30+ Non Linear Musicals – The Full List of Shows
These nonlinear musicals use non-chronological storytelling structures rather than following a straightforward timeline, including shows that tell their stories through circular or retrospective structures, shifts back and forth in time, or fragmented narratives.
Non Linear Musicals
The following musicals are broken down into the following types of storytelling:
Back and Forth Timelines
The following musicals alternate between two or more timelines, jumping back and forth to reveal connections between them.
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Creators: Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
Timeline: Back and Forth
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Creators: Kim Rosenstock, Will Connolly, and Michael Mitnick
Timeline: Back and Forth
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1971)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman
Timeline: Back and Forth
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Creators: Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey
Timeline: Back and Forth
Musical Type: Contemporary (2024)
Creators: Stephen Schwartz and Lindsey Ferrentino
Timeline: Back and Forth
Backwards Timelines
These musicals tell the story in reverse, starting at the end and moving backward, or incorporate this technique as part of the plot.
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1981)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and George Furth
Timeline: Backwards
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Creators: Jason Robert Brown
Timeline: Backwards/Forwards
Circular Narratives
These shows end the same way they began, suggesting the story is about to repeat itself.
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Creators: Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx, and Jeff Whitty
Timeline: Circular
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Creators: Anaïs Mitchell
Timeline: Circular
Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)
Creators: Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green
Timeline: Circular
Collage-Style Musicals
These musicals are told through a fragmented collage of ideas, where the scenes are not necessarily in chronological order but come together to form a cohesive narrative.
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1990)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman
Timeline: Non-Linear
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Creators: Dave Malloy
Timeline: Mixed
Retrospective Narratives
These musicals begin towards the end of the story, where a character reflects on the events that led to that moment. The rest of the plot then unfolds linearly from the beginning.
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1989)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, and Charles Hart
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1983)
Creators: Willy Russell
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1989)
Creators: Cy Coleman, David Zippel, and Larry Gelbart
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Creators: Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1976)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Creators: Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, Jerome Weidman, and George Abbott
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Creators: Mark Baron and Jeffrey Jackson
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Creators: Scott Frankel, Michael Korie, and Doug Wright
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater, Ben Elton, and Frederick Forsyth
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Creators: Stephen Flaherty, Gertrude Stein, and Frank Galati
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1991)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, and Christopher Hampton
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Creators: The Avett Brothers and John Logan
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Creators: Michael Webborn and Daniel Finn
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Contemporary (2021)
Creators: Michael John LaChiusa
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1986)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe
Timeline: Retrospective
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Creators: Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman
Timeline: Retrospective
Vignette-Driven Musicals
These musicals feature a series of vignettes where the scenes are not strictly presented in chronological order.
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1970)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and George Furth
Timeline: Vignette-Driven
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1977)
Creators: Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, James Taylor, and Nina Faso
Timeline: Vignette-Driven
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1967)
Creators: Clark Gesner
Timeline: Vignette-Driven