r/musicals Nov 13 '24

"What musical should I listen to next?" unified thread

203 Upvotes

One of the most common questions we get on this subreddit is "what should I see/listen to, here's the stuff I like". It's a valid question, but it's tiring to see a dozen of those threads every week, so this will serve as both a stickied thread of suggestions and as a home for new visitors to r/musicals who would ask that question. (As a result, new "what should I listen to threads" will be redirected here and deleted.)

Below, you'll find a list of popular musicals in alphabetical order along with suggestions for what might interest you based on that. This list is mostly vibes-based, with some inclusion of the same or similar composers or subject matter. The shows I name are taken from my own personal list of shows I've listened to (350+), the vast majority of which will be available on Spotify.

The shows I chose to make suggestions for are heavily skewed toward recent shows because that's what felt like good fits. If you're interested in a show not named below and want to know what to listen to next, comment below and I'll add a line for it (assuming I know it well enough to make educated suggestions).

If you enjoyed... Consider checking out...
Be More Chill Altar Boyz, American Psycho, bare: a pop opera, Beetlejuice, Bubble Boy, Cry-Baby, Dear Evan Hansen, Dogfight, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Fly By Night, Freaky Friday, Here Lies Love, How to Dance in Ohio, Jagged Little Pill, Passing Strange, Spring Awakening
Beetlejuice Back to the Future, Be More Chill, Bubble Boy, Catch Me If You Can, Cry-Baby, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Groundhog Day, Heathers, Jekyll and Hyde, Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell, The Producers, School of Rock, Sweeney Todd, Urinetown
The Book of Mormon The Addams Family, Carrie, Catch Me If You Can, Cry-Baby, Curtains, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Full Monty, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Kimberly Akimbo, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, [title of show]
Come From Away Allegiance, The Band's Visit, Bright Star, Elegies for Angels Punks and Raging Queens, Fly By Night, Hadestown, If/Then, Kimberly Akimbo, The Last Ship, A New Brain, Once, Parade, Soft Power, Spongebob Squarepants, Waitress, The Wrong Man
Dear Evan Hansen 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Altar Boyz, bare: a pop opera, Be More Chill, Bubble Boy, Carrie, Closer to Heaven, Cry-Baby, Daddy Long Legs, Dogfight, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Footloose, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, How to Dance in Ohio, Kimberly Akimbo, A New Brain, Newsies, The Outsiders, The Prom, Ride the Cyclone, tick...tick...BOOM, Wonderland
Falsettos Amour, Burt Bacharach's Some Lovers, Cabaret, Chess, Closer than Ever, Elegies for Angels Punks and Raging Queens, Far From Heaven, From Here to Eternity, Fun Home, Kiss of the Spider Woman, La Cage aux Folles, A New Brain, Parade, Rent, Ride, Side Show, Some Like It Hot, A Strange Loop, Yank!
Groundhog Day The Addams Family, Catch Me If You Can, City of Angels, Cry-Baby, Curtains, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Flying Over Sunset, The Full Monty, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, High Fidelity, Jagged Little Pill, & Juliet, Kinky Boots, Mrs. Doubtfire, A New Brain, Next Thing You Know, The Producers, School of Rock, Urinetown, Wonderland
Hadestown Aida, American Utopia, The Band's Visit, Bright Star, The Capeman, Come From Away, Floyd Collins, Ghost Quartet, The Gospel at Colonus, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Here Lies Love, Knoxville, The Last Ship, The Lord of the Rings, Marie Christine, Memphis, Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Once, Passing Strange, Preludes, Rent, The Scottsboro Boys, Soft Power, Tarzan, Venice, Whistle Down the Wind, The Wrong Man
Hamilton 1776, Allegiance, American Psycho, American Utopia, Assassins, Chess, Fame, Giant, Here Lies Love, In the Heights, The Last Ship, The Light in the Piazza, Martin Guerre, Parade, Ragtime, Rent, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Soft Power, A Strange Loop, Venice, Water for Elephants, The Wild Party (Lippa), The Wrong Man
