Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since. Before the 21st Drama Desk Awards, acting awards were given without making distinctions between roles in straight dramas as opposed to musicals, nor were there separate categories for actors and actresses.

1970s

1975: The Wiz
The Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
- Goodtime Charley
  Goodtime Charley
  Goodtime Charley is a musical with a book by Sidney Michaels, music by Larry Grossman, and lyrics by Hal Hackady.A humorous take on actual historical events, it focuses on the Dauphin of France, who evolves from a hedonistic young man enamored of women in general into a regal king while Joan...
- In Gay Company
- The Lieutenant
  The Lieutenant (musical)
  The Lieutenant is a musical with book, music and lyrics by Gene Curty, Nitra Scharfman and Chuck Strand.Directed by William Martin and choreographed by Dennis Dennehy, it opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on March 9, 1975 and closed on March 16, 1975 after 9 performances and 7 previews.The...

1976: A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
- Pacific Overtures
  Pacific Overtures
  Pacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change...
- The Robber Bridegroom
  The Robber Bridegroom (musical)
  The Robber Bridegroom is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry and music by Robert Waldman. The story is based on the 1942 novella by Eudora Welty of the same name, with a Robin Hood-like hero; the adaptation placed it in a late 18th century American setting...

1977: Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
- Happy End
  Happy End (musical)
  Happy End is a surrealistic three-act musical comedy by Kurt Weill, Elisabeth Hauptmann, and Bertolt Brecht which first opened in Berlin at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm on September 2, 1929. It closed after seven performances...
- I Love My Wife
  I Love My Wife
  I Love My Wife is a musical with a book and lyrics by Michael Stewart and music by Cy Coleman, based on a play by Luis Rego.A satire of the sexual revolution of the 1970s, the musical takes place on Christmas Eve in suburban Trenton, New Jersey, where two married couples who have been close friends...
- The King and I
  The King and I
  The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
- Porgy and Bess
  Porgy and Bess
  Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
- The Robber Bridegroom
  The Robber Bridegroom (musical)
  The Robber Bridegroom is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry and music by Robert Waldman. The story is based on the 1942 novella by Eudora Welty of the same name, with a Robin Hood-like hero; the adaptation placed it in a late 18th century American setting...

1978: Ain't Misbehavin'
- The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
  The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
  The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall...
- Dancin'
  Dancin'
  Dancin' is a musical revue first produced in 1978, directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, who won a Tony Award for the choreography. The show is a tribute to the art of dance, and the music is a collection of mostly American songs, many with a dance theme from a wide variety of styles, from...
- Runaways
  Runaways (musical)
  Runaways is a musical which was written, composed and directed by Elizabeth Swados, about the lives of children who run away from home and live on the city streets...
- Working
  Working (musical)
  Working is a musical with a book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, music by Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, and James Taylor, and lyrics by Schwartz, Carnelia, Grant, Taylor, and Susan Birkenhead....

1979: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1936 British film produced and directed by George King.-Plot:The film features Tod Slaughter in one of his most famous roles as barber Sweeney Todd. Sweeney Todd was wrongly sentenced to life in prison. After his release 15 years later, he begins...

1980s

1980: Evita
- Barnum
  Barnum (musical)
  Barnum is a musical with a book by Mark Bramble, lyrics by Michael Stewart, and music by Cy Coleman. It is based on the life of showman P. T. Barnum, covering the period from 1835 through 1880 in America and major cities of the world where Barnum took his performing companies. The production...
- The 1940's Radio Hour
  The 1940's Radio Hour
  The 1940s Radio Hour is a Play with Music by Walton Jones. Full of 1940s music, dancing and old-time sound effects the play portrays the final holiday broadcast of the Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade on the New York radio station WOV in December 1942....
- Sidewalkin
- Tintypes
  Tintypes
  Tintypes is a musical revue conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle.With its time frame set between the turn of the 20th century and the onset of World War I, this chamber piece with a cast of five provides a musical history lesson focusing on an exciting and tumultuous period in...

1981: The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
- 42nd Street
  42nd Street (musical)
  42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
- Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
  Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
  Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music was a 1981 Broadway musical revue, written for and starring American singer and actress Lena Horne. The musical was produced by Michael Frazier and Fred Walker, and the subsequent musical soundtrack was produced by Quincy Jones. The show opened on May 12, 1981,...

