55+ Musicals Set in France – The Full List
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.
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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 (French Riviera, Nice)
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/Lyrics/Book: Jay Kuo Book: Marc Acito, Lorenzo Thione
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Setting: France, Italy, USA (California, Wyoming, Washington, D.C.)
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 (Paris), 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/Book: Matt Gould Lyrics/Book: Carson Kreitzer
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Setting: France (Paris), USA (California)
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 (California, Illinois, Maryland)
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 (Louisiana)
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)
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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.