The Best Musicals of All Time + My Top 100

Here’s the list of my favorite musicals of all time! This list is going to be constantly updated as I listen to new cast recordings, see more shows, and re-watch/listen to things. For example, I might not end up obsessing over a musical until seeing it the third time. Or I might not quite be convinced about a show until re-listening to the cast album or reading the libretto.

Notes: This is a personal opinion of my own favorite musicals! Your list is probably going to look a lot different from mine. But this is also a good place to start if you’re looking for new ideas of shows to see or cast recordings to check out. And if you’re like me and want to keep track of all of the best musicals you’ve seen and plays you’ve read, you might just love The Thespian’s Bucket List!

And here’s a comprehensive list of my cast album ratings!

My Top 10 Musicals

* This list can always change!

Les Misérables
Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Sweeney Todd
Hadestown
Into the Woods
Rent
Hamilton
Chicago
Fiddler on the Roof
Fangirls

My Top 100 Musicals

* This list is always changing!

Les Misérables
Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Sweeney Todd
Hadestown
Into the Woods
Rent
Hamilton
Chicago
Fiddler on the Roof
Fangirls
In the Heights
Falsettos
Company
Ragtime
Miss Saigon
The Book of Mormon
She Loves Me
A Little Night Music
Spring Awakening
21 Chump Street
Cabaret
Aladdin
West Side Story
The Sound of Music
Guys and Dolls
The Rocky Horror Show
Singin’ in the Rain
The Lion King
American Psycho
Heathers
Chess
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Ride the Cyclone
Floyd Collins
Closer to Heaven
Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope
A Year With Frog and Toad
The Wizard of Oz
Grease
Mary Poppins
Preludes
Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Nevermore
A Strange Loop
Zorba
Sunday in the Park with George
Alice by Heart
An American in Paris
Hundred Days
La Cage aux Folles
Dear Evan Hansen
Parade
Follies
Grey Gardens
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
The Dolls of New Albion
Venice
Bernarda Alba
Carousel
Caroline, or Change
Lizzie
Cyrano
Sweet Smell of Success
Memphis
The Producers
Titanic
Little Shop of Horrors
The Band’s Visit
The Lord of the Rings
Next to Normal
The Color Purple
The Last Five Years
The Wiz
The Robber Bridegroom
Amélie
A Christmas Story
Merrily We Roll Along
Be More Chill
Jagged Little Pill
tick, tick… BOOM!
The Scottsboro Boys
A Chorus Line
The Wild Party (LaChiusa)
The Phantom of the Opera
A New Brain
Allegiance
Anastasia
My Fair Lady
Fun Home
Come From Away
Gypsy
A Bronx Tale
Something Rotten!
Working
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Anything Goes
The Capeman
The Bridges of Madison County
South Pacific
Big River

Rating: 10/10

A 10/10 musical is a rare musical in my eyes. In my opinion, a musical is worth a 10 if I ever find myself listening to the cast recording for weeks on end, or sometimes even longer. These are what I consider to be the best musicals of all time. These are musicals that interfered with life (at whatever point I first discovered them) in a way that I could not listen to anything else for a considerable period of time.

Chicago
Company
Falsettos
Fangirls
Fiddler on the Roof
Hadestown
Hamilton
In the Heights
Into the Woods
Les Misérables
Miss Saigon
Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Ragtime
Rent
Sweeney Todd
The Book of Mormon

Rating: 9/10

The following musicals are ones that I consider to be among the best of all time. I’d say that the following are just shy of being perfect.

21 Chump Street
A Little Night Music
A Strange Loop
A Year With Frog and Toad
Aladdin
Alice by Heart
American Psycho
An American in Paris
Cabaret
Chess
Closer to Heaven
Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope
Floyd Collins
Grease
Guys and Dolls
Heathers
Hundred Days
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Mary Poppins
Nevermore
Preludes
Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Ride the Cyclone
She Loves Me
Singin’ in the Rain
Spring Awakening
The Lion King
The Rocky Horror Show
The Sound of Music
The Wizard of Oz
West Side Story
Zorba

Rating: 8.5/10

I consider the following musicals to be extremely special. They are very close to being among my favorite musicals of all time.

