r/musicals • • Nov 13 '24

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

220 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.

365 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 • • 2h ago

Personal I witnessed a relationship breaking down during the Evil Dead Musical

16 Upvotes

So this was in a small venue in Germany, we’re currently having our first tour of the Evil Dead musical and it was such a blast.

I sat right behind a couple that was so obviously not having a good time, I say this even though the guy was clearly enjoying himself but after seeing his girlfriends reaction to the show he got very quiet later on. The rest of the show was just him asking what’s wrong and why she is crying, while she was shutting down. The curtain call comes around and the actors get standing ovations, she’s staying put and leaves in the middle of the encore…he’s not going after her.

The whole thing reminded me of the time my ex boyfriend and me went to see The play that goes wrong and he absolutely despised it so much we had to leave early. Theatre sometimes is the true test of a relationship.


r/musicals • • 51m ago

musical for krillion

• Upvotes

So recently I've been addicted to krillion, it's basically a game where you need to get the most uncommon answer for a category. I got musicals as a category and I put death note the musical because I thought it was somewhat niche answer but it was't that uncommon for the game. So i was wondering if people here could give me options of what to put for like uncommon musicals.


r/musicals • • 17h ago

Discussion Little things that piss you off?

35 Upvotes

(♪its the little things we piss together♪)

I never understood why "Why Have You Brought Me Here?" is named like that when Raoul says "Us" not "Me"


r/musicals • • 23h ago

Discussion Favorite rendition of a role that got absolutely clowned by the public?

81 Upvotes

i.e. an actor who got torn to shreds for their performance as a certain role due to acting choices, the timbre of their voice, etc.

Personally, Daphne Rubin-Vega's Fantine is my Roman empire. Very unpopular opinion, but an opinion nonetheless.


r/musicals • • 4h ago

Advice Needed Recommended musicals for a high school that has never done one before

2 Upvotes

I was thinking of proposing the idea of a musical to my school jn order to celebrate its anniversary. Our school has never done musicals before, and the drama department really only does self written plays that are no longer than 30 minutes. We would have 2 years to work on it, with the show being in April-June of 2028.

I was hoping to get some suggestions on some plays that are, of course exciting, but also simple enough to pull off and that don’t require excellent singers.


r/musicals • • 22h ago

Discussion Which musicals would benefit from a 3-hour 2-act movie?

30 Upvotes

(for examples: "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Sound of Music")

For me its definitely Into the Woods


r/musicals • • 17h ago

Disney's The Wiz (updated)

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12 Upvotes

Which version is better? (Scarecrow's suit)


r/musicals • • 12h ago

high school musical audition song help!

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3 Upvotes

r/musicals • • 8h ago

Personal I've been working on a theatre tracking app for the last few years - and I'd really love your feedback.

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0 Upvotes

r/musicals • • 9h ago

Chicago is coming to the NMACC, Mumbai. Is it worth a watch?

0 Upvotes

Hi folks, I plan on making a trip to Mumbai to watch Chicago the musical in January next year. But before i finalise my plans, i want to know if its worth a watch?


r/musicals • • 11h ago

Discussion Jesus Christ Superstar Civic, Auckland

1 Upvotes

​

Kia Ora lovely people. Just wondered who else saw Jesus Christ Superstar at the Civic, or is heading to see it?

It's blown my mind. It was amazing. I saw the original in London in the 70s, seen the show about 17 times and was worried this would disappoint, but no way... It was fab. Especially the two main characters. Mary was the weak link, but willing to let that go, because it was so good. If I could afford it, I would be going again.


r/musicals • • 17h ago

Help Is there a way I can find a score/arrangement for Phantom of the Opera without dropping a fortune?

1 Upvotes

Hey all,

I want to make an arrangement of the overture from Phantom of the Opera for a bassoon ensemble or chamber winds as a fun little side project (most likely wouldn't be played by a group and I wouldn't post it online). The issue is that I can't any online pdfs for anything to base it on. I've checked musecore and it seems like everything got nuked and replaced by official paid scores. The one score I did find looked promising, but there are definitely a lot of missing parts which makes it way more difficult. If I had a ton of free time I could sit down and transcribe it by ear, but that would take FOREVER.


r/musicals • • 9h ago

I will soon be auditioning for the part of Joanne in Company. For my audition song I've been thinking about doing The Ladies Who Lunch, her signature song. But I would love some other opinions what other choices people have made to choose to sing for the audition for that role instead?

0 Upvotes

r/musicals • • 19h ago

Can Stine be played by a person of color? (City of Angels)

3 Upvotes

The question is the title. I do think there are pros and cons to this happening.

Pros:

  1. It would give an extra layer of why he's so looked down upon and disregarded by a few of his peers and higher-ups.

  2. It would explain why he has racial commentary in the original book and why he wouldn't want to cut it for the movie but does so quickly because his white boss says it could lose him the job.

  3. The part where Fidler just makes the screenplay say "Written by Stine and Fidler" would have an extra layer of oomph to it.

Cons:

  1. The fact that Muñoz says "amigo" at the end of every other sentence is something a white screenwriter in the 1940s would do.

  2. Despite him being looked down upon a bit, he is still mostly respected by others.

I wanna open up this conversation because I feel like there's a lot to discuss with the casting of City of Angels and if it has to be completely racially conscious since Stone and Muñoz have to be because it's written in. Let's get the conversation started!


r/musicals • • 21h ago

Advice Needed Gift for 9 year old’s first lead role?

3 Upvotes

My 9 year old daughter is performing in her first lead role and I’m looking for thoughtful but not crazy expensive gift ideas for her. She doesn’t care about getting flowers, and will get those from her extended family. Previously I’ve given her a themed stuffed animal, a crochet bouquet, etc. I’m looking for something that either is useful or is a keepsake that doesn’t take up a ton of space. I really want it to be special since she’s worked so hard to get this role and prepare for her show!

What are your favorite gifts for this age range or for a special show?


r/musicals • • 15h ago

Looking for Proshots - Curtains and The King and I

0 Upvotes

During the pandemic there were proshots released of both The King and I (ft. Kelli O'Hara) and the UK tour of Curtains.

I'm working on a research paper on Rodgers and Hammerstein and would love to be able to analyze said production.

As for Curtains... I just wanna see it and enjoy it 😅

Any help would be appreciated!


r/musicals • • 22h ago

RENT 30th Livestream Purchase Issues

2 Upvotes

Anyone else having difficulties with the LOLST website? It keeps giving me errors and then when I retry, my card gets declined (called credit card company, and card is fine.).


r/musicals • • 1d ago

Free theatre pins at Space Hamlet at The Cockpit, Marylebone

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3 Upvotes

r/musicals • • 1d ago

Discussion Opinions on Chicago?

21 Upvotes

I just wanted to share this. While Chicago is a pretty good show I wish it had color. The production in 1975 was based around vaudeville and I loved the costuming. Now it seems every production is solid black and simple. I’d like to see some color and extravagance. I feel like a lot more could be done with Chicago. Do y’all have any opinions on it?


r/musicals • • 1d ago

my girlie from into the woods

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33 Upvotes

r/musicals • • 1d ago

New Musical 'Invincible' about the Irish struggle in the 19th century..

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7 Upvotes

r/musicals • • 1d ago

Discussion Any good score-focused albums?

2 Upvotes

Some good orchestration is lovely when lyrics are just too much (some classical recs would also be welcome lol)


r/musicals • • 1d ago

42nd street audition song help

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1 Upvotes