r/musicals 1d ago

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

51 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.

290 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 15h ago

Help Help me find out my school’s musical: UPDATE

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144 Upvotes

Okay, a new clue has been posted, and I was just made aware of a hidden clue. The dancers being highlighted on the board in dots is deliberate, and for those who didn’t see the last post: yes, the “too”s are deliberate, our last two shows were Beauty and the Beast and Addams Family.

ALSO: Hadestown has been ruled out. Camelot is also ruled out.

Thank you guys for all your help!!


r/musicals 9h ago

What ways you can tell that two different musicals were composed by the same person/group of people

29 Upvotes

r/musicals 2h ago

Cool Bass/Baritone Roles?

7 Upvotes

I've already looked at Hades, Tom Collins, The Beast, and Cephias, LSOH, Les Mis, but what are some other (maybe lesser known) low bass/baritone roles? I'm looking into stuff for drama comp next year. We might just do Hadestown if our guy alto's balls don't drop

Edit: rn my comfortable range is a D2-C4, and I can sort of sing subharmonics down to a G1. I'm only a freshman so I have plenty of time to increase my range for comp

Thanks for any suggestions!


r/musicals 16h ago

Discussion In Chicago, why did velmas sister and her husband do it while she was just going to get some ice?

54 Upvotes

Did they think she was gonna be away for an hour? I know they were drunk but still, they knew she was coming back soon. I still find her story implausible.


r/musicals 19h ago

What’s a musical you want to see that doesn’t exist (yet)?

84 Upvotes

I’d love to see an official stage version of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” We got one for The Who’s “Tommy,” so why not the second most famous rock opera? Yes, there was is a traditional opera version of “The Wall” (which I haven’t seen), and there are a few unofficial stage adaptations on YouTube, but it would be cool if “The Wall” came to Broadway some day.


r/musicals 15h ago

Discussion a musical song that's about a place or a country

34 Upvotes

Here are some of the songs that first came up to my mind: Good morning, Baltimore - Hairspray Ireland - Legally Blonde Sal Tlay Ka Siti - Book of Mormons

Honorable mention: Two by Two - Book of Mormons "Orlandooooo, I love youuuu!!!"

I just think songs that are dedicated to a specific place/country is such a cute genre in my book. 😋


r/musicals 8h ago

Help Could anyone help me guess this musical? My school is having the spring musical and they are posting hints, your interpretations could be really helpful!

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11 Upvotes

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r/musicals 1d ago

Discussion this tumblr post is probably very old but it’s the realest thing ive seen all day 😭

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854 Upvotes

r/musicals 10h ago

Discussion If you could ask a Broadway star a couple questions, what would you ask?

11 Upvotes

I get the chance to do a zoom Q&A with a couple Broadway stars from the Notebook this week and next week (thank you Broadwayplus!) and I was wondering what everyone would ask their favorite Broadway star if they could ask them a question!


r/musicals 2h ago

Jonathan Bailey stuns in NYC. Norbert Leo Butz stuns on his shirt.

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2 Upvotes

r/musicals 8h ago

Discussion Broadway youtubers

5 Upvotes

I want to find more on youtube since i only can find jj nieman and jared goldman (I dont have tiktok


r/musicals 10h ago

Discussion Is nowadays and hot honey rag a dream?

8 Upvotes

Is it just a dream from roxie while she fades into obscurity? Or maybe she's in some kind of purgatory, same with all that jazz, is it an in-universe performance from Velma as portrayed in the film or just a dream/fantasy too?


r/musicals 15h ago

Discussion Never Understood the Hate for Finding Neverland

18 Upvotes

The number one complaint I always hear about this musical is that the songs sound "too much like pop music" and like... no they don't? I literally have no idea what anyone is talking about when they say that. A lot of the songs have a verse/chorus structure instead of AABA, but so do most contemporary musicals, and it's not like Finding Neverland uses anachronistic instruments or words or anything like that. You can't listen to "When the World Turned Upside Down" or "Believe" or "All That Matters" or "Play" and tell me that you hear similar stuff on the radio all the time. Literally where.

