Musicals of the 1990s – A Complete Ordered List
The musicals of the 1990s were big, epic, and full of surprises, just like the musicals of the 1980s. A few of the popular trends at the time included country music, Alan Menken, shows set in the 1800s, drama, comedy, pop/rock, musical revues, and Disney shows.
The 1990s mark the end of the pre-contemporary musical theatre time period. And the most notable musicals of the decade are included below.
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1990 Musicals
Assassins (1990)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: John Weidman
Copacabana (1990)
Music/Book: Barry Manilow Lyrics/Book: Bruce Sussman, Jack Feldman
Falsettoland (1990)
Music/Lyrics: William Finn Book: James Lapine
Five Guys Named Moe (1990)
Music/Lyrics: Louis Jordan Book: Clarke Peters
Jekyll & Hyde (1990)
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics: Wildhorn, Leslie Bricusse, Steve Cuden Book: Bricusse
Moby Dick (1990)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Robert Longden, Hereward Kay
Once on This Island (1990)
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics/Book: Lynn Ahrens
The Life (1990)
Music: Cy Coleman Lyrics: Ira Gasman Book: Coleman, Gasman, David Newman
1991 Musicals
And the World Goes ‘Round (1991)
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Children of Eden (1991)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Book: John Caird
Phantom (1991)
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Arthur Kopit
Sunset Boulevard (1991)
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
The Secret Garden (1991)
Music: Lucy Simon Book/Lyrics: Marsha Norman
The Will Rogers Follies (1991)
Music: Cy Coleman Lyrics: Betty Comden, Adolph Green Book: Peter Stone
1992 Musicals
Crazy for You (1992)
Music: George Gershwin Lyrics: Ira Gershwin Book: Ken Ludwig
Falsettos (1992)
Music/Lyrics/Book: William Finn Book: James Lapine
Hot Shoe Shuffle (1992)
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Larry Buttrose, Kathryn Riding
Jelly’s Last Jam (1992)
Music: Jelly Roll Morton, Luther Henderson Lyrics: Susan Birkenhead Book: George C. Wolfe
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992)
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: Terrence McNally
My Favorite Year (1992)
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Book: Joseph Dougherty
Nunsense II (1992)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Dan Goggin
Putting It Together (1992)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Stephen Sondheim, Julia McKenzie
Ruthless! (1992)
Music: Marvin Laird Lyrics/Book: Joel Paley
Scrooge (1992)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Leslie Bricusse
The Who’s Tommy (1992)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Pete Townshend Book: Des McAnuff
Weird Romance (1992)
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics: David Spencer Book: Alan Brennert
Wings (1992)
Music: Jeffrey Lunden Lyrics/Book: Arthur Perlman
1993 Musicals
A Grand Night for Singing (1993)
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II Book: Walter Bobbie
Annie Warbucks (1993)
Music: Charles Strouse Lyrics: Martin Charnin Book: Thomas Meehan
First Lady Suite (1993)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
Honk! (1993)
Music: George Stiles Book/Lyrics: Anthony Drewe
Moll Flanders (1993)
Music: George Stiles Lyrics: Paul Leigh Book: Claire Luckham
Schoolhouse Rock Live! (1993)
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Keating, Ferguson, Hall
The Fields of Ambrosia (1993)
Music: Martin Silvestri Lyrics/Book: Joel Higgins
The Goodbye Girl (1993)
Music: Marvin Hamlisch Lyrics: David Zippel Book: Neil Simon
Whoop-Dee-Doo! (1993)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Crabtree, Cantanese, Waldrop, Gallagher, George, Morris
Zombie Prom (1993)
Music: Dana P. Rowe Lyrics/Book: John Dempsey
1994 Musicals
A Christmas Carol (1994)
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics/Book: Lynn Ahrens Book: Mike Ockrent
Beauty and the Beast (1994)
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics: Howard Ashman, Tim Rice Book: Linda Woolverton
Floyd Collins (1994)
Music/Lyrics: Adam Guettel Book: Tina Landau
Hello Again (1994)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1994)
Music: Mel Marvin Lyrics/Book: Timothy Mason
Passion (1994)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: James Lapine
Smokey Joe’s Cafe (1994)
Music/Lyrics: Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
1995 Musicals
Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk (1995)
Music: Waters, Mark, Duquesnay Lyrics: Gaines, Wolfe, Duquesnay Book: Gaines
Jane Eyre (1995)
Music/Lyrics: Paul Gordon Book: John Caird
John & Jen (1995)
Music: Andrew Lippa Lyrics: Tom Greenwald Book: Lippa, Greenwald
Jolson (1995)
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Francis Essex, Rob Bettinson
Nunsense Jamboree (1995)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Dan Goggin
Songs for a New World (1995)
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown
Victor/Victoria (1995)
Music: Henry Mancini, Frank Wildhorn Lyrics: Leslie Bricusse, Wildhorn Book: Blake Edwards