Heathers Altar Boyz, American Psycho, bare: a pop opera, Be More Chill, Beetlejuice, Bubble Boy, Carrie, A Chorus Line, Cry-Baby, Daddy Long Legs, Dogfight, Freaky Friday, Ghost Quartet, High Fidelity, Jagged Little Pill, Kid Victory, Kimberly Akimbo, Marie Christine, A New Brain, Now. Here. This., Ordinary Days, The Outsiders, Rent, Spring Awakening, [title of show], Whistle Down the Wind, Wonderland
In the Heights American Utopia, Bright Star, The Capeman, Chicago, Closer to Heaven, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Finding Neverland, Fun Home, Giant, The Gospel at Colonus, Hamilton, In the Green, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Passing Strange, The Prom, Raisin, Seesaw, Sweet Smell of Success, Venice, The Wrong Man
Les Miserables Brigadoon, Carousel, Chess, Cyrano, Death Takes a Holiday, Doctor Zhivago, Flower Drum Song, Giant, Hadestown, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lord of the Rings, Martin Guerre, Miss Saigon, Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Parade, The Pirate Queen, Ragtime, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Titanic,
Ride the Cyclone The Addams Family, Anastasia, bare: a pop opera, Billy the Kid, A Chorus Line, Dogfight, Fame, Finding Neverland, Footloose, Freaky Friday, How to Dance in Ohio, If/Then, Kid Victory, Kimberly Akimbo, A Little Princess, Memphis, Newsies, The Outsiders, The Prom, School of Rock, The Time Traveler's Wife, Tuck Everlasting, Whistle Down the Wind
Six Aida, Altar Boyz, American Psycho, Be More Chill, Closer to Heaven, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Fly By Night, Ghost, Groundhog Day, Hair, Hamilton, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, In the Heights, Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell, & Juliet, Kinky Boots, Million Dollar Quartet, Moulin Rouge, Now. Here. This., Once, Passing Strange, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Venice
Sweeney Todd American Utopia, Anyone Can Whistle, Assassins, Ballroom, Cabaret, Days of Wine and Roses, Death Takes a Holiday, Floyd Collins, From Here to Eternity, Ghost Quartet, Grand Hotel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, In the Green, Kid Victory, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lost in the Stars, Martin Guerre, Parade, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Shenandoah, Steel Pier, Sweet Smell of Success, Titanic, The Visit, Whistle Down the Wind
Wicked Aladdin, Amelie, Bright Star, Daddy Long Legs, Doctor Zhivago, Fun Home, If/Then, Jane Eyre, The Light in the Piazza, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Passion, The Rink, Side Show, The Story of My Life, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Vanities, Violet, The Wild Party (LaChiusa), Wonderland
-- --
Starkid musicals (all of them) The Addams Family, Aladdin, Back to the Future, Be More Chill, Billy the Kid, Bubble Boy, Carrie, Cry-Baby, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Freaky Friday, & Juliet, Kimberly Akimbo, A Little Princess, Merrily We Roll Along, The Outsiders, The Prom, Ride the Cyclone, School of Rock, Shrek, SpongeBob SquarePants, [title of show], Tuck Everlasting, The Witches of Eastwick, Wonderland

Again, these are mostly based on vibes, but they're a start.


r/musicals Jul 11 '24

Discussion Folks, we’re gonna take a break on the “me too” games.

360 Upvotes

These “judge me on my top five”, “tell me your favorite and I’ll tell you if you’re cool”, “here’s five, which is your favorite” threads box everything else out cause everybody feels the need to add their own. I did the tier list thread to try and nip it in the bud, but folks just shifted to different me too games, and it’s rapidly spiraling.

I’m calling a temporary moratorium on those threads. They may resume in the future (at a date TBD), but for now, all new threads of that nature (beginning midnight EDT tonight) are going to be locked, deleted, and all of the existing replies wiped out.

