27+ Musicals About History – The Full List of Shows
Let’s take a historical musical journey into the past! Below you’ll discover a full list of powerful and thought-provoking musicals about history, sorted alphabetically. These musicals center more around historical stories about larger groups of people. If that’s not what you’re looking for, here’s are lists of musicals based on true stories and biographies.
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Musicals About History
Music/Lyrics: Sherman Edwards Book: Peter Stone
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1969)
What It’s Based On: The Signing of the Declaration of Independence
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jay Kuo Book: Marc Acito, Lorenzo Thione
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
What It’s Based On: WWII/Internment of Japanese Americans
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: John Weidman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1990)
What It’s Based On: The Attempted Assassinations of Past Presidents
Music: Mark Sandrich, Jr. Lyrics/Book: Sidney Michaels Additional Songs: Jerry Herman
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
What It’s Based On: Benjamin Franklin’s Trip to France
Music/Lyrics: Michael Friedman Book: Alex Timbers
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
What It’s Based On: The Life and Presidency of Andrew Jackson
Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk
Music/Lyrics/Book: Daryl Waters, Ann Duquesnay, Zane Mark, George C. Wolfe, Reg E. Gaines
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1995)
What It’s About: Black History
Music/Lyrics/Book: Paul Hodge Book: Michael Hodge
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
What It’s Based On: The Presidency of Bill Clinton
Music/Lyrics/Book: Irene Sankoff, David Hein
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
What It’s Based On: The Town of Gander on September 11, 2001
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Lorenz Hart Book: Herbert Fields
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1925)
What It’s Based On: American Revolutionary War/Mary Lindley Murray
Music/Lyrics: David Bryan Lyrics/Book: Joe DiPietro
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
What It’s Based On: The Life of Diana, Princess of Wales
Music/Lyrics: Micki Grant
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1971)
What It’s About: Black Experience Throughout the 20th Century
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Tim Rice
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
What It’s Based On: Eva Perón’s Life and Legacy
Music/Lyrics: Michael John La Chiusa
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
What It’s Loosely Based On: First Daughters Throughout History
Music/Lyrics/Book: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
What It’s Based On: The Life of Alexander Hamilton
Music: David Arnold Lyrics: Richard Thomas Book: Richard Bean
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
What It’s Based On: The 1968 Ford Sewing Machinists Strike
Music/Lyrics/Book: Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss Book: Morton DaCosta
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1968)
What It’s Based On: The New York Draft Riots of 1863
Music: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics: Alain Boublil, Richard Maltby, Jr.
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1989)
What It’s Based On: Relationships During the Vietnam War
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics: Jack Feldman Book: Harvey Fierstein
Musical Type: 1992 Film/Contemporary Musical (2011)
What It’s Based On: The 1899 Newsboys Strike in NYC
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: John Weidman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
What It’s Based On: Japan’s Westernization
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown Book: Alfred Uhry
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
What It’s Based On: Leo Frank’s 1913 Trial
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Book: Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1996)
What It’s Based On: Early-Twentieth-Century America
Music/Lyrics/Book: Mbongeni Ngema Music/Lyrics: Hugh Masekela
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1987)
What It’s Loosely Based On: The Soweto Uprising in South Africa
Music/Lyrics/Book: Toby Marlow, Lucy Moss
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
What It’s Based On: The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
What It’s Based On: The 1963 Profumo Affair
Music/Book: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics: Jack Murphy Book: Gregory Boyd
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
What It’s Based On: The American Civil War
Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics/Book: Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1926)
What It’s Based On: The 1925 Uprising in Morocco
Music/Lyrics: John Kander, Fred Ebb Book: David Thompson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
What It’s Based On: The Scottsboro Boys Trial
Music/Lyrics/Book: Max Vernon
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
What It’s Based On: The 1973 Attack at the UpStairs Lounge
Music: John Williams Lyrics: James Harbert Book: Edward Anhalt
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1975)
What It’s Based On: Thomas Becket and Henry II
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Peter Stone
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
What It’s Based On: The RMS Titanic
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Do you know of any other great musicals about history?
Or have you seen/listened to any of the musicals about history above? Let us know in the comments below! And if you like these types of lists, check out the musical database. That’s where you’ll find musicals sorted by composer, theme, setting, and more!
Author: Stacy Karyn
Stacy Karyn is the founder of Theatre Trip, author of The Thespian’s Bucket List, and creator of The Cast Album List. She holds a BA in theatre, a TESOL drama certificate, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.