The 20 Best Musicals
The 20 best musical I have ever seen.
Log in to copy items to your own lists.
1.
The Sound of Music
(1965)
A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to the children of a Naval officer widower. (174 mins.)
Director: Robert Wise
2.
West Side Story
(1961)
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy. (152 mins.)
Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
3.
My Fair Lady
(1964)
A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society. (170 mins.)
Director: George Cukor
4.
Les Misérables
(2012)
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives for ever. (158 mins.)
Director: Tom Hooper
5.
Grease
(1978)
Good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance? (110 mins.)
Director: Randal Kleiser
6.
Billy Elliot
(2000)
A talented young boy becomes torn between his unexpected love of dance and the disintegration of his family. (110 mins.)
Director: Stephen Daldry
7.
Country Strong
(2010)
A rising country-music songwriter works with a fallen star to work their way fame, causing romantic complications along the way. (117 mins.)
Director: Shana Feste
8.
Singin' in the Rain
(1952)
A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound. (103 mins.)
Director: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
9.
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
(1982)
Town Sheriff and regular patron, fights to keep a historical whorehouse open when a TV preacher targets it as the Devils playhouse. (114 mins.)
Director: Colin Higgins
10.
Mary Poppins
(1964)
A magic nanny comes to work for a cold banker's unhappy family. (139 mins.)
Director: Robert Stevenson
11.
The King and I
(1956)
A widow accepts a job as a live-in governess to the King of Siam's children. (133 mins.)
Director: Walter Lang
12.
The Phantom of the Opera
(2004)
A young soprano becomes the obsession of a disfigured musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opéra House. (143 mins.)
Director: Joel Schumacher
13.
Mamma Mia!
(2008)
The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular '70s group ABBA. (108 mins.)
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
14.
Fiddler on the Roof
(1971)
In prerevolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant contends with marrying off three of his daughters while growing antisemitic sentiment threatens his village. (181 mins.)
Director: Norman Jewison
15.
The Wizard of Oz
(1939)
Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home. (102 mins.)
Director: Victor Fleming
16.
Cabaret
(1972)
A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them. (124 mins.)
Director: Bob Fosse
17.
A Chorus Line
(1985)
Hopefuls try out before a demanding director for a part in a new musical. (113 mins.)
Director: Richard Attenborough
18.
Brassed Off
(1996)
The coal mine in a northern English village may be closing, which would also mean the end of the miners' brass band. (107 mins.)
Director: Mark Herman
19.
Chicago
(2002)
Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago. (113 mins.)
Director: Rob Marshall
20.
The Student Prince
(1954)
A prince has a romance with a barmaid before he must give up personal happiness for duty. (107 mins.)
Director: Richard Thorpe