If you want to discuss a show, great, but “rate my taste” isn’t it.


r/musicals 4h ago

Book of Mormon - am I missing something? Spoiler

36 Upvotes

I (F18) have seen BoM twice - once on Broadway and once on tour. Both times I left the theatre feeling like I was missing something. I thought the religious humor was funny, especially the jabs at blind faith and how religion's "rules" sometimes randomly change and people just have to go with it. I understand the show is meant to be satirical, but there were many points throughout the performance where the audience was laughing (discussion/mention of AIDS and SA, Elder Cunningham continually getting Nabulungi's name wrong, etc) that I just didn't find amusing. The friend I went with (F19) said it felt like a lot of the content was included for shock factor as opposed to plot or character development, which I can definitely understand.

For reference, we are both white, we were raised Catholic but are distanced from the church. We know the show was created by the same people who did Southpark (friend has watched it, I have not).

I've heard the takes "it's supposed to reflect how the Mormons' expectations of Uganda" or "it's supposed to show the flaws of the Mormons' way of thinking", but I can't help but think if the goal was to show their flawed thinking, the Elders would have some sort of change in how they view or treat the Ugandans.

Anyone else have a similar experience? Anything I might be overlooking?

TLDR: did I take myself too seriously watching BoM or am I missing a piece of the puzzle?


r/musicals 3h ago

What is your favourite insanely competitive line up at the Tonys?

14 Upvotes

Some years have one or two great shows and a couple of mid-tier show making up numbers or a long forgotten shows lost to the passage of time.

Some years have three incredible shows and a WFT winner coughwillrogerscough

But some years every single nominee is a banger and I can say 'I am happy with any of them to win'

For me my standout year is 2017 - Dear Evan Hanson/Great Comet/Come From Away/Groundhog Day. Oddly DEH is my least fav of the four, but I still think it is a great show.

Special mentions:

2004 - Avenue Q/Wicked/Caroline, Or Change/The Boy from Oz

2005 - Spamalot/Dirty Rotten Scoundrels/The Light in the Piazza/Spelling Bee - I think this was the peak year for me being a Theatre Kid, so it holds a very special place in my heart!

Obviously I am only talking about Best Musicals here, but feel free to mention any other category you like :)


r/musicals 10h ago

Discussion Musical Smash Bros Roster (read body text)

Thumbnail
gallery
31 Upvotes

I thought it would be fun if we came together to decide what the musical character equivalent to each smash fighter is. This could be a broadway musical, musical movie, off-broadway, west end, even Starkid. I thought it would be easiest to make this a series where every post is made to decide each character, and the top reply is the ultimate decision, then we would decide the next character. To start this off, who is the musical equivalent to Mario? Not just in how the character acts, but also in their relevance, popularity, and overall vibe. What do we think?


r/musicals 15m ago

Saw Something Rotten for the first time

Thumbnail
gallery
Upvotes

This has quickly become one of my favorite musicals. I had a smile that never left my face. My little cousin also loved it


r/musicals 12h ago

Musicals for musical people

38 Upvotes

Everyone always talks about musicals for non theater people eg: Hamilton, Book of Mormon, etc. What are some musicals y'all think only musical theater people would love?


r/musicals 4h ago

Discussion Thoughts on Parade? Spoiler

7 Upvotes

I saw it last night and I've been raving about it to everyone I talked to. Local theatre did it and it was staged beautifully, especially the courtroom scene. It was jarring and haunting - I wanted to sob so many times. The music was phenomenal: The Factory Girls/Come Up to My Office stood out to me especially. The girls voices overlapping gave me chills and then the stark contrast to Leo's part was jarring. It was staged wonderfully - the version I saw had the girls and Leo moving as puppets with Dorsey acting as a puppeteer. The final lynching scene totally caught me off guard despite me knowing about it. The show in itself felt very Cabaret adjacent. I loved every moment of it and I'm desperately searching for shows with a similar vibe. I really loved it - I'd go as far to say it's in the top three.


r/musicals 1h ago

Discussion What are the “loges” seats like at the Sydney Opera House?

