100+ Popular Musicals – A Huge List of Shows
These popular musicals have achieved widespread audience appeal or lasting recognition within musical theatre. The list includes well-known shows that continue to attract audiences and remain popular choices for professional, community, or school productions.
On This Page:
Popular Jazz Age Musicals
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1934)
Creators: Cole Porter, Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1930)
Creators: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Guy Bolton, and John McGowan
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1924)
Creators: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Guy Bolton, and Fred Thompson
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1926)
Creators: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Guy Bolton, and P.G. Wodehouse
Musical Type: Opera (1935)
Creators: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Dorothy Heyward
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1927)
Creators: Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II
Popular Golden Age Musicals
Musical Type: Golden Age (1946)
Creators: Irving Berlin, Dorothy Fields, and Herbert Fields
Musical Type: Golden Age (1945)
Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Musical Type: Golden Age (1955)
Creators: Richard Adler, Jerry Ross, George Abbott, and Douglass Wallop
Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)
Creators: Jule Styne, Leo Robin, Joseph Fields, and Anita Loos
Musical Type: Golden Age (1950)
Creators: Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling, and Abe Burrows
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Creators: Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents
Musical Type: Golden Age (1948)
Creators: Cole Porter, Bella Spewack, and Samuel Spewack
Musical Type: Golden Age (1956)
Creators: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)
Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Musical Type: Golden Age (1944)
Creators: Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Creators: Mary Rodgers, Marshall Barer, Jay Thompson, and Dean Fuller
Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)
Creators: Moose Charlap, Jule Styne, Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and J.M. Barrie
Musical Type: Golden Age (1949)
Creators: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan
Musical Type: Golden Age (1951)
Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Musical Type: Golden Age (1957)
Creators: Meredith Willson
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Creators: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse
Musical Type: Golden Age (1957)
Creators: Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents
Musical Type: Golden Age (1953)
Creators: Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Joseph Fields, and Jerome Chodorov
Popular 1960s Musicals
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1962)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove, and Larry Gelbart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1960)
Creators: Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, and Michael Stewart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1966)
Creators: John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joe Masteroff
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1960)
Creators: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Creators: Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Creators: Jule Styne, Bob Merrill, and Isobel Lennart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1967)
Creators: Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, and James Rado
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Creators: Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1968)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1965)
Creators: Mitch Leigh, Joe Darion, and Dale Wasserman
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1960)
Creators: Lionel Bart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1966)
Creators: Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields, and Neil Simon
Popular 1970s Musicals
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1975)
Creators: Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban, James Kirkwood, and Nicholas Dante
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1976)
Creators: Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin, and Thomas Meehan
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1975)
Creators: John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Bob Fosse
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1970)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and George Furth
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1976)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1971)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1971)
Creators: Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1971)
Creators: Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1970)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1972)
Creators: Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1979)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1973)
Creators: Richard O’Brien
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1978)
Creators: Jeff Wayne, Paul Vigrass, Gary Osborne, Jerry Wayne, and Doreen Wayne
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1974)
Creators: Charlie Smalls and William F. Brown
Popular 1980s Musicals
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1980)
Creators: Harry Warren, Al Dubin, Johnny Mercer, Michael Stewart, and Mark Bramble
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1981)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, T.S. Eliot, Trevor Nunn, and Richard Stilgoe
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1981)
Creators: Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1988)
Creators: Steve Margoshes, Jacques Levy, and José Fernandez
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1986)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1980)
Creators: Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, Herbert Kretzmer, and Jean-Marc Natel
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1982)
Creators: Alan Menken and Howard Ashman
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1989)
Creators: Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, and Richard Maltby, Jr.
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1983)
Creators: Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed, Adolph Green, and Betty Comden
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1984)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1986)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1987)
Creators: Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, Herbert Stothart, L. Frank Baum, and John Kane
Popular 1990s Musicals
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1998)
Creators: Elton John, Tim Rice, Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1994)
Creators: Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Linda Woolverton
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1992)
Creators: William Finn and James Lapine
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1998)
Creators: Tom Snow, Dean Pitchford, and Walter Bobbie
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1999)
Creators: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Catherine Johnson
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1996)
Creators: Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens, and Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1996)
Creators: Jonathan Larson
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1997)
Creators: Elton John, Tim Rice, Roger Allers, and Irene Mecchi
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1992)
Creators: Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff
Popular Musicals from the 2000s
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Creators: Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx, and Jeff Whitty
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Creators: Elton John and Lee Hall
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Creators: Anaïs Mitchell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2002)
Creators: Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Mark O’Donnell, and Thomas Meehan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Creators: David Simpatico and Others
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Creators: Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes
Musical Type: Contemporary (2004)
Creators: Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe, Marshall Brickman, and Rick Elice
Musical Type: Contemporary (2004)
Creators: Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, George Stiles, Anthony Drewe, and Julian Fellowes
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Creators: Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Creators: Chris D’Arienzo and Others
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Creators: Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens
Musical Type: Contemporary (2004)
Creators: John Du Prez and Eric Idle
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Creators: Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater
Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)
Creators: Andrew Lippa, Marshall Brickman, and Rick Elice
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Creators: Jason Robert Brown
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Creators: Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Glenn Slater, and Doug Wright
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Creators: Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2002)
Creators: Jeanine Tesori, Dick Scanlan, and Richard Morris
Musical Type: Late 20th Century/Contemporary (1990/2001)
Creators: Jonathan Larson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Creators: Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman
Popular Musicals from the 2010s
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Creators: Max Martin and David West Read
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
Creators: The Legendary Motown Catalog and Dominique Morisseau
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Creators: Alan Menken, Chad Beguelin, Tim Rice, and Howard Ashman
Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)
Creators: Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens, and Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Creators: Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Creators: Eddie Perfect, Scott Brown, and Anthony King
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Creators: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Douglas Carter Beane
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Creators: Irene Sankoff and David Hein
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Creators: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Steven Levenson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
Creators: Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
Creators: Robert Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and Jennifer Lee
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Creators: Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Creators: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Creators: Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Creators: Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Creators: Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Creators: Berry Gordy and Others
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Creators: John Logan and Others
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Creators: Dave Malloy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Creators: Alan Menken, Jack Feldman, and Harvey Fierstein
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Creators: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
Creators: Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Creators: Karey Kirkpatrick, Wayne Kirkpatrick, and John O’Farrell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Creators: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Creators: Jeff Blim, Nick Lang, and Matt Lang
Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)
Creators: Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin, and Bob Martin
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Creators: Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson
Popular Musicals from the 2020s
Musical Type: Contemporary (2024)
Creators: Julia Mattison, Noel Carey, and Marco Pennette
Musical Type: Contemporary (2023)
Creators: Alicia Keys, Kristoffer Diaz, and Others
Musical Type: Contemporary (2021)
Creators: Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Creators: Lynn Nottage and Others
Musical Type: Contemporary (2023)
Creators: Jeff Blim, Nick Lang, and Matt Lang
Musical Type: Contemporary (2025)
Creators: Tom Fletcher and Jessica Swale
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Creators: Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally, and Robert Horn
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Creators: Shaina Taub
Musical Type: Contemporary (2023)
Creators: Jason Howland, Nathan Tysen, and Kait Kerrigan