Musicals

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Hamilton

Hamilton: An American Musical is a sung- and rapped-through musical about the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, with music, lyrics, and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda, inspired by the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by historian Ron Chernow. Incorporating hip hop, R&B, pop, soul, traditional-style show tunes, and color-conscious casting of non-white actors as the Founding Fathers and other historical figures, the musical achieved both critical acclaim and box office success.

Entertainment

Dear Evan Hansen

Dear Evan Hansen is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and book by Steven Levenson.

Entertainment, Art

Porgy and Bess

Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by the American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play Porgy, itself an adaptation of DuBose Heyward's 1925 novel of the same name.

Entertainment

Kinky Boots (musical)

Kinky Boots is a Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein.

Entertainment

Six (musical)

Six is a British musical with book, music and lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. The musical is a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII presented as a pop concert, as the wives take turns singing and telling their story to see who suffered the most due to Henry and should therefore become the group's lead singer.

Entertainment

Cats

Cats is a sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. It tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make the "Jellicle choice", deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. The musical includes the well-known song "Memory" as sung by Grizabella. As of 2019, Cats remains the fourth-longest-running Broadway show and the sixth-longest-running West End show.

Entertainment

Come from Away

Come from Away is a musical with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. It is set in the week following the September 11 attacks and tells the true story of what transpired when 38 planes were ordered to land unexpectedly in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon. The characters in the musical are based on real Gander residents as well as some of the 7,000 stranded travelers they housed and fed.

Entertainment

The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is a musical comedy about two young Mormon missionaries who travel to Uganda to preach the Mormon religion. First staged in 2011, the play makes light of various Mormon beliefs and practices, but ultimately endorses the positive power of love and service. The script, lyrics, and music were written by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone. Parker and Stone were best known for creating the animated comedy South Park; Lopez had co-written the music for the musical Avenue Q.

Entertainment

The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart. Richard Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber wrote the musical's book together. Stilgoe also provided additional lyrics. Based on the eponymous French novel by Gaston Leroux, its central plot revolves around a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opéra House.

Entertainment

Wicked (musical)

Wicked is a Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, an alternative telling of the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The musical is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz; its plot begins before and continues after Dorothy Gale's arrival in Oz from Kansas, and it includes several references to the 1939 film and Baum's novel. Wicked tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba and Galinda, who struggle through opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace.

Entertainment

West Side Story

West Side Story is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.

Entertainment

Les Misérables

Les Misérables, colloquially known in English-speaking countries as Les Mis or Les Miz, is a sung-through musical based on the novel Les Misérables by French poet and novelist Victor Hugo. Premiering in Paris in 1980, it has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and original French-language lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, alongside an English-language libretto with accompanying English-language lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. The London production has run continuously since October 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world after the original Off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks.

Entertainment

In the Heights

In the Heights is a musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Hispanic-American neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City.

Entertainment

Rent (musical)

Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson, loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

Entertainment

Waitress (musical)

Waitress is a musical with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson. The musical is based on the 2007 film of the same name, written by Adrienne Shelly. It tells the story of Jenna Hunterson, a waitress in an abusive relationship with her husband Earl. When Jenna unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she begins an affair with her gynecologist, Dr. Jim Pomatter. Looking for ways out, she sees a pie contest and its grand prize as her chance.

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Video encyclopedia

Musicals

Popular in this category (1,690)

Hamilton

Dear Evan Hansen

Porgy and Bess

Kinky Boots (musical)

Six (musical)

Cats

Come from Away

The Book of Mormon

The Phantom of the Opera

Wicked (musical)

West Side Story

Les Misérables

In the Heights

Rent (musical)

Waitress (musical)

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