Tragic Musicals
The following list includes tragic musicals centered on serious themes and endings rooted in tragedy. Additional musical lists are available in the musical database.
Tragic Musicals
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Creators: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1997)
Creators: Laurence O’Keefe, Keythe Farley, and Brian Flemming
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1983)
Creators: Willy Russell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)
Creators: Frank Wildhorn, Don Black, and Ivan Menchell
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1966)
Creators: John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joe Masteroff
Musical Type: Golden Age (1943)
Creators: Georges Bizet and Oscar Hammerstein II
Musical Type: Golden Age (1945)
Creators: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Creators: Roger Kumble, Lindsey Rosin, Jordan Ross, and Others
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1973)
Creators: Michael J. Lewis and Anthony Burgess
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1992)
Creators: William Finn and James Lapine
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1988)
Creators: Steve Margoshes, Jacques Levy, and José Fernandez
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1994)
Creators: Adam Guettel and Tina Landau
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Creators: Kim Rosenstock, Will Connolly, and Michael Mitnick
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Creators: Mark Baron and Jeffrey Jackson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Creators: Anaïs Mitchell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Creators: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1990)
Creators: Bob Merrill
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1986)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1970)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Musical Type: Golden Age (1959)
Creators: Marc Blitzstein and Joseph Stein
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1992)
Creators: John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1980)
Creators: Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alan Boublil, Herbert Kretzmer, and Jean-Marc Natel
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater, Ben Elton, and Frederick Forsyth
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Creators: Howard Goodall and Stephen Clark
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1974)
Creators: Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Creators: Lionel Bart and Alun Owen
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1989)
Creators: Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, and Richard Maltby, Jr.
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1998)
Creators: Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1996)
Creators: Jonathan Larson
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1974)
Creators: Gary Geld, Peter Udell, Philip Rose, and James Lee Barrett
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Creators: Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Creators: David Kirshenbaum and Hunter Foster
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1991)
Creators: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, and Christopher Hampton
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1979)
Creators: Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler
Musical Type: Contemporary (2022)
Creators: The Avett Brothers and John Logan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2023)
Creators: Jason Howland, Nathan Tysen, and Kait Kerrigan
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Creators: Peter Rutherford and James Millar
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Creators: Jason Robert Brown
Musical Type: Late 20th Century (1997)
Creators: Maury Yeston and Peter Stone
Musical Type: Golden Age (1957)
Creators: Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1968)
Creators: John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joseph Stein