Bernarda Alba
Caroline, or Change
Carousel
Cyrano
Dear Evan Hansen
Follies
Grey Gardens
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
La Cage aux Folles
Lizzie
Memphis
Parade
Sunday in the Park with George
Sweet Smell of Success
The Dolls of New Albion
The Scottsboro Boys
Venice

Rating: 8/10

I love the following musicals. They are simply wonderful and ones that I would absolutely recommend seeing or reading/listening to.

A Bronx Tale
A Chorus Line
A Christmas Story
A New Brain
A VHS Christmas Carol
Allegiance
Amélie
Anastasia
Anything Goes
Bare
Be More Chill
Big River
Brigadoon
Cinderella
Come From Away
Daddy Long Legs
Dessa Rose
Doctor Zhivago
Dog Man: The Musical
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Falsettoland
Fun Home
Golden Boy
Gypsy
Hairspray
Harlem Song
Here Lies Love
His Story
Honeymoon in Vegas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
If/Then
Jagged Little Pill
Jane Eyre
Jesus Christ Superstar
Kean
Kid Victory
Leap of Faith
Little Shop of Horrors
March of the Falsettos
Merrily We Roll Along
My Fair Lady
Next to Normal
Nymph Errant
Oliver!
On the Twentieth Century
Passing Strange
Robert and Elizabeth
Ruthless!
Sarafina
Say My Name!
Selma
Six
Something Rotten!
South Pacific
Summer of ’42
Sunset Boulevard
The Band’s Visit
The Bridges of Madison County
The Capeman
The Clockmaker’s Daughter
The Color Purple
The Fields of Ambrosia
The Last Five Years
The Last Ship
The Life
The Lord of the Rings
The Mad Ones
The Music Man
The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes
The Phantom of the Opera
The Pirate Queen
The Prince of Egypt
The Producers
The Robber Bridegroom
The Story of My Life
The Wild Party (LaChiusa)
The Wiz
The Zulu and the Zayda
Tick, Tick… BOOM!
Titanic
Tomfoolery
Tuck Everlasting
Violet
Waitress
We Aren’t Kids Anymore
Wicked
Working

Rating: 7.5/10

The following musicals have something special that makes them feel a bit closer to an 8 than a 7. I really enjoy/appreciate these musicals.

& Juliet
1776
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Minister’s Wife
Adding Machine
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Allegro
Annie
As Thousands Cheer
Assassins
Beauty and the Beast
BKLYN The Musical
Black and Blue
Blitz!
Bonnie and Clyde
Bravo Giovanni
Bright Star
Brooklyn Crush
Bumblescratch
Camelot
Death Note
Death Takes a Holiday
Descendants
Destry Rides Again
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Dogfight
Dreamland
Eugenius!
Evening Primrose
Evita
Fela!
Fly by Night
Frankenstein
Frozen
Funny Girl
Ghost
Ghost Quartet
Giant
Goblin Market
Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge
Goosebumps The Musical
Grand Hotel
Hair
Hands on a Hardbody
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
House of Flowers
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
In Trousers
Infinite Joys
It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues
James and the Giant Peach
Jasper in Deadland
Jekyll & Hyde
Jelly’s Last Jam
Kat and the Kings
King Kong (1959)
Kinky Boots
Kismet
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss of the Spiderwoman
Knickerbocker Holiday
Knoxville
Lady, Be Good
Life Begins at 8:40
Light Years
Li’l Abner
Lizard Boy
Louisiana Purchase
Mamma Mia!
Marguerite
Martin Guerre
Me and My Girl
Movin’ Out
Oh! What a Lovely War
Once
Once Upon a Mattress
One Mo’ Time
Pardon My English
Peter Pan (1954)
Pippin
Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical
Pump Boys and Dinettes
Ring of Fire
See What I Wanna See
Soft Power
Something for the Boys
Spamalot
Starry
Strike Up the Band
Sweet Charity
Taboo
Tanz der Vampire
Tenderloin
The Big One-Oh!
The Burnt Part Boys
The Cher Show
The Full Monty
The Hatpin
The Hello Girls
The Immigrant
The Light in the Piazza
The Light Princess
The Little Mermaid
The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)
The New Moon
The Rothschilds
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Show Goes On
The Spitfire Grill
The Threepenny Opera
The View UpStairs
The Visit
The Wild Party (Lippa)
The Will Rogers Follies
The Witches of Eastwick
The Woman in White
Tintypes
Tokyo Rose
Top Hat
Twisted
We Won’t Sleep
Wings
Yours, Anne

Rating: 7/10

These musicals are pretty good. Some are classics. Some are popular. I enjoy/appreciate these musicals for what they are.