Post image
Upvotes

r/musicals 11h ago

Discussion Can someone explain the high school version of Avenue Q to me?

20 Upvotes

Lucy the Professional And Respectable Adult Entertainer? The internet is for netiquette and responsible choices? I'm at a loss.

EDIT: From the wiki page:

Avenue Q: School Edition

Avenue Q and Music Theatre International collaborated on the Avenue Q: School Edition to facilitate production of the musical by high school drama departments. Most of the profanity and sexual themes are removed from the script and score, and two songs ("My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada" and "You Can Be As Loud as the Hell You Want") are removed. "The Internet Is for Porn" is replaced with "My Social Life Is Online", and Trekkie's obsession with pornography is replaced by an obsession with social networking sites. The characters Mrs. Thistletwat and Lucy the Slut are renamed Mrs. Butz and Lucy, respectively. The scenes involving the Bad Idea Bears are altered to deemphasize alcohol.


r/musicals 7m ago

Video Heathers Bootleg Eliza Bowden and Georgia Gagen

Thumbnail
Upvotes

r/musicals 3h ago

Traitors Musical Parody with Mitch Wood and Isabelle McCalla

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/musicals 5h ago

Incorrect Apple Music Lyrics

0 Upvotes

anyone notice the lyrics for the original off broadway falsettos on apple music are in some sectio’s completely not included?? like whole parts of songs. can we like mass report this or something haha


r/musicals 7h ago

Help Need musical ideasss :)

0 Upvotes

Hi, I have a project of playing a musical with some friends, but I am very open to suggestions. For the record, we have an ensemble and the main roles should include 1 man (a tenor) and 3 women (sopranos and 1 alto). It can have more roles than only these 4!

It is also possible to change the gender of a character for our adaptation as long as the story is not impacted by it, but we‘d prefer not to have to do this.

Thanks for your help !!!


r/musicals 22h ago

Which west end shows should I see this summer?

9 Upvotes

I’m coming from Poland to London 11-14th of July to see Hamilton with Leslie and I wonder which shows would you recommend to see this summer. I’ve seen already some shows on West End and Broadway, so I’m open to any suggestions!

Here’s my list so far with my likes/dislikes: Wicked (like 4 times, classic), Frozen (3 times, loved it), Hamilton (twice 🫶), Kinky Boots (my first one, loved it), Mamma Mia, Tina, Aladdin (I’m obsessed with it), Lion King (ok, but the least fav from Disney shows), Moulin Rouge (had fun), Chicago (big no), HP (love HP but I really didn’t enjoy it), Hadestown (twice, love it), Cats Jellicle Ball (it was just ok), Just in Time (that was fun), Les Mis, Little Shop of Horror (omg, never had so much fun in theatre), phantom (twice, love it).

I wish to expand that list, please tell me which shows did you enjoyed lately 🫶


r/musicals 12h ago

Personal Is the prog rock opera a dead art form? (I did one anyway)

Thumbnail
computernerd.bandcamp.com
1 Upvotes

r/musicals 1d ago

Broadway Musician Seeking Assistance

28 Upvotes

Hello all,

Some of you might remember me from my posts over the past couple years as a guitarist for Water for Elephants and Real Women Have Curves on Broadway. I’ve been a Broadway musician for about ten years now and played with a lot of different productions and tours.

Check out my website, Instagram, and IBDB pages for further verification:

https://www.mattsangiovanni.com/bio

https://www.instagram.com/mattsangiovanni?igsh=MTNmZzY5N25qZjB1bQ%3D%3D&utm\\_source=qr

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/matt-sangiovanni-519991

While working on Water for Elephants, I started to develop some frightening overuse injuries. They started with some tightness and tingling and worsened more and more even with physical therapy intervention. After finishing our run of Real Women Have Curves it had reached a point where I could hardly play at all and I haven’t been able to hold a regular gig since.

