50+ Fascinating Musicals Based on True Stories
Do you ever watch or listen to a musical and wonder whether it was based on something that really happened? Well you’re in luck! Here’s a full list of all of the musicals based on true stories from every decade.
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Jazz Age Musicals (1920-1939)
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Lorenz Hart Book: Herbert Fields
Musical Type: Jazz Age/Operetta (1925)
What It’s Based On: American Revolutionary War/Mary Lindley Murray
Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics/Book: Otto Harbach Book: Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel
Musical Type: Jazz Age/Operetta (1926)
What It’s Based On: The 1925 uprising in Morocco
Golden Age Musicals (1940-1959)
Music: Jerry Bock Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Jerome Weidman, George Abbott
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Who It’s Based On: Fiorello La Guardia
Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics/Book: Dorothy Fields Book: Herbert Fields
Musical Type: Golden Age (1945)
What It’s Based On: NYC’s Boss Tweed era
Post-Golden Age Musicals (1960s)
Music: André Previn Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1969)
Who It’s Based On: Coco Chanel
Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Bob Merrill Book: Isobel Lennart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Who It’s Based On: Fanny Brice
Music/Lyrics: George M. Cohan Lyrics: Mary Cohan Book: Michael Stewart, John Pascal, Francine Pascal
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1968)
Who It’s Based On: George M. Cohan
Music: Arthur Schwartz Lyrics: Howard Dietz Book: Arnold Schulman
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1963)
Who It’s Based On: Jennie Malone and James O’Connor
Music: Bill Jacob Lyrics: Patti Jacob Book: Melville Shavelson
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1969)
Who It’s Based On: NYC Mayor Jimmy Walker
Music/Lyrics: 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
1970s Musicals
Music: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
What It’s Based On: The White House between 1800-1900
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Tim Rice
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Who It’s Based On: Eva Perón
Music: Larry Grossman Lyrics: Hal Hackady Book: Sidney Michaels
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1975)
Who It’s Based On: Joan of Arc/The Dauphin of France
Music: Larry Grossman Lyrics: Hal Hackady Book: Arthur Marx, Robert Fisher
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1970)
Who It’s Based On: Minnie Marx/Thee Marx Brothers
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Sherman Yellen
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Who It’s Based On: King Henry VIII
Music: Marvin Hamlisch Lyrics: Carole Bayer Sager Book: Neil Simon
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1978)
Who It’s Based On: Carole Bayer Sager and Marvin Hamlisch
Music: John Williams Lyrics: James Harbert Book: Edward Anhalt
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1975)
Who It’s Based On: Thomas Becket and Henry II
1980s Musicals
Music: Cy Coleman Lyrics: Michael Stewart Book: Mark Bramble
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1980)
Who It’s Based On: P. T. Barnum
Music: Henry Krieger Lyrics/Book: Tom Eyen
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1981)
What It’s Based On: R&B success stories of the 1960s/70s
Music/Lyrics: Charles Strouse Book: Warren Leight
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary/Revue (1985)
Who It’s Based On: NYC Mayor Ed Koch
Music/Lyrics/Book: Mbongeni Ngema Music/Lyrics: Hugh Masakela
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1987)l
What It’s Loosely Based On: The Soweto Uprising in South Africa
Music/Lyrics/Book: David Heneker, Warner Brown
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1980)
What It’s Based On: The Silent Film Era
Music: Michael Cohen Lyrics/Book: Enid Futterman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1985)
What It’s Based On: The Diary of Anne Frank
1990s Musicals
Music/Lyrics/Book: William Finn Book: James Lapine
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
What It’s Based On: William Finn’s experiences
Music/Lyrics: Adam Guettel Book: Tina Landau
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1994)
What It’s Based On: The death of Floyd Collins
Music: Jelly Roll Morton, Luther Henderson Lyrics: Susan Birkenhead Book: George C. Wolfe
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1992)
Who It’s Based On: Jelly Roll Morton
Music: Taliep Petersen Lyrics/Book: David Kramer
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1996)
What It’s Based On: The memories of Salie Daniels
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown Book: Alfred Uhry
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
What It’s Based On: Leo Frank’s 1913 Trial
Music: Henry Krieger Lyrics/Book: Bill Russell
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Who It’s Based On: Daisy and Violet Hilton
Music/Lyrics/Book: Steve Brown, Justin Greene
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Who It’s Loosely Based On: Viv Nicholson
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Peter Stone
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
What It’s Based On: The RMS Titanic
Music: Cy Coleman Lyrics: Betty Comden, Adolph Green Book: Peter Stone
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1991)
Who It’s Based On: Will Rogers
2000s Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
What It’s Based On: “What I Did For Love” from This American Life
Music/Lyrics: Edward Kleban Book: Linda Kline, Lonny Price
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Who It’s Based On: Edward Kleban
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jay Kuo Book: Marc Acito, Lorenzo Thione
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
What It’s Based On: George Takei’s experiences
Music/Lyrics/Book: Christopher Smith Book: Arthur Giron
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Who It’s Based On: John Newton
Music/Lyrics/Book: Christopher Curtis Book: Thomas Meehan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Who It’s Based On: Charlie Chaplin
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, post 9/11
Music/Lyrics/Book: David Bryan, Joe DiPietro
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Who It’s Based On: Diana, Princess of Wales
Music: Scott Frankel Lyrics: Michael Korie Book: Doug Wright
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Who It’s Based On: Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith Bouvier Beale
Music/Lyrics/Book: Scott Brown, Anthony King
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Who It’s (Loosely) Based On: Johannes Gutenberg
Music/Lyrics/Book: Grace McLean
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Who It’s Based On: Hildegard von Bingen
Music/Lyrics/Book: Sam Kenyon
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
What It’s Based On: Joan Littlewood/Theatre Workshop
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jonathan Christenson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Who It’s Based On: Edgar Allan Poe
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Who It’s Based On: Annie Edson Taylor
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: John Weidman
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Who It’s Based On: Addison and Wilson Mizner
Music: David Pomeranz, David Friedman Lyrics/Book: Kathie Lee Gifford
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Who It’s Based On: Aimee Semple McPherson
Music/Lyrics/Book: Toby Marlow, Lucy Moss
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
Who It’s Based On: The six wives of Henry VIII
Music/Lyrics/Book: Matt Dahan, Kelly Lynne D’Angelo
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Who It’s Based On: Theo and Vincent van Gogh
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
What It’s Based On: The 1963 Profumo affair
Music/Lyrics/Book: Peter C. Mills Book: Cara Reichel
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
What It’s Based On: The telephone operators during WWI
Music: Steven M. Alper Lyrics: Sarah Knapp Book: Mark Harelik
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Who It’s Based On: Haskell Harelik
Music: John Kander Lyrics: 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/Lyrics/Book: Matt Gould, Griffin Matthews
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
What It’s Based On: Matthews and Gould’s experiences
2020s Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Neil Diamond Book: Anthony McCarten
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2022)
Who It’s Based On: Neil Diamond
Music/Lyrics: Bob Marley Book: Lee Hall
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2021)
Who It’s Based On: Bob Marley
Music/Lyrics/Book: Nick Blaemire, Van Hughes
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Who It’s Based On: Space Dog Laika
Music/Lyrics/Book: Maryhee Yoon, Cara Baldwin
Musical Type: Contemporary (2021)
Music/Lyrics: Ari Afsar Book: Lauren M. Gunderson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2020)
Who It’s Based On: Jeannette Rankin
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Do you know of any other great musicals based on true stories?
Or have you seen/listened to any of the musicals based on true stories 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 has a TESOL drama certificate, a BA in theatre, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.