50+ Musicals Set in France – The Full List of Shows
Whether you’re doing some research, putting on a show, or simply looking for new musicals to get into, it’s good to get familiar with what’s out there. And that’s why we’ve put together this list for you! A full list of musicals set in France are included below.
The following list is broken down into two categories – “Musicals Fully Set in France” and “Musicals Partially Set in France”. Each category is sorted alphabetically.
Please note: This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase through one of the following links, we may earn a small commission on the sale at no additional cost to you. See our disclosure for more info.
Musicals Fully Set in France
Music/Lyrics: Daniel Messé Lyrics: Nathan Tysen Book: Craig Lucas
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music: Michel Legrand Lyrics/Book: Didier van Cauwelaert, Jeremy Sams
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin Book: Craig Lucas
Musical Type: 1951 Film/Contemporary Musical (2014)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: David Zippel Book: Emerald Fennell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2021)
Setting: France
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics: Howard Ashman, Tim Rice Book: Linda Woolverton
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1994)
Setting: France
Music/Lyrics: Various
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1985)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Abe Burrows
Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: Bob Merrill Book: Michael Stewart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1961)
Setting: France
Music: André Previn Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1969)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music: Michael J. Lewis Lyrics/Book: Anthony Burgess
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1973)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: Jerry Herman Book: Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1969)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: David Yazbek Book: Jeffrey Lane
Musical Type: Contemporary (2004)
Setting: France (French Riviera)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Sandy Wilson
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1965)
Setting: France (Nice/French Riviera)
Music/Lyrics: Harold Rome Book: S.N. Behrman, Joshua Logan
Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)
Setting: France (Marseille)
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Herbert Fields
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1929)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music: Frederick Loewe Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1973)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music: Larry Grossman Lyrics: Hal Hackady Book: Sidney Michaels
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1975)
Setting: France
Music: Marguerite Monnot Lyrics/Book: Alexandre Breffort
Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: Jerry Herman Book: Harvey Fierstein
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1983)
Setting: France (Saint-Tropez)
Music/Lyrics: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics: Alan Boublil, Herbert Kretzmer, Jean-Marc Natel
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1980)
Setting: France
Music: Jimmy McHugh Lyrics: Dorothy Fields, Harold Adamson Book: Sherman Yellen
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music: Michel Legrand Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer Lyrics/Book: Alain Boublil Book: Claude-Michel Schönberg, Jonathan Kent
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Book: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics/Book: Alain Boublil Lyrics: Edward Hardy, Stephen Clark
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1996)
Setting: France (Artigat)
Music/Lyrics: Various Book: John Logan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: Ricky Ian Gordon Lyrics/Book: Richard Nelson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Arthur Kopit
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1991)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Sherman Yellen
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Setting: France (Calais)
Music: Victor Young Lyrics/Book: Stella Unger Book: Victor Wolfson
Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Book: Joseph Stein
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Setting: France
Music/Lyrics/Book: Sandy Wilson
Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)
Setting: France (French Riviera)
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics/Book: Jack Murphy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)
Setting: France
Music/Lyrics: Jerry Herman Book: Michael Stewart, Mark Bramble
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1978)
Setting: France (Paris/St. Nazaire)
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Book: James Lapine, Peter Parnell
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1999)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Charles Hart Lyrics/Book: Richard Stilgoe
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1986)
Setting: France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Rowland Leigh, Paul Lazarus
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1938)
Setting: France (Paris)
Musicals Partially Set in France
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jill Santoriello
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Setting: England (London) / France
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Book: Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)
Setting: France (Paris) / Russia
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Don Black, Charles Hart
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1989)
Setting: France / Italy
Music: Mark Sandrich, Jr. Lyrics/Book: Sidney Michaels Additional Songs: Jerry Herman
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Setting: France / USA (New Jersey)
Music/Lyrics: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics: Richard Wilbur, John Latouche, Stephen Sondheim*, Dorothy Parker Book: John Caird*, Hugh Wheeler*, Lillian Hellman
* Writers who worked on the 1974/1999 revivals of the show
Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)
Setting: France (Paris), / Italy / Spain / Uruguay
Music/Lyrics: Richard Taylor Book: Rachel Wagstaff
Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)
Setting: England (London) / France (Paris)
Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Leo Robin Book: Joseph Fields, Anita Loos
Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)
Setting: France (Paris) / USA (NYC) / At Sea
Music: Elton John Lyrics: Bernie Taupin Book: Linda Woolverton
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Setting: France (Paris) / USA
Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Leo Robin, Adolph Green, Betty Comden Book: Anita Loos, Joseph Fields, Kenny Solms, Gail Parent
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1974)
Setting: France (Paris) / USA (NYC) / At Sea
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Gertrude Stein Book: Frank Galati
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Setting: France / Italy / USA
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics/Book: Lynn Ahrens
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1988)
Setting: England (London) / France / Monaco / USA (New Jersey)
Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Robert E. Sherwood
Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)
Setting: France (Paris) / USA (NYC)
Music/Lyrics: Richard Rodgers Book: Samuel Taylor
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1962)
Setting: France / Monte Carlo
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Romney Brent, Steve Mackes, Michael Whaley
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1933)
Setting: England / France (Paris, Neuville) / Greece / Italy / Switzerland / Turkey
Music/Lyrics: Jay Livingston, Ray Evans Book: Al Morgan, José Ferrer
Musical Type: Golden Age (1958)
Setting: England (London) / France (Paris) / At Sea
Music: Jerome Kern Lyrics/Book: Otto Harbach
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1933)
Setting: France (Paris) / USA
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, Abe Burrows
Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)
Setting: France (Paris) / Russia
Sunday in the Park with George
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: James Lapine
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1984)
Setting: France (Paris, Seine) / USA
Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics: Leo Robin Book: Jerome Chodorov, Joseph Fields
Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)
Setting: France / USA (NYC)
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics/Books: Lynn Ahrens
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Setting: France / Italy
Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, Laurence Schwab
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1927)
Setting: France / USA
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics/Book: Nan Knighton
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Setting: England / France (Paris)
Music/Lyrics: Meredith Willson Book: Richard Morris
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1960)
Setting: France (Paris) / Monte Carlo / USA (Colorado, Missouri) / At Sea
Music: Lee Pockriss Lyrics: Anne Croswell Book: David Shaw
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1963)
Setting: France (Paris) / Russia
Music: Henry Mancini, Frank Wildhorn Lyrics: Leslie Bricusse Book: Blake Edwards
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1995)
Setting: France (Paris) / USA (Illinois)
Want to stay in the loop with all things related to musical theatre?
Which of these musicals set in France is your favorite?
Or have you ever played a role in any of the above musicals set in France? 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 holds a BA in theatre, a TESOL drama certificate, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.