1996 Musicals
Big (1996)
Music: David Shire Lyrics: Richard Maltby Jr. Book: John Weidman
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (1996)
Music: Jimmy Roberts Lyrics/Book: Joe DiPietro
Kat and the Kings (1996)
Music: Taliep Petersen Lyrics/Book: David Kramer
Martin Guerre (1996)
Music: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics: Boublil, Hardy, Clark Book: Schönberg, Boublil
Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure (1996)
Music: George Stiles Lyrics: Anthony Drewe Book: Willis Hall
Play On! (1996)
Music/Lyrics: Duke Ellington/Various Book: Cheryl L. West
Ragtime (1996)
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Book: Terrence McNally
Rent (1996)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jonathan Larson
State Fair (1996)
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II Book: Tom Briggs, Louis Mattioli
When Pigs Fly (1996)
Music/Lyrics: Dick Gallagher, Mark Waldrop Book: Howard Crabtree, Waldrop
Whistle Down the Wind (1996)
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Jim Steinman Book: Patricia Knop, Webber, Gale Edwards
1997 Musicals
Amour (1997)
Music: Michel Legrand Lyrics/Book: Jeremy Sams, Didier Van Cauwelaert
Bat Boy (1997)
Music/Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe Book: Keythe Farley, Brian Flemming
High Society (1997)
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter, Susan Birkenhead Book: Arthur Kopit
Lucky in the Rain (1997)
Music: Jimmy McHugh Lyrics: Dorothy Fields, Harold Adamson
Saturday Night (1997)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
Side Show (1997)
Music: Henry Krieger Lyrics/Book: Bill Russell
Steel Pier (1997)
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: David Thompson
The Fix (1997)
Music: Dana P. Rowe Lyrics/Book: John Dempsey
The Last Session (1997)
Music: Steve Schalchlin Lyrics: Schalchlin, John Bettis, Marie Cain Book: Jim Brochu
The Lion King (1997)
Music: Elton John Lyrics: Tim Rice Book: Rodger Allers, Irene Mecchi
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1997)
Music: Frank Wildhorn Book/Lyrics: Nan Knighton
The Wild Party (1997)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Andrew Lippa
Titanic (1997)
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Peter Stone
Triumph of Love (1997)
Music: Jeffrey Stock Lyrics: Susan Birkenhead Book: James Magruder
Violet (1997)
Music: Jeanine Tesori Lyrics/Book: Brian Crawley
1998 Musicals
A New Brain (1998)
Music/Lyrics/Book: William Finn Book: James Lapine
Aida (1998)
Music: Elton John Lyrics: Tim Rice Book: Woolverton, Falls, Hwang
Boogie Nights (1998)
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Jon Conway
Doctor Dolittle (1998)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Leslie Bricusse
Footloose (1998)
Music: Tom Snow Lyrics: Dean Pitchford Book: Dean Pitchford, Walter Bobbie
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (1998)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Trask Book: John Cameron Mitchell
Myths & Hymns (1998)
Music/Lyrics: Adam Guettel
Nuncrackers (1998)
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Nunsense A-Men! (1998)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Dan Goggin
Parade (1998)
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown Book: Alfred Uhry
Reefer Madness (1998)
Music: Dan Studney Lyrics/Book: Kevin Murphy
Saturday Night Fever (1998)
Music/Lyrics: BeeGees, Others Book: Knighton, Phillips, Nicholas, Stigwood
Spend Spend Spend (1998)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Steve Brown, Justin Greene
The Boy from Oz (1998)
Music/Lyrics: Peter Allen Book: Nick Enright, Martin Sherman
The Civil War (1998)
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics: Jack Murphy Book: Gregory Boyd, Wildhorn
The Drowsy Chaperone (1998)
Music/Lyrics: Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison Book: Bob Martin, Don McKellar
1999 Musicals
Contact (1999)
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: John Weidman
Fosse (1999)
Music/Lyrics: Various
It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues (1999)
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Bevel, Gaithers, Myler, Taylor, Wheetman
Mamma Mia! (1999)
Music/Lyrics: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus Book: Catherine Johnson
Marie Christine (1999)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
Naked Boys Singing! (1999)
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Robert Schrock
Swing! (1999)
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: Paul Kelly
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1999)
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Book: Lapine, Parnell
The Marvelous Wonderettes (1999)
Music: Various Book: Roger Bean
Other Decades
• Golden Age Musicals (1940 – 1959)
• Post-Golden Age Musicals (1960 – 1969)
• Musicals of the 1990s → You are here!
Want a weekly list of stagey surprises?!
Which of these musicals of the 1990s is your favorite?
Or have you ever played a role in any of these 1990s musicals? Feel free to share 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.
