The 57 Most Underrated Musicals of All Time
This is a very personal list compared to most of the other lists I’ve created for Theatre Trip. Most of my other blog posts are fact-based and objective. And this one is an absolute opinion piece! This is the list of what I believe to be the most underrated musicals.
The following musicals are ones that I believe deserve more attention from musical thespians. Also, most of these musicals are also on my personal lists of favorite cast albums and top musicals!
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Contents:
Underrated Golden Age Musicals
Underrated Jazz Age Age Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Romney Brent, Steve Mackes, Michael Whaley
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1933)
Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, Laurence Schwab
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1927)
Music/Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Herbert Fields
Musical Type: Jazz Age (1930)
Underrated Golden Age Musicals
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics/Book: Oscar Hammerstein II
Musical Type: Golden Age (1947)
Music/Lyrics: Harold Arlen Lyrics/Book: Truman Capote
Musical Type: Golden Age (1954)
Underrated 1960s Musicals
Music: Charles Strouse Lyrics: Lee Adams Book: Clifford Odets, William Gibson
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Music/Lyrics: Jacques Brel Book: Eric Blau, Mort Shuman
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1968)
Music/Lyrics: Robert Wright, George Forrest Book: Peter Stone
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1961)
Music: Ron Grainer Lyrics/Book: Ronald Millar
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1964)
Music: Jerry Bock Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Book: Joe Masteroff
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1963)
Music/Lyrics: Harold Rome Book: Howard Da Silva, Felix Leon
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1965)
Music: John Kander Lyrics: Fred Ebb Book: Joseph Stein
Musical Type: Post-Golden Age (1968)
Underrated 1970s Musicals
Music: Michael J. Lewis Lyrics/Book: Anthony Burgess
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1973)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Tommy Butler
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1976)
Music: Robert Waldman Lyrics/Book: Alfred Uhry
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1975)
Songs: Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, James Taylor Songs/Adaptation: Stephen Schwartz Adaptation: Nina Faso
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1977)
Underrated 1980s Musicals
Music: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus Lyrics: Tim Rice Book: Richard Nelson
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1984)
Music/Lyrics: Jerry Herman Book: Harvey Fierstein
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1983)
Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: George Furth
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1981)
Music/Lyrics/Book: John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel, Jim Wann
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1981)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Mbongeni Ngema Music/Lyrics: Hugh Masekela
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1987)
Music/Lyrics: Tom Lehrer Adaptation: Cameron Mackintosh, Robin Ray
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1980)
Underrated 1990s Musicals
Music/Lyrics/Book: William Finn Book: James Lapine
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Music/Lyrics: Adam Guettel Book: Tina Landau
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1994)
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown Book: Alfred Uhry
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Book: Terrence McNally
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1996)
Music: Marvin Laird Lyrics/Book: Joel Paley
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1992)
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1991)
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Peter Stone
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Paul Simon Lyrics/Book: Derek Walcott
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1998)
Music/Book: Cy Coleman Lyrics/Book: Ira Gasman Book: David Newman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1990)
Underrated 2000s Musicals
Music: Robert Reale Lyrics/Book: Willie Reale
Musical Type: Contemporary (2002)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Music/Lyrics: Pet Shop Boys Book: Jonathan Harvey
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Music: Scott Frankel Lyrics: Michael Korie Book: Doug Wright
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Music/Lyrics: Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Alan Stevens Hewitt Music/Lyrics/Book: Tim Maner
Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Stew Music: Heidi Rodewald
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Music: Marvin Hamlisch Lyrics: Craig Carnelia Book: John Guare
Musical Type: Contemporary (2002)
Music: A.R. Rahman, Christopher Nightingale, Värttinä Lyrics/Book: Matthew Warchus, Shaun McKenna
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Music/Lyrics: Neil Bartram Book: Brian Hill
Musical Type: Contemporary (2006)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Michael John LaChiusa Book: George C. Wolfe
Musical Type: Contemporary (2000)
Underrated 2010s Musicals
Music: Duncan Sheik Lyrics/Book: Steven Sater Book: Jessie Nelson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jay Kuo Book: Marc Acito, Lorenzo Thione
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Music/Lyrics: Duncan Sheik Book: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Music/Lyrics: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin Book: Craig Lucas
Musical Type: 1951 Film/Contemporary Musical (2014)
Music: Lucy Simon Lyrics: Michael Korie, Amy Powers Book: Michael Weller
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Yve Blake
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown Book: Andrew Bergman
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Music/Lyrics/Book: The Bengsons Book: Sarah Gancher
Musical Type: Contemporary (2017)
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Music/Lyrics/Book: Dave Malloy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jonathan Christenson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Dave Malloy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Music/Lyrics/Book: Andrew R. Butler
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Brooke Maxwell, Jacob Richmond
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Music/Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown Book: Marsha Norman
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Music/Lyrics/Book: Paul Shapera
Musical Type: Contemporary (2012)
Music/Lyrics: Sting Book: Lorne Campbell, John Logan, Brian Yorkey
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Music/Lyrics: Matt Sax Lyrics/Book: Eric Rosen
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Other blog posts you might like:
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Which of these underrated musicals is your favorite?
Or have you ever played a role in any of the above underrated 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 holds a BA in theatre, a TESOL drama certificate, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.