1982: Nine
Nine (musical)
Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
- Dreamgirls
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
- Pump Boys and Dinettes
  Pump Boys and Dinettes
  Pump Boys and Dinettes is a musical written by a performance group of the same name. The performance group, "Pump Boys and Dinettes" consists of John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann...

1983: Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
- My One and Only
  My One and Only
  My One and Only is a musical with a book by Peter Stone and Timothy S. Mayer and music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin.Written to incorporate classic Gershwin tunes from Funny Face and other popular shows into one evening of entertainment, the plot, set in 1927 America, revolves around Capt...

1984: Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat...
- Baby
  Baby (musical)
  Baby is a musical with a book by Sybille Pearson, based on a story developed with Susan Yankowitz, music by David Shire, and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.. It concerns the reactions of three couples each expecting a child. The musical first ran on Broadway from 1983 to 1984.-Synopsis:Three...
- The Rink
- Taking My Turn

1986: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
- Big Deal
  Big Deal (musical)
  Big Deal is a musical with a book by Bob Fosse using songs from various composers such as Ray Henderson, Eubie Blake, and Jerome Kern. It was based on the film "Big Deal on Madonna Street" by Mario Monicelli...
- Goblin Market
- Personals

1987: Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
- Me and My Girl
  Me and My Girl
  Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....
- Olympus on My Mind
  Olympus on My Mind
  Olympus On My Mind is a musical with music by Grant Sturiale and a book and lyrics by Barry Harman, based on a play by Heinrich Von Kleist. The musical ran Off-Broadway at Lamb's Theatre for 297 performances in 1986...
- Starlight Express
  Starlight Express
  Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...

1988: Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
- The Phantom of the Opera
  The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
  The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...

1989: Jerome Robbins' Broadway
Jerome Robbins' Broadway
Jerome Robbins' Broadway is an anthology comprising musical numbers from earlier shows that were either directed or choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Robbins won his fifth Tony Award for direction of the show....
- Black and Blue
  Black and Blue (musical)
  Black and Blue is a musical revue celebrating the black culture of dance and music in Paris between World War I and World War II.Based on an idea by Mel Howard and conceived by Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia, it consists of songs by artists such as W. C...

1990s

1990: City of Angels
City of Angels (musical)
City of Angels is a musical comedy with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel, and book by Larry Gelbart. The musical weaves together two plots, the "real" world of a writer trying to turn his book into a screenplay, and the "reel" world of the fictional film.-Productions:City of Angels...
- Aspects of Love
  Aspects of Love
  Aspects of Love is a musical/chamber opera with a book and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart. It is famous for the song "Love Changes Everything."...

1991: The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden (musical)
The Secret Garden is a musical based on the 1911 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The musical's book and lyrics are by Marsha Norman, with music by Lucy Simon...
- Assassins
  Assassins (musical)
  Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted to assassinate Presidents of the United States...
- The Will Rogers Follies

1992: Crazy for You
Crazy for You
Crazy for You is a musical with a book by Ken Ludwig, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Billed as "The New Gershwin Musical Comedy", it is largely based on the songwriting team’s 1930 musical, Girl Crazy, but interpolates songs from several other productions as well...
- Jelly's Last Jam
  Jelly's Last Jam
  Jelly's Last Jam is a musical with a book by George C. Wolfe, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and music by Jelly Roll Morton and Luther Henderson...

1993: Kiss of the Spider Woman
Kiss of the Spider Woman (musical)
Kiss of the Spider Woman is a musical with music by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with the book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the Manuel Puig novel El Beso de la Mujer Araña...
- Ruthless!
  Ruthless!
  Ruthless! The Musical is an all female musical with music by Marvin Laird and book and lyrics by Joel Paley that spoofs Broadway musicals, like Gypsy and Mame, and movies such as The Bad Seed and All About Eve...
- Tommy
- Wings

1994: Passion
Passion (musical)
Passion is a musical adapted from Ettore Scola's film Passione d'Amore . The book is by James Lapine, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Central subjects include obsession, beauty, power, manipulation, passion, illness, and love...
- Hello again
  Hello Again (musical)
  Hello Again is musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It is based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler...
- Beauty and the Beast
  Beauty and the Beast (musical)
  Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical...

