetta
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1922)
Creators: Jerome Kern, George Grossmith, Jr., and P.G. Wodehouse
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1926)
Creators: Sigmund Romberg, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Frank Mandel
Music Genre: Operetta
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1927)
Creators: Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab
Music Genre: Operetta
Musical Type: Opera (1879)
Creators: Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1932)
Creators: Vincent Youmans, Edward Heyman, and Brian Hooker
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Operetta
Golden / Post-Golden Age Musicals
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1963)
Creators: Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones, and N. Richard Nash
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)
Creators: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1960)
Creators: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)
Creators: Leonard Bernstein, Richard Wilbur, John La Touche, Stephen Sondheim, Dorothy Parker, John Caird, Hugh Wheeler, and Lillian Hellman
Music Genre: Operetta
Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)
Creators: Georges Bizet and Oscar Hammerstein II
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Golden Age (1945)
Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1961)
Creators: Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Peter Stone
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Operetta
Musical Type: Golden Age (1941)
Creators: Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin, and Moss Hart
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Operetta
Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)
Creators: Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson
Music Genres: Blues / Opera
Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)
Creators: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)
Creators: Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash, and S.J. Perelman
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Creators: Ron Grainer and Ronald Millar
Music Genre: Operetta
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1963)
Creators: Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joe Masteroff
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)
Creators: Edvard Grieg, Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Milton Lazarus
Music Genre: Operetta
Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)
Creators: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Opera (1947)
Creators: Kurt Weill, Langston Hughes, and Elmer Rice
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1961)
Creators: Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz, Fay Kanin, and Michael Kanin
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Operetta
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1963)
Creators: Noël Coward and Harry Kurnitz
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1961)
Creators: Jacques Offenbach, Yip Harburg, Fred Saidy, and Henry Mayers
Music Genre: Operetta
Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)
Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Creators: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Golden Age (1957)
Creators: Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents
Music Genres: Classical / Jazz / Latin / Musical Theatre
Late 20th Century Musicals
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1976)
Creators: Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1973)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Operetta
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1989)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, and Charles Hart
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1982)
Creators: Gerald Jay Markoe and Michael Colby
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1973)
Creators: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1985)
Creators: Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon
Music Genre: Classical
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1995)
Creators: Paul Gordon and John Caird
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1999)
Creators: Michael John LaChiusa
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1978)
Creators: Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green
Music Genres: Jazz / Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1994)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1991)
Creators: Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1984)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1986)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1991)
Creators: Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1975)
Creators: John Williams, James Harbert, and Edward Anhalt
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1997)
Creators: Maury Yeston and Peter Stone
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1992)
Creators: Jeffrey Lunden and Arthur Perlman
Music Genres: Classical / Experimental
Contemporary Legit Musicals
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Creators: Joshua Schmidt, Jan Levy Tranen, and Austin Pendleton
Music Genres: Classical / Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Creators: Jill Santoriello
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2023)
Creators: Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas
Music Genres: Jazz / Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Creators: Maury Yeston, Peter Stone, and Thomas Meehan
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Creators: Lucy Simon, Michael Korie, Amy Powers, and Michael Weller
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Creators: Scott Frankel, Michael Korie, Richard Greenberg
Music Genres: Jazz / Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Creators: Scott Frankel, Michael Korie, and Doug Wright
Music Genres: Jazz / Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater, Ben Elton, and Frederick Forsyth
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Creators: Kurt Weill, Alfred Uhry, and Others
Music Genres: Musical Theatre / Opera
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Creators: Ricky Ian Gordon and Richard Nelson
Music Genres: Classical / Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Creators: Michael John LaChiusa
Music Genre: Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Creators: Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman
Music Genres: Classical / Country / Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Creators: Peter Rutherford and James Millar
Music Genres: Classical / Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Creators: Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas
Music Genres: Classical / Musical Theatre
Musical Type: Contemporary (2004)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Zippel, and Charlotte Jones
Music Genres: Classical / Musical Theatre