35mm
70, Girls, 70
A Christmas Carol
A Class Act
A Man of No Importance
Aida
Ain’t Too Proud
Almost Famous
American Idiot
Amour
Annie Get Your Gun
Anyone Can Whistle
Avenue Q
Bandstand
Barnum
Bella: An American Tall Tale
Bells Are Ringing
Ben Franklin in Paris
Big
Black Nativity
Blackbirds of 1928
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Blues in the Night
Breathe
Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk
Bring It On
Bullets Over Broadway
Bye Bye Birdie
Calvin Berger
Cambodian Rock Band
Candide
Carrie
Catch Me If You Can
Charlotte Sweet
Children of Eden
City of Angels
Closer Than Ever
Crazy for You
Cruel Intentions
Cry-Baby
Curtains
Damn Yankees
Dear Edwina
Dearest Enemy
Desperate Measures
Disaster!
Do I Hear a Waltz?
Doctor Dolittle
Dreamgirls
Elf
Ernest in Love
Face the Music
Falling in Love with Mr. Dellamort
Fame
Fanny
Far From Heaven
Fifty Million Frenchmen
First Daughter Suite
Five Guys Named Moe
Flora, the Red Menace
Freaky Friday
Fugitive Songs
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Get Up Stand Up!
Greenwillow
Groundhog Day
Hello, Dolly!
Hex
How to Eat Like a Child
I Can Get It for You Wholesale
I Do! I Do!
Illya Darling
I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road
Inner City
Irma La Douce
Jamaica
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Judy’s Scary Little Christmas
Jumbo
Juno
KPOP
Legally Blonde
Let ‘Em Eat Cake
Let It Be
Little By Little
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Women
Love Never Dies
Lucky Stiff
MacGyver the Musical
Marie Christine
Matilda
Mayor
Milk and Honey
MJ The Musical
Mrs Henderson Presents
Newsies
No, No, Nanette
No Strings
Oklahoma!
On the Record
On Your Feet!
Once on This Island
Only Fools and Horses
Phantom
Pickwick
Pins and Needles
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Promenade
Purlie
Rags
Raisin
Reefer Madness
Salvation
Saturday Night
Seesaw
Shucked
Smile
Something’s Afoot
Song of Norway
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
St. Louis Woman
State Fair
Stop the World – I Want to Get Off
Street Scene
Sunny Afternoon
Tarrytown
Tarzan
The Addams Family
The Bodyguard
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Frogs
The Glorious Ones
The Golden Apple
The Grand Tour
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The King and I
The Landing
The Likes of Us
The Man in the Ceiling
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The New Yorkers
The Pajama Game
The Prom
The Theory of Relativity
The Who’s Tommy
They’re Playing Our Song
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Tootsie
Tovarich
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Urinetown
Victor/Victoria
We Are the Tigers
Where’s Charley?
Yank!
Young Frankenstein
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Zanna, Don’t!

Rating: 6/10 or Below

The musicals that didn’t quite make it into the above ratings are going to be politely left off of this list and kept safely in my own documents!

So there you have it! My list of the best musicals of all time. This is of course just the beginning, and this list is going to continue to change and evolve. I listen to 5-6 new cast recordings a week and see new shows regularly. So I’ll be updating this as opinions change and become more “refined”. If you like lists and ideas and stuff like that, you can also check out my list of favorite books, musicals, and plays!

But I would be so curious to know … is there anything that you absolutely disagree with above? I would love, LOVE to know. What would the best musicals of all time look like on your list? Feel free to share in the comments below!