Non Linear Musicals
The following list includes nonlinear musicals, featuring shows that use non-chronological storytelling structures. Additional musical lists are available in the musical database.
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: Late 20th Century (1971)
Timeline: Back and Forth
Music: Tom Kitt Lyrics/Book: Brian Yorkey
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Timeline: Back and Forth
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Book: Lindsey Ferrentino
Musical Type: Contemporary (2024)
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: Late 20th Century (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: Late 20th Century (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: Late 20th Century (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: Late 20th Century (1989)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music/Lyrics/Book: Willy Russell
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1983)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Cy Coleman Lyrics: David Zippel Book: Larry Gelbart
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (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: Late 20th Century (1976)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Jerry Bock Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Jerome Weidman, George Abbott
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Mark Baron Lyrics/Book: Jeffrey Jackson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
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: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Gertrude Stein Adaptation: Frank Galati
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1991)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music/Lyrics: The Avett Brothers Book: John Logan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael Webborn, Daniel Finn
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Timeline: Retrospective
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Charles Hart Lyrics/Book: Richard Stilgoe
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (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: Late 20th Century (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: Late 20th Century (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