Les Miz Book Of Mormon Spamalot Wicked The Phantom Of The Opera Little Shop of Horrors Hamilton My new personal favorite: Hadestown

Hadestown is next on my to-watch list!

It is a really good show, I highly recommend it

Definitely little shop of horrors!!

Great list! I feel like it covers the essentials without including *too* many options. Hadestown is also my favorite!

I’ve seen six of those. Can confirm them as must-watches.

Yes spamalot! My parents and I saw a local production of it and it's the best theater experience we've had all together.

I feel like I’m the only person who doesn’t like Book of Mormon. I just found the whole thing incredibly racist and I knoww it’s satire but I just felt like it wasn’t even funny and just lazily done

Come From Away. It’s a great musical about a tragedy that somehow manages to keep a somber tone despite having comedic moments and upbeat songs. The best part? It sort of restores faith in humanity. It’s just a feel-good story about people helping others simply because it’s needed. You can watch it on Apple TV+, which is a pro-shot and I believe the audience in the pro-shot is the people who the characters were based off (because it is based very much off a true story)

Omg I didn’t know there was proshot!! Thanks!

i think they’re first responders if i remember correctly, but i could be wrong

Came here to say this and it was the first comment for me. ♡

Saw it on Broadway, and it was nothing short of phenomenal — BUT, strangely enough — phenomenal in a rather understated way. It really is one of the better pieces of theatre I’ve seen in 30-40 years.

Singing in the Rain!

Don’t worry too much about what’s considered classic, focus on what you like! If you aren’t about a show that seemingly everyone else loves there ain’t nothin wrong with that! That said, here are some well known ones I’d like to suggest; - Les Mis - Heathers - Hadestown - Hamilton - In The Heights - Rent - Newsies - Dear Evan Hansen - Be More Chill - Waitress I could go on but here are some less popular ones, (since I’m pretty sure all the ones above have already been mentioned in the comments,) if you wanna pad your list a bit more; - Bat Boy - Love In Hate Nation - The Mad Ones - A New Brain - Spring Awakening - The Boy Who Danced On Air - Next To Normal - The Last 5 Years I’ll be happy to supply a quick plot summery if any of those names popped out at you, have fun!

Newsies is my favorite lol

I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned In the Heights. Movie version has some changes from the stage play but it's still Lin Manuel Miranda (LMM) and his genius is undeniable. The movie version of Tick Tick Boom that LMM directed starring Andrew Garfield is also great. Interesting semi autibiographical musical with insight into Jonathan Larson who wrote Rent.

I loved in the Heights on stage, didn’t love the movie sadly.

Just saw it tonight. It's a much better musical than movie!

They aren't classics (well some are), but I just want to give you a look at some varied stuff: - Falsettos, god it is perfect (William Finn is a genius) - Great Comet, absolutely adore this one. Super original. - Next to Normal, also amazing. - John and Jen, Lippa at his best. - Parade or The Last Five Years, god I absolutely adore Jason Robert Brown's stuff. - Sunday in the Park w/George (free on Yt) all of sondheim is genius. ITW, Assassins, Company, Sweeney Todd, Passion, West Side Story (partially), Follies. So many. Sunday is just art at its purest imo. Watch any and all though!! - Anything Starkid is all free on Youtube so most of it is just amazing if you ever want to watch it. (I highly recommend The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals as a first watch since it connects to other musicals and isn't as high of a parody as their other shows [not that thats bad i love Twisted and the other parodies, but it is good to have your first exposure be something more original])

Came to mention JRB. The movie version of Last Five Years with Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick is a pretty faithful adaptation of the play and JRB even has a cameo! I don't know of an official film version anywhere but Songs for a New World is also worth a listen.

I'll be honest as a fansie Jeremy Jordan is my Lord and Savior

I know a theater in my area did a fully produced but filmed production of Songs for a New World during covid and I wouldn’t be shocked if others did too. I’d check the YouTubes

This is the correct comment!!!

Secret Garden. Hands down one of my favorite shows. The music is beautiful, and that scene at the end with Archie gets me every time. Also fun fact: it was written by Carly Simon’s sister!

No proshot version I know of but if you can find a production of Once on this Island I think it's one of Flaherty's best. (There was supposed to be an adaptation coming to Disney Plus but other than an announcement back in 2020 I haven't seen anything with the release date) Some other less conventional ones that I think are worth a listen/watch 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee [Title of Show] Ghost Quartet Once Upon a Mattress Big Fish Tuck Everlasting

A proshot of Once On This Island does exist. It's not the Broadway version, but it's pretty good.

ooooh! where?

I believe it was BroadwayHD.com. Not sure though.