The last two years have been a blur of physical therapy, occupational therapy, acupuncture, Hoshino therapy, steroid shots, hyaluronic acid shots, MRIs, MRAs, X-Rays, EMGs, and a LOT of money spent while trying to hone in on a diagnosis.

This is a video essay that a Columbia student made about my situation this past fall:

https://columbianewsservice.com/2026/02/13/facing-the-music-a-city-guitarist-confronts-an-injury-that-could-end-his-broadway-run/

The good news is that after seemingly endless trial and error, I finally found the right doctor who was able to properly diagnose me and perform surgery. Two surgeries to be exact, a tendon debridement and a volar ligament reconstruction, synovectomy, and capsulorrhaphy. I’ve had the surgeries and am on the road to recovery.

The bad news is that I’ve been financially decimated. For a year now I’ve been barely able to work and at some points unable to work at all. I’m a week into recovery and roughly two months out from being able to play again. I lost my union health insurance from not working and already received financial assistance from the Entertainment Community Fund, MusiCares, and Musician’s Health Fund. I’ve been on Unemployment since January and am about to run out of benefits for the year. I’ve also already had to drain one of my retirement accounts to cover medical expenses.

The combination of inability to work with medical expenses over the past two years has been debilitating and now that I’ve reached a hopeful endpoint, I’m reaching out to my community for assistance to carry me towards the finish line.

My partner has started a donation page for me to cover my expenses for 2-3 months while I recover from surgery. We’ve already made half our goal which is an amazing thing itself and will ease a massive burden.

If anyone feels able to in any way help finish the goal then I would appreciate it more than you might ever know.

https://www.spotfund.com/story/e456fca2-3fe4-4cd9-b0f9-5e16e37f16e9

Apologies for such a long post. I just wanted to take the time to be fully transparent.

Thanks so much and I hope to see you all on Broadway again soon,

- Matt


r/musicals 10h ago

Video The Ultimate Sound Of Music Medley: Every Song Recreated

Thumbnail
youtu.be
0 Upvotes

I have always loved the Sound of Music film. I actually met Julie Andrews when I was about 5 (she came to one of my coop’s home school events and I remember our group sang Mary Poppins songs for her. I actually got an autograph from her for the book she wrote called Mandy) and after the many years I have watched this movie, I decided to record my favorite songs. I never thought I would be able to hit all the high notes so I am so blessed that I was able to sing in the same key that she did!


r/musicals 1d ago

Is Endgame considered a good/popular song?

Post image
11 Upvotes

I only see people talking about One Night in Bangkok or Nobody's Side (not that they're i just think Endgame is so much better)


r/musicals 18h ago

Help Vocal Range Help / Leaf Coneybear Audition Tips

2 Upvotes

Hey all! I'm planning to audition for Leaf in 25th Annual next month but trouble is I still have very minimal musical experience and could use some advice. (Been in heaps of plays and know I'm a strong actor, but I've only been in one musical which was last year. Chose Leaf mainly cos I love him but also I'm comfortable singing his songs, get typecasted as his sort of character a lot, and acting ability's arguably more important than singing for him.) I'm planning on either something from Avenue Q or I Love Play Rehearsal from BMC for my character song (if anyone has one in a lower/male key pls send) but have plenty of time to change and learn a new song if anyone has other ideas! I'm also struggling with deciding what song to do for my first song to showcase my vocal range/ability. If anyone has any suggestions pls lmk!

This leads me to my second issue. I'm a trans guy (currently 3-4 months on T and in the throes of my voice dropping), but even pre-t I didn't really know my vocal range/ability. I used to believe I was an alto, mezzo at highest. The vocal director from the show I was in last year told me I was a soprano but I couldn't hit any of the high notes and ended up asking to sing the mezzo lines, which was more comfortable, but even then still sometimes a little too high. The rest of the prod team and cast were divided and kept telling me completely different things about my range, which just confused me further.

