41+ Great Political Musicals – The Full List of Shows
Since politics is probably on everybody’s mind at the moment, I thought it would be an appropriate time to pull together a list of powerful and interesting political musicals. Politics play a very important role in and run in the background of many additional musicals, like Cabaret, Ragtime, The Sound of Music, and Miss Saigon. But the following list is for musicals that center around politics as a theme.
The following list is broken down by time period, and then sorted alphabetically.
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Political Jazz Age Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Moss Hart
Musical Type: Jazz Age/Revue (1933)
Genre: Satire
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Lorenz Hart Book: Herbert Fields
Musical Type: Jazz Age/Operetta (1925)
Genre: Romantic Dramedy
Music: Kurt Weill Lyrics/Book: Maxwell Anderson
Musical Type: Jazz Age/Operetta (1938)
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Samuel Spewack, Bella Spewack
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1938)
Genre: Satire
Music: George Gershwin Lyrics: Ira Gershwin Book: George S. Kaufman
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1933)
Genre: Sequel/Satire
Music: George Gershwin Lyrics: Ira Gershwin Book: George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1931)
Genre: Satire
Music/Lyrics: Harold Rome Book: Various
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1937)
Genre: Revue
Music: Eubie Blake Lyrics: Noble Sissle Book: F.E. Miller, Aubrey Lyles
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1921)
Genre: Comedy
Music/Lyrics/Book: Marc Blitzstein
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1938)
Genre: Drama
Golden Age Political Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse
Musical Type: Golden Age (1950)
Genre: Satire
Music/Lyrics: Harold Rome Sketches: Arnold Auerbach
Musical Type: Golden Age (1946)
Genre: Revue
Music: Jerry Bock Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Jerome Weidman, George Abbott
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Genre: Biography
Music: Gene De Paul Lyrics: Johnny Mercer Book: Norman Panama, Melvin Frank
Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)
Genre: Satire
Music: Laurie Johnson Lyrics: Lionel Bart Book: Bernard Miles
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Genre: Farce
Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Morrie Ryskind
Musical Type: Golden Age (1940)
Genre: Satire
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, Abe Burrows
Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)
Genre: Satire
Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics/Book: Dorothy Fields Book: Herbert Fields
Musical Type: Golden Age (1945)
Genre: Comedy
Post-Golden Age Political Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Sherman Edwards Book: Peter Stone
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1969)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Arthur Laurents
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Genre: Satire
Music: Jerry Herman, Mark Sandrich, Jr. Lyrics/Book: Sidney Michaels
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Genre: Semi-Biography
Music: Galt MacDermot Lyrics/Book: Gerome Ragni, James Rado
Musical Type: Post Golden Age (1967)
Genre: Dramedy
Music: Bill Jacob Lyrics: Patti Jacob Book: Melville Shavelson
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1969)
Genre: Semi-Biography
Music/Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse
Musical Type: Post Golden Age (1962)
Genre: Dramedy
Pre-Contemporary Political Musicals
Music: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics/Book: Alan Jay Lerner
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Genre: Metamusical
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: John Weidman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1990)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Tim Rice
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Genre: Biography
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1993)
Genre: Historical
Music/Book: Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics/Book: Alan Boublil Lyrics: Jean-Marc Natel
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1980)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics: Charles Strouse Book: Warren Leight
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1985)
Genre: Revue
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: John Weidman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics/Book: Mbongeni Ngema Music/Lyrics: Hugh Masakela
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1987)
Genre: Historical
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Music/Lyrics: Carol Hall Book: Larry L. King, Peter Masterson
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1978)
Genre: Comedy
Music/Book: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics: Jack Murphy Book: Gregory Boyd
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Genre: Drama
Music: Dana P. Rowe Lyrics/Book: John Dempsey
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Genre: Satire
Contemporary Political Musicals
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jay Kuo Book: Marc Acito, Lorenzo Thione
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Genre: Drama
Music/Lyrics: Michael Friedman Book: Alex Timbers
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Genre: Biography
Music/Lyrics/Book: Paul Hodge Book: Michael Hodge
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Genre: Satire
Music/Lyrics: Fela Kuti Book: Bill T. Jones, Jim Lewis
Musical Type: Contemporary/Jukebox (2008)
Genre: Biography
Music/Lyrics/Book: Scott Brown, Anthony King
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Genre: Comedy
Music/Lyrics/Book: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Genre: Biography
Music/Lyrics: Jeanine Tesori Book/Lyrics: David Henry Hwang
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Genre: Metamusical
Music: George Stiles Lyrics/Book: Anthony Drewe Book: Elliot Davis
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Genre: Satire
Music: Various Lyrics/Book: Gerard Alessandrini
Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)
Genre: Parody
Music/Lyrics/Book: Greg Hollmann, Greg Kotis
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Genre: Comedy
New Contemporary Political Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Ari Afsar Book: Lauren M. Gunderson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2020)
Genre: Drama
Want a weekly list of stagey surprises?!
Know of any other great political musicals?
Feel free to share in the comments below! And if you like these types of lists, check out the musical database. That’s where you’ll find musicals sorted by composer, theme, setting, and more!
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 has a TESOL drama certificate, a BA in theatre, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.