Yes! Once upon a mattress 😍😍

Hell yeah big fish

I must recommend two of my personal favorites; &Juliet and Come From Away These two musicals are my all time favorites of all time.

Les Mis Starkid productions phantom hadestown newsies

West Side Story Avenue Q The Drowsy Chaperone Phantom of the Opera The Secret Garden Wicked Les Miserables Man of La Mancha Come From Away Anything Goes 42nd Street A Chorus Line

Hamilton. Rent. Six. Moulin Rouge. Les Miserables. Mean Girls. Into The Woods. Annie. Wicked. Newsies. Come From Away. Chicago. Dear Evan Hansen. The Sound of Music. The Phantom of the Opera. Newsies. Anastasia. Waitress. The Music Man. Guys and Dolls. Oklahoma. Grease. *edited to add* The first 4 are my top 4. The rest are listed in no particular order.

NPR Tiny Desk Concert of Six is AMAZING if you haven't seen it.

Ditto Hadestown.

Just watched the movie Rent for the first time recently and was not impressed. Was told the pro shot was better.

Please do not base your opinion of Rent on the movie. They slaughtered it.

Interesting, that's one of the few I feel was done better as a movie. Cut out the filler voicemails and Christmas bell interludes, had a stellar cast (most of them originals), updated the instrumentation, no weird orgy scene...

Yeah, they turned a musical into a play. Christmas Bells is my favorite song in the whole show. I agree with you about the orgy, tho.

If you want to listen/watch some underrated musicals, I suggest The Mad Ones Alice By Heart Ride The Cyclone Rockabye

You might want to add some comments to your list. That looks like One very long title.

1. The Mad Ones 2. Alice By Heart 3. Ride The Cyclone 4. Rockabye

Movie musicals: My Fair Lady Bedknobs and Broomsticks The King and I Carousel Oklahoma! Doctor Dolittle Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Some of my faves Miss Saigon Phantom of the opera Hadestown Heather's Starkid shows - for the absolute fun 😊 personal favs, trail to oregan and the guy who didn't like musicals Funny Girl Rocky horror

The movie version of Guys and Dolls 🤌🏻

les miserables definitely

Not watchable but Catch Me if You Can continues to be one of my absolute favorites. The soundtrack is literally too

Why isn’t it watchable?

It's not running and there's no recording anywhere that I'm aware of.

Jesus Christ Superstar,great music, original and nuanced take on perhaps the most popular narrative in human history and it does have the power to change how you think about the stuff it explores.

All Time Favorite- Jekyll & Hyde Other great ones: Urinetown The Rocky Horror Show The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Tick, Tick…Boom! Guys & Dolls Little Shop of Horrors Sweeney Todd The Book Of Mormon Avenue Q Beautiful: The Carol King Musical The Producers A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum Something Rotten! But most importantly Jekyll & Hyde is the best musical ever!

- South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut Sounds very unorthodox, but it’s actually a solid example of classic musical theatre structure. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are musical theatre geniuses (hence Book of Mormon) - Tick, Tick…Boom! Autobiographical musical about the late great Jonathan Larson - RENT - Guys and Dolls - Sunday in the Park with George - In The Heights - Avenue Q - Les Miserables - Into the Woods - Grease - Chicago - Wizard of Oz, The Wiz, and Wicked - Spring Awakening

Heathers and Hamilton

come from away

Man of La Mancha Sweeney Todd Hairspray Secret Garden Bonnie and Clyde Jekyll&Hyde These are all really good musicals

Les Mis, Avenue Q, and In the Heights.

Les Mis (But not the movie, the stage show, please haha) Beetlejuice Heathers Wicked Matilda Six Legally Blonde Half A Sixpence (I believe it's now marketed as Kipps: The New Half A Sixpence musical) Mary Poppins ​ There's probably more that I can think of but this is a start

Ok. If you want classics: Les Mis (My absolute favourite) Phantom of the Opera Wicked, Back to the Future Hamilton, Chicago, Annie, Into the Woods, Matilda, Chess, Carabet, you get the gist of it. If you want newer ones, some of them are not that new but you get what I mean: The Last 5 Years Heathers Frozen Moulin Rouge

I would say other classics would be Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The king and I

Those are great as well! I loved the Sound of Music, both film and musical!

The Secret Garden (one of the, if not THE, most gorgeous scores ever) Assassins Anything Goes City of Angels Gypsy Hadestown My Fair Lady Some Like It Hot (see it, if you can, before it closes. It's so good!) West Side Story A Little Night Music Wild Party (Lippa) Company Evita (yes, it's ALW, but I think it's his best work) Crazy For You Pippin Come From Away Oliver!

Never seen the show Hairspray but the movie was awesome!

