Musicals Set in Italy – The Full List of Shows
Are you looking for a musical that takes place in beautiful Italy? Though they may be few, each one of the following brings a unique flavor to the stage. Below you’ll find the full list of musicals set in Italy.
The following list is broken down into the following categories – “Musicals Fully Set in Italy“, “Musicals Partially Set in Italy”, and “Musicals That Mention Italy“. Each category is sorted alphabetically.
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Musicals Fully Set in Italy
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Burt Shevelove, Larry Gelbart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1962)
Setting: Italy (Rome)
Music: Milton Schafer Lyrics: Ronny Graham Book: A.J. Russell
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1962)
Setting: Italy (Rome)
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Peter Stone, Thomas Meehan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Setting: Italy
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Arthur Laurents
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1965)
Setting: Italy (Venice)
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Arthur Kopit
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1982)
Setting: Italy (Venice)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: James Lapine
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1994)
Setting: Italy (Milan)
Music/Lyrics: Adam Guettel Book: Craig Lucas
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Setting: Italy
Music: Galt MacDermot Lyrics/Book: John Guare Book: Mel Shapiro
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1971)
Setting: Italy (Milan, Verona)
Musicals Partially Set in Italy
Music: Sammy Fain Lyrics: Dan Shapiro Book: Guy Bolton, Eddie Davis
Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)
Setting: Africa (Morocco) / Italy / At Sea
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Don Black, Charles Hart
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1989)
Setting: France / Italy
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: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Gertrude Stein Book: Frank Galati
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Setting: France / Italy / USA
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Romney Brent, Steve Mackes, Michael Whaley
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1933)
Setting: England / France / Greece / Italy / Switzerland / Turkey
Music: Edvard Grieg Lyrics: Robert Wright, George Forrest Book: Milton Lazarus, Homer Curran
Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)
Setting: Denmark / Italy / Norway
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics/Books: Lynn Ahrens
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Setting: France / Italy
Musicals That Mention Italy
Anything Can Happen in the Theater
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Concept: Gerard Alessandrini
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Song That Mentions Italy: “Cinema Italiano”
Music: Brad Carroll Lyrics/Book: Peter Sham
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Song That Mentions Italy: “Facciamo L’Amor”
Music/Lyrics: Billy Joel
Musical Type: Contemporary (2002)
Song That Mentions Italy: “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”
Music: Charles Strouse Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Book: Joseph Stein, David Thompson
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1986)
Song That Mentions Italy: “Meet an Italian”
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown Book: Marsha Norman
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Song That Mentions Italy: “To Build a Home”
Music/Lyrics/Book: Frank Loesser
Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)
Song That Mentions Italy: “Sposalizio”
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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.