45+ Musicals About War – The Full List
In honor of Veterans Day this year, I decided to put together a full list of musicals about war. The following list is broken down into five categories – “Musicals About WWI”, “Musicals About WWII”, “Musicals About Other Wars”, “Musicals About War in General”, and “Musicals About Conflicts & Uprisings”. Each category is sorted alphabetically.
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Musicals About WWI
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Joan Littlewood & Theatre Workshop
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1963)
Which War is Present: WWI
Music: Victor Young Lyrics/Book: Stella Unger Book: Victor Wolfson
Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)
Which War is Present: WWI
Musicals About WWII
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jay Kuo Book: Marc Acito, Lorenzo Thione
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: Duncan Sheik Lyrics/Book: Steven Sater Book: Jessie Nelson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music/Lyrics/Book: Richard Oberacker Lyrics/Book: Robert Taylor
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music/Lyrics/Book: Lionel Bart Book: Joan Maitland
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1962)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: Joe Masteroff
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1966)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: Stuart Brayson Lyrics: Tim Rice Book: Bill Oakes
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics: Dennis Green Lyrics/Book: Howard Ashman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1979)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: Michel Legrand Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer Lyrics/Book: Alain Boublil Book: Claude-Michel Schönberg, Jonathan Kent
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: George Fenton, Simon Chamberlain Lyrics: Don Black Book: Terry Johnson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music/Lyrics: Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman Book: Will Holt
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1974)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II Book: Joshua Logan
Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music/Lyrics: David Kirshenbaum Book: Hunter Foster
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music/Lyrics: Jerry Herman Book: Michael Stewart, Mark Bramble
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1978)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: Galt MacDermot Libretto: William Dumaresq
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1983)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II Book: Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music/Lyrics/Book: Pete Townshend Book: Des McAnuff
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1992)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin
Musical Type: Golden Age (1942)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: William Patrick Harrison Lyrics/Book: Maryhee Yoon, Cara Baldwin
Musical Type: Contemporary (2021)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: Scott Frankel Lyrics: Michael Korie Book: Doug Wright
Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)
Which War is Present: WWII
Music: Joseph Zellnik Lyrics/Book: David Zellnik
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Which War is Present: WWII
Musicals About Other Wars
Music: Michael J. Lewis Lyrics/Book: Anthony Burgess
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1973)
Which War is Present: The Thirty Years’ War
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Lorenz Hart Book: Herbert Fields
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1925)
Which War is Present: The American Revolutionary War
Music: Lucy Simon Lyrics: Michael Korie, Amy Powers Book: Michael Weller
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Which War is Present: The Russian Civil War
Music/Lyrics: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul Book: Peter Duchan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Which War is Present: The Vietnam War
Music/Book: Andrew Lippa Lyrics/Book: Tom Greenwald
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1995)
Which War is Present: The Vietnam War
Music/Lyrics: Billy Joel
Musical Type: Contemporary (2002)
Which War is Present: The Vietnam War
Music: Galt MacDermot Lyrics/Book: Gerome Ragni, James Rado
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1967)
Which War is Present: The Vietnam War
Music: Jason Howland Lyrics: Mindi Dickstein Book: Allan Knee
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Which War is Present: The American Civil War
Music/Lyrics/Book: Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss Book: Morton DaCosta
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1968)
Which War is Present: The American Civil War
Music/Book: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics/Book: Alain Boublil Lyrics: Edward Hardy, Stephen Clark
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1996)
Which War is Present: The French Wars of Religion
Music: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics: Alain Boublil, Richard Maltby, Jr.
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1989)
Which War is Present: The Vietnam War
Now is the Time for All Good Men
Music: Nancy Ford Lyrics/Book: Gretchen Cryer
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1967)
Which War is Present: The Vietnam War
Music: Gary Geld Lyrics/Book: Peter Udell Book: Philip Rose, James Lee Barrett
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1974)
Which War is Present: The American Civil War
Music/Book: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics: Jack Murphy Book: Gregory Boyd
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Which War is Present: The American Civil War
Music: Jerry Bock Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Sherman Yellen
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1970)
Which War is Present: The Napoleonic Wars
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics/Book: Nan Knighton
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Which War is Present: The French Revolution
Music/Book: James Valcq Lyrics/Book: Fred Alley
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Which War is Mentioned: The Vietnam War
Music/Lyrics: Tom Lehrer Adaptation: Cameron Mackintosh, Robin Ray
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1980)
Which War is Present: WW3 (Fictional)
Musicals About War in General
Music/Book: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Lorenz Hart
Musical Type: Golden Age (1942)
Which War is Present: Fictional
Music: Frederick Loewe Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1960)
Which War is Present: Fictional
Music: Kurt Weill Lyrics/Book: Maxwell Anderson
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1938)
Which War is Present: Fictional
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Book: Roger O. Hirson
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1972)
Which War is Present: Charlemagne’s Conquests
Music: George Gershwin Lyrics: Ira Gershwin Book: George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1927)
Which War is Present: Fictional
Music/Book: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics: John Dempsey Lyrics/Book: Alain Boublil, Richard Maltby, Jr.
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Which War is Present: Fictional
Music/Lyrics: Matt Sax Lyrics/Book: Eric Rosen
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Which War is Present: Fictional
Musicals About Conflicts & Uprisings
The following musicals feature a conflict or an uprising in the plot, such as a riot or revolution.
Music: Fatboy Slim Music/Lyrics: David Byrne
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Which Conflict is Present: 1970s riots in the Philippines
Music/Lyrics: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics: Alan Boublil, Herbert Kretzmer, Jean-Marc Natel
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1980)
Which Conflict is Present: The June Rebellion
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics/Book: Ben Elton
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Which Conflict is Present: The Troubles
Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics/Book: Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1926)
Which Conflict is Present: The 1925 Uprising of the Riffs in Morocco
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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.