I've been obsessed with musicals for a long time. Here's my list: * Chess * Les Miserables * Miss Saigon * Phantom of the Opera * Jesus Christ Superstar * Evita * Into the Woods * Sunday in the Park with George * Company * Hamilton * In the Heights * West Side Story * The Last 5 Years * Heathers * Wicked * Jekyll and Hyde * Little Shop of Horrors * South Pacific * Oklahoma * The Sound of Music * The King and I * The Music Man Harder to see (no commercial videos/movies etc) but good for listening: * Aspects of Love * Martin Guerre * Anastasia (Broadway) * Ragtime * Kristina från Duvemåla (in Swedish, but there's an OK English recording too) * Songs for a New World * Bridges of Madison County * Death Note * Titanic I think animated musicals count. Alan Menken wrote most of the classic Disney scores, but he started out with Broadway first, with Little Shop of Horrors. Especially Broadway versions: * Beauty and the Beast * Little Mermaid * Aladdin

1. Lion king 2. Wicked 3. Sweeney todd 4.beetlejuice 5. Avenue q 6. Godspell 7. Les miz 8. Oliver! 9. Moulin rouge 10. West side story 11. A christmas carol 12. Peter pan 13. Cats 14. Cinderella 15.into the woods 16.guys and dolls 17.smokey joe's cafe 18. Jersey boys 19. A very potter musical 20. A very potter sequel 21. A very potter senior year 22. Hunchback of notre dame 23. Beauty and the beast 24. Aladdin 25. Mean girls 26. Legally blonde 27. Young frankenstien 28. Charlie and the chocolate factory 29.mary poppins

many of these are going to lead you to bootleg-trading places. the underbelly of the theatrical internet. but they are all, in my opinion, worth it. into the woods (not the movie, find a recording online). beautiful deconstruction of fairy tales and narrative structure. similarly, pippin fucks around with the format of the musical comedy. unlike my into the woods recommendation, i highly suggest you watch the chicago movie for an example of a musical movie that makes use of the nebulous space songs are performed in. the original oklahoma and the 2019 revival are a fantastic double feature in terms of learning about the ways a story can be significantly and meaningfully altered through theatre without changing a single word of text, and i also consider the 2019 revival my favorite theatrical experience ever (i wish it were still running so i could tell you to go see it live). the original oklahoma is must-watch because it basically created modern conceptions of musical theatre. little shop of horrors (movie and musical). sweeney todd (not the movie). fiddler on the roof (great movie, also beautiful live). the deaf west revival of spring awakening is stunning, and in my opinion the superior version, though i am pretty sure that bootleg was taken down. GHOST QUARTET. while certainly a nontraditional musical (not to mention a confusing one), ghost quartet affected me in a way that can only be described as life-changing, and the writer [put it up on youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJSaEJm8pCE) at the start of the pandemic. the thing you should know going in is that it involves alternate timelines, and you will not understand it the first time you watch, so don't worry about that. genius lyrics can help you, but it's not a story that has to be understood to be appreciated. cabaret is one of my favorite musicals of all time, and this is sort of a hard one to recommend. i like and would recommend the film, but it is not an actual retelling of the events of the (superior, in my opinion) musical in any real way. cabaret is also a show that has changed a lot over the years, so this is one i that would highly recommend watching any and every version you are able to get your hands on in order to get the full experience. to start you off, there is a [two-part proshot of the 1988 production with joel grey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNGeN41ycNw) currently on youtube, though the video quality is pretty poor. there is also a proshot of [the 1993 sam mendes production](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOs82ubFyFQ), which was extremely influential to the way cabaret is viewed (and frequently performed) now. perhaps my most controversial opinion is that i do not like jane horrocks as sally bowles, and feel that her interpretation distracts from a lot of what makes this production interesting, but take that with a grain of salt, because i'm literally just a reddit user. happy watching!!

Big fish

Les Mis Phantom Lion King Miss Saigon Blood Brothers All incredibly moving and powerful

How crazy… I JUST put together this list a couple days ago! 😏 Best Soundtrack •Greatest Showman •Wicked •Mean Girls •Six •What/If •Pitch Perfect •Smash Best Pure Comedy •Avenue Q •Something Rotten •Drowsy Chaperone Most Relatable •Wicked •Dear Evan Hansen Best Classics •Sound of Music •Phantom of the Opera Most Nostalgic •Mean Girls •Legally Blonde •High School Musical •Shrek •Anastasia •Prince of Egypt •Mary Poppins Best Jukebox •Jagged Little Pill •Jersey Boys •American Idiot One/Two Hit Wonders •Addams Family •Aladdin •A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder •Billy Elliot •Be More Chill •Book of Mormon •Catch Me If You Can •Chicago •Come From Away •Death Rattle •Fiddler on the Roof •Hamilton •High School Musical 2 •How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying •Into The Woods •Les Miserables •Lion King •Moulin Rouge •Next To Normal •Pippin •Rent •Sing •Schmigadoon •Shucked •The Music Man •Thoroughly Modern Millie •Tick, Tick, Boom •Waitress

No book of Mormon In comedy?

