Top 10 Best Musicals of All Time
Amazing musical that leaves you in tears of bittersweet joy, whether you're watching it live, the 10th Anniversary concert with Colm Wilkinson on YouTube, or the 2012 movie starring Hugh Jackman (among other superb actors). It will stay in your mind and heart for ages. If you're like me and had the fortune of being part of a production of it, it truly leaves a mark on your soul. If you see only a few musicals in your life, this should be one of them.
It has a great story of redemption and repentance. Each and every character has their own story, so you kind of get attached to every single one of them, and then they die. That's another thing! Instead of just killing off a character and calling it good, they have their own song, either unfinished or completed. The music is just fantastic. Overall, great story.
For me, Les Mis and this are tied for first place. Contrary to what people say, it has a beautiful score, amazing singers, and the storyline is amazing. I like the score because it's much calmer than other musicals, and I really enjoyed seeing the stage version of Phantom live.
It deserves to be tied with Les Mis in the number one spot. It's also the longest-running musical with 12,000 shows.
Yes, very deserving of first place. Away from the classic, all-singing, all-dancing colorful Hollywood musicals (which I adore), this is my favorite "serious" musical. Dark, brooding, romantic, and with a touch of humor thrown in. A powerful story with an equally powerful score.
The overture and the opening of the duet The Phantom Of The Opera make my heart thud. Quite simply fantastic.
I love the backstory and the twist in every life of everyone. Knowing who Dorothy's friends used to be, learning how the witches became who they were, and of course, the friendship between Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. No one mourns the wicked they say, but what about everyone who's seen the musical? Everyone mourns her "death."
Wizard of Oz with an amazing, eye-opening twist. One simply can't help but love all the characters. The music awakens the deepest part of you, the part that wants to be known, and shows you things you didn't know about yourself.
I call it The King Of Musicals. Though I've never seen the musical yet, Hamilton sure is becoming the #1 musical on the planet. Why isn't it number one here on the list? I don't know, but the musical inspires students from around the globe to learn about one of the founding fathers of America.
It won more Tony awards than any other musical in theatre history. It has a unique hip-hop version of the history of America, which I can guarantee would make everyone sing along more than any other theatre production in history. They even performed at the White House, which is a very rare opportunity for a theatre cast.
It is possible that it may win the world record for the highest box office production sometime in the not-too-distant future. The best thing to do is to wait and see. Our founding fathers of America in this musical are more like the founding fathers of a golden musical trophy!
I grew up on this, so it has a place in my heart! And who doesn't think of "A Spoonful of Sugar" whenever they have to take medicine?
So underrated. I love this, and when cooking, I always sing A Spoonful of Sugar. Too bad I don't have a big spoon for medicine!
I remember I used to find it boring, not really paying attention when I saw it was black and white in the movie. I love the movie now, and sadly, my friends do not know what The Wizard of Oz is! I love the play as well.
This was my childhood, and I love the story!
I just love the music. It puts me in a good mood!
GOOD MORNING BALTIMORE! I love this musical and its music. The hair and songs are so fun, and one of my favorites is Miss Baltimore Crabs. I do love this and love to wake up and hum, Good Morning Baltimore.
My very first school play was The Lion King. We had 140 kids in it, making the wild plains of Africa come to life with giant herds of animals bowing to the prince in unison.
I love the movie, and I love the Broadway version. So many memories of each and every musical, movie, or stage production I will ever see or perform.
As someone who has been in a production of this, I love it. I also grew up watching this for days straight.
Great costumes, awesome colors, emotional, and creative! Best ever!
It makes me cry for hours after I hear it. The choreography is amazing and provides a sad but true insight into how this event might have taken place in real life.
My favorite movie ever. If you voted for anything else, you probably haven't seen this movie or musical. Pure perfection.
Absolutely incredible. The score is superb (Memory, Macavity: The Mystery Cat... look it up, they're all amazing). The dances are awesome (yay for Gillian Lynn!), and the costumes and set design simply cannot be beaten (They're cats dancing in an oversized junkyard! It's so cool!).
And although we're talking about the stage show, the movie was absolutely phenomenal. Finally, a movie-musical from the last 20 years that casts people because they're actually good instead of famous! Pure brilliance.
Ahh. I can't even express how much I love Cats. Great songs and characters. When the cast is on point (like in the 1998 movie), it's phenomenal.
The Newcomers
This musical is absolutely underrated! For a musical that is supposed to sponsor a franchise, this is amazing! The props and the background are creative and look entirely the same as the SpongeBob landscape! The characters were also true to Season 1-6. Stephen Hillenburg would be so proud of it!
It's funny, heartfelt, creative, and clever. The singing is great, and the acting is great (Pearl is meh, but she has an amazing voice). The sets and costumes are also great.
This musical is awesome and underrated!
Grease is my favorite musical, and it would be my favorite movie if not for "American Graffiti." I like the original Broadway performance better than the movie, and it irks me when people say Sandy has to be a blonde Australian onstage. In the original, she's an all-American brunette. :)
But all that aside, Grease is definitely a classic. It might be a bit mature for some audiences though.
Great musical! I know all the song lyrics! Really catchy and a great watch!
Should be higher than this! I love this movie!
I have not seen this in forever and greatly regret it. I love it, and every time I see a deer, a female deer, I can't help but sing.
It's a musical that my entire family loved growing up, and they showed it in school a lot too.
I just have one thing to say: this helped me in music class in elementary school. "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do."
Absolutely fantastic music, story, characters, everything. This musical literally changed my life. It inspired me to be who I want to be despite how my peers or parents felt about it.
It talks about a deep societal issue that is still ongoing and often not spoken about. While gender barriers are much less strict than they used to be, it's still more acceptable for a girl to embrace masculinity than for a boy to embrace femininity. Billy Elliot demonstrates that issue in a way that had me laughing and crying throughout the show.
My favorite musical. Great story and well-written songs!
I adore fairytales and all the great songs in this musical. One of my favorites!
My favorite musical changes depending on my mood. Tomorrow it could be Singin' In The Rain, Guys And Dolls, Oliver!, or more serious musicals such as Les Mis or The Phantom of the Opera. It's too difficult to choose an all-out favorite.
But my mood at the moment is willing me to give my vote to this pretty, elegant, enchanting, and oh-so-charming musical.
The storyline is bottom-line AMAZING. It manages to be comedic, dark, relatable, and satirical all at once. Heathers is a depiction of school and society as a whole (exaggerated as it may be), and it makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Great musical!
Heathers is a masterpiece. It's darkly hilarious but gets pretty heavy at times, especially during Act 2. However, it's definitely not for everyone.
How is this so low on the list? Heathers is the best musical - and one of the best things ever made.
This was one of my favorite musicals to take part in. I love how tech-heavy it is, and I enjoy the funny songs like Me and My Baby.
This musical is amazing!
It talks about a really serious subject in an enjoyable way. Sinister yet pleasing, how is this #40?
I watched it for the first time last week and was not disappointed. It's very good, and I love the soundtrack so much.
It's funny and lovely. It makes me and my friends smile and sing along.
I really love this movie! It's so amazing!
Songs I can put on repeat anytime!
This should be higher on the list...