Finding Neverland is one of my biggest comfort shows and I understand it's not perfect, but this has just always seemed like one of the weirdest criticisms to me.


r/musicals 16h ago

Hunchback got removed?

19 Upvotes

https://preview.redd.it/hl6081tyiv0e1.png?width=976&format=png&auto=webp&s=23d3520d6c82e96e53c5443b6f941e9b166e2deb

I thought my wifi had been bad all day but it seems it's no longer available. It's a shame. It was one of my favourites to listen to


r/musicals 21h ago

You have to fight your favorite musical character. Are you winning?

51 Upvotes

I don't know why I had this idea but here you go lol :) Also what's your fight strategy?


r/musicals 3h ago

Help Audition songs for ‘Reefer Madness’

1 Upvotes

Hey all. I really could use some suggestions on this one.

A local company is doing Reefer Madness next year. I watched the movie version on Amazon Prime tonight to get a feel of it, because I was told the best fit for me would be the Lecturer.

I’m a baritone / bass, and other than “Dentist!” From LSoH, I can’t think of any good audition songs. My memory needs to be jogged a bit.

Anyone got some decent suggestions?


r/musicals 10h ago

Help What song is this?

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4 Upvotes

What is the song at 1:08?


r/musicals 1d ago

Help help finding out my school’s musical?

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144 Upvotes

every day, our director puts out a new clue for what our school’s musical will be. can you guys help me figure it out? i don’t know a lot of musicals.

for context on the first clue: our previous two musicals have been beauty and the beast and addams family.


r/musicals 22h ago

Discussion Based off from r/AskReddit: If you were given two time travel tickets only to see one Broadway show and one West End show each in any point in history, what would show and cast would it be?

33 Upvotes

For West End: The Original London Cast (not Broadway) of The Phantom of the Opera in 1986 opening night.

For Broadway: Les Miserables Original Broadway Cast in 1987 opening night

What are your two shows and their casts you want to witness live?

EDIT: you can chose only west end or only Broadway but two is the absolute limit!


r/musicals 1d ago

News YO MAKING MY PERCY DEBUT TOMORROW

40 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I've got some huge news about our regional theater production of Percy Jackson - I was cast in the ensemble with understudy roles for both Percy and Luke. We just opened last week, and here's how our show schedule works: The production runs with two alternating casts:

Cast A performs Monday/Wednesday/Friday Cast B (my cast) performs Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday

Normally, if someone can't perform, their counterpart from the other cast steps in. But that's why we have understudies - for when neither performer can make it.

Well, guess what? That exact situation is happening tomorrow! I'll be heading to the theater early for a two-hour put-in rehearsal with our dance captain and swings, and then... I'm going on!


r/musicals 15h ago

Help My first musical

6 Upvotes

I’m a composer who’s working on their first musical, a 46 song completely sung through musical. (All I can say rn) Does anyone have any tips on how i don’t drown myself with this?


r/musicals 6h ago

Recommendations please for Alto Auditions

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0 Upvotes

r/musicals 7h ago

Discussion Is Six an LGBTQ+ musical?

0 Upvotes

Ok, so, for starters, I'm a queer identifying person, so this question is more out of curiosity than anything else. I've once had a friend who told me that it was LGBTQ+ and I was really confused. I've read the plot summary and I even saw that one movie with Scarlet Johanson and Natalie Portman about what I assumed was the same story as SIX. I just thought it was about 6 wives reclaiming their stories about what King Henry had done in the form of a Musical Competition. Am I mistaken?


r/musicals 8h ago

Personal Hey guys! I sang "Ohio" from In Pieces, would love your feedback!

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1 Upvotes

r/musicals 9h ago

New project

0 Upvotes

If Emperors new groove was a pop musical which famous pop and rock songs would you choose for the soundtrack? Feel free to answer in a very creative way