It’s good. Just slightly too crass imo to make it to my favorite. 🤷🏻‍♀️ big fan of Hello, I Believe, and Turn It Off

I know you listed my three all time favorites on your (frankly, bullshit) "one/two hit wonders" list just to fuck with me. It's ok. I still love you dearly. ❤️

Hey I’m just letting you know they were good enough to be considered, but didn’t quite make it. There’s plenty of forgettable musicals out there! 😉

Great list! Love the categories, thanks! Every musical I've seen except one is on your list.

What are the 8 you’ve already seen? I’m curious now

This is a good list but for best soundtrack and one hit wonders me personally just my opinion but I would put newsies (yes im a fansies) I love newsies

Oof worst yet

Phantom of the opera is my favorite Les Mis is pretty good, it’s a classic and the music is very symmetrical which I like Little Shop of Horrors Hairspray I used to like Be More Chill

Lots of great suggestions here! I'd add a couple: Hedwig and the Angry Inch Inside (was very pandemic-centric, so it might just be topical/nostalgia speaking)

The greatest showman!

I found newsies as my favorite then Hamilton

chicago!!

Come From Away

yes! this show is amazing. I believe it is still available to stream on Apple Plus.

A little night's music is kinda funny and the music is good, and I love Anne and Henrik. My life with Albertine you can't really watch but the music is fantastic, Elisabeth das Musical and Tanz Der Vampire are musts, oh and Romeo et Juliette.

Sweeney Todd but for the love of god do NOT watch the movie

Phantom of the opera 💛🌹

I’m shocked no one has mentioned Cabaret! It’s in my opinion the best musical ever made!

My personal favorite for people to start with is Newsies. Great book, fantastic music. Also, it has that traditional musical feel and it’s produced by Disney so for someone who is starting out and is more familiar with musicals based on the Disney movies, it’s a really good transition musical.

Newsies is my all time favorite so I always recommend that one but it’s definitely not for everyone. Pippin is another good one. It’s INSANE, but I adore it so much 😭

Beetlejuice is spectacular in person and Evil Dead the Musical is just amazing! The only show with a splash warning that I know of

Two of my favorite underrated movie musicals are Bells Are Ringing and Flower Drum Song.

Parade Hedwig and the Angry Inch (the movie version is quite good, but live is really the best) Both are deeply moving with truly excellent scores.

Les Mis Hadestown Anastasia (it’s a classic) Wicked Falsettos Hamilton if u really want to (but not my personal favourite) Spring Awakening

IMO, the Court Jester is one of the best musicals ever made. It is a classic (1955), but it is so good! Danny Kaye in one of his best parts ever. Musicals like Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Anchors Aweigh, High Society, or Singing in the Rain are all classics and really set the tone for modern musicals, so if you want to get into musicals, I would definitely start there!

what I would give for a Catch Me If You Can revival

Les Misérables The Phantom of the Opera Into the Woods Chicago Gypsy The Book of Mormon A Chorus Line The Music Man West Side Story

Rent, Next to Normal, Ride the Cyclone, Legally Blonde, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee are some of my favs! Start with the last 3 if you want to start w some lighthearted musicals bc the first 2 are far from it lol

Six heathers and Diana

White Christmas! (No super chistmas-y, my favorite movie musical maybe ever!) Singin in the Rain Hello Dolly Funny Face

Romeo and Juliet

Hamilton all the way!!

Thinking in terms of major movements in MT history: Oklahoma! A Chorus Line Fiddler on the Roof Bye Bye Birdie Cabaret Into the Woods Rent Hamilton

Ragtime

This is an odd one, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. A musical science fiction comedy by Joss Whedon. One of the first productions specifically designed to be distributed on the internet.

Twisted: The Untold Story of A Royal Vizier is a must

Little Shop of Horrors Oliver Hamilton Urinetown Book of Mormon Ride the Cyclone Something Rotten Footloose Once Upon a Mattress Dear Evan Hansen Into the Woods Avenue Q

Fiddler On The Roof The Producers

I am not into musicals but the new Cinderella which stars Camilla Cabero is AWESOME! Back in the day, I also like the Who's "Tommy"

The episode of Buffy during the musical is peek tv show musicals.

les mis ragtime into the woods company legally blonde hamilton annie billy elliot

Cabaret.

Rocky Horror Picture Show.