25+ Non Linear Musicals – The Full List of Shows
Nonlinear musicals break away from a traditional “start-to-finish” narrative. These musicals may use techniques like moving backward in time, jumping around between different points in the timeline, or blending past and present. Whether you’re researching or exploring new musicals, here’s a comprehensive list of nonlinear musicals, sorted alphabetically.
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.
Music/Book: Steve Martin Music/Lyrics: Edie Brickell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Timeline: Back and Forth
Music/Lyrics/Book: Kim Rosenstock, Will Connolly, Michael Mitnick
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Timeline: Back and Forth
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: James Goldman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1971)
Timeline: Back and Forth
Music: Tom Kitt Lyrics/Book: Brian Yorkey
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
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.
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: George Furth
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1981)
Timeline: Backwards
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jason Robert Brown
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Timeline: Backwards/Forwards
Circular Narratives
These shows end the same way they began, suggesting the story is about to repeat itself.
Music/Lyrics: Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx Book: Jeff Whitty
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Timeline: Circular
Music: John Kander Lyrics/Book: Fred Ebb Book: Bob Fosse
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1975)
Timeline: Circular
Music/Lyrics/Book: Anaïs Mitchell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Timeline: Circular
Music: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics/Book: Betty Comden, Adolph Green
Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)
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.
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: John Weidman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1990)
Timeline: Non-Linear
Music/Lyrics/Book: Dave Malloy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
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.
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Don Black, Charles Hart
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1989)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music/Lyrics/Book: Willy Russell
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1983)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Cy Coleman Lyrics: David Zippel Book: Larry Gelbart
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1989)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics/Book: Lynn Ahrens
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Tim Rice
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Jerry Bock Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Jerome Weidman, George Abbott
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Scott Frankel Lyrics: Michael Korie Book: Doug Wright
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics/Book: Glenn Slater Book: Ben Elton, Frederick Forsyth
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1991)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music/Lyrics: The Avett Brothers Book: John Logan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Charles Hart Lyrics/Book: Richard Stilgoe
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1986)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Book: Winnie Holzman
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Timeline: Retrospective
Vignette-Driven Musicals
These musicals feature a series of vignettes where the scenes are not strictly presented in chronological order.
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: George Furth
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1970)
Timeline: Vignette-Driven
Music/Lyrics/Adaptation: Stephen Schwartz Music/Lyrics: Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, James Taylor Adaptation: Nina Faso
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1977)
Timeline: Vignette-Driven
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Music/Lyrics/Book: Clark Gesner Additional Songs: Andrew Lippa
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1967)
Timeline: Vignette-Driven
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Which of these non linear musicals is your favorite?
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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 and a TESOL drama certificate, with experience working and interning in Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.