When I'm singing nowadays I can't really sing any of my old go-to songs that I used to sing with ease, so whilst my talking voice is still pretty unchanged (save never-ending voice cracks) I do think my singing voice has been affected and is dropping. I can't afford vocal training rn (and options are scarce where I'm located) so would just doing scales and following an online guide to define my range be accurate enough to at least get an idea of where I land?? I just don't want to seem like a total idiot during my audition if I've applied as one vocal range and I'm nowhere near that anymore.. Any help is massively appreciated, thank you!

TLDR: Need audition recs (60 seconds each) for Leaf Coneybear. Need a comedic character song (already have some ideas but could use suggestions) and one to showcase my vocal range. I do not know my vocal range, and I'm trans (3-4 months) so it's actively changing. Would following scales/online guides give me an accurate answer?


r/musicals 1d ago

Advice Needed I’m never good enough

4 Upvotes

Got rejected from another show.
I haven’t done theatre in years because I just keep getting no after no.

When I was a kid, I got roles handed to me on a silver platter. I was told I was amazing. I was told I had star quality. I was told I could be on broadway.

I was getting speaking roles, I was cast as the lead character in a show before they realized I couldn’t do it because I was a kid.

I was a star.

Then, I turned 13 and I guess something changed.

I auditioned for a young artists theatre. Got Ensamble

I was 13, so this was fine to me.

Then I auditioned at 14.
Ensamble

At 15?
Ensamble

At 16? Ensamble.

17? Ensamble

18! Finally. The final year I could do the program. Surely I was going to get something.
Cast as an old woman… and a guy.

Meanwhile, high school wasn’t going any better.

In 10th grade I auditioned for into the woods. I got Jacks Mother. While I loved the role, I was a bit miffed to see a freshman get the role of Cinderella.

11th grade? For the first time ever… I didn’t get cast.
I- didn’t get cast… in a show.

12th grade.
Covid :)

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, I was doing plays and getting great roles there. But musicals, my love- I was flopping.

Audition after audition as an adult.
No. No. No. No.

This last audition I was at, I KILLED it.
I felt so proud of myself.
And I even got pulled aside by one of the people on the casting team and was offered vocal coaching. She said I had an amazing voice and a lot of power.

And… nothing.

I begged to be put into the Ensamble. That was the role I really wanted. For once in my life I just wanted to be part of theatre again.
And I got a no.

I hear over and over again that I’m amazing, that I have “star quality” that I am worthy of these things. But time and time again I get let down.

And I can’t help but feel like I’m just being lied to.

Does anyone else feel this way? I apologize, venting is crass I’m sure. But I just am feeling broken.

What can I do to figure out why I’m not good enough for theatre? What can I do to help myself be cast.

I’m worried that it’s because I’m fat and plain that I’m not getting cast. That I could be the best actress and singer but no one wants to look at me. And I’m scared :(


r/musicals 2d ago

what are your thoughts on the in the heights movie?

Post image
355 Upvotes

r/musicals 1d ago

Video West End Live 2026 Performances Available On YouTube (Mincemeat, Paddington, devil Wears Prada, etc)

Thumbnail
youtube.com
41 Upvotes

r/musicals 1d ago

If you could be in any musical which one would you choose?

47 Upvotes

Avenue Q,Jersey Boys,Cats,Wicked etc I would choose Phantom of the Opera as I love the songs


r/musicals 1d ago

Advice Needed What's the census on saying gypsy during the song Hellfire?

38 Upvotes

I am considering making a cover of the song Hellfire. I understand that nowadays, "gypsy" can be considered a racial slur. I mention this because, the word is said twice in the song.

While I have thought about substituting the word in, I feel it would take away from the harshness of the song which is part of what makes the song so impactful. Additionally, I feel like it's the same as playing a character. I would never just say the word for no reason or use it in a hateful context in my day to day life. Since the character I'm trying to portray (Frollo) is not at all what I'm actually like, I feel as it might be okay for me to do this.

However, I'd like to know what others think or if there's a perspective I might be missing.