1995: Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
- A Christmas Carol
  A Christmas Carol
  A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
- How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying
  How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
  How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
- Merrily We Roll Along
  Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
  Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart....
- Sunset Boulevard
  Sunset Boulevard (musical)
  Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the...

1996: Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
- Big
- Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk
- Chronicle of a Death Foretold
  Chronicle of a Death Foretold
  Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a novella by Gabriel García Márquez, published in 1981...

1997: The Life
The Life (musical)
The Life is a musical with a book by David Newman, Ira Gasman and Cy Coleman, music by Coleman, and lyrics by Gasman.Based on an original idea by Gasman, the show explores the underbelly of Times Square's 42nd Street, inhabited by pimps and prostitutes, druggies and dealers, and runaways and street...
- Violet
  Violet (musical)
  Violet is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and libretto by Brian Crawley based on the short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim" by Doris Betts. It tells the story of a young disfigured woman who embarks on a journey by bus from her farm in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, all the way to Tulsa, Oklahoma...
- Steel Pier
  Steel Pier (musical)
  Steel Pier is a musical written by the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb from the original book by David Thompson.-Productions:Directed by Scott Ellis with choreography by Susan Stroman, it opened on Broadway on April 24, 1997 and closed on June 28, 1997, running for 76 performances...

1998: Ragtime
Ragtime (musical)
Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty.Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in America, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; Mother, the matriarch of a WASP family in...
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch
  Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)
  Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The text is by John Cameron Mitchell, and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 and has been performed throughout the world in hundreds...
- High Society
  High Society (musical)
  High Society is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Based on the Philip Barry play The Philadelphia Story and the 1956 musical screen adaptation with Porter's songs, High Society, the plot centers on pretentious Long Island socialite Tracy Lord, who is planning...
- Forever Tango
- The Lion King
  The Lion King (musical)
  The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well...

1999: Parade
Parade (musical)
Parade is a musical with a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical was first produced on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on December 17, 1998. The production was directed by Harold Prince and closed 28 February 1999 after only 39 previews and 84 regular...
- A New Brain
  A New Brain
  A New Brain is a musical with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Finn and James Lapine.The musical was first produced Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, with previews beginning on May 14, 1998...
- The Civil War
  The Civil War (musical)
  The Civil War is a musical written by Gregory Boyd and Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics by Jack Murphy and music by Wildhorn. The musical centers on the American Civil War, with the musical numbers portraying the war through Union, Confederate, and slave viewpoints. The musical was nominated for a Tony...

2000s

2000: Contact
Contact (musical)
Contact: The Musical is a musical "dance play" that was developed by Susan Stroman and John Weidman, with its "book" by Weidman and both choreography and direction by Stroman. It ran both off-Broadway and on Broadway in 1999 - 2000. It consists of three separate one-act dance...
- James Joyce's The Dead
  James Joyce's The Dead
  James Joyce's The Dead is a Broadway musical by Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey based upon James Joyce's short story of the same name.Originally presented Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons with an opening night cast that included Blair Brown, Paddy Croft, Brian Davies, Daisy Eagan, Dashiell...
- Saturday Night
  Saturday Night (musical)
  Saturday Night is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and the book by brothers Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein, based on their play, Front Porch in Flatbush....
- Swing!
  Swing!
  Swing! is a musical conceived by Paul Kelly with music by various artists. It celebrates the music of the Swing era of jazz , including many well-known tunes by artists like Duke Ellington, William "Count" Basie, Benny Goodman and others...
- The Wild Party
  The Wild Party (LaChiusa musical)
  The Wild Party is a musical with a book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe and music and lyrics by LaChiusa. It is based on the 1928 Joseph Moncure March narrative poem of the same name...

2001: The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
- Bat Boy: The Musical
  Bat Boy: The Musical
  Bat Boy: The Musical is a musical with a book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming and music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe, based on a June 23, 1992 Weekly World News story about a half-boy, half-bat, dubbed "Bat Boy", found living in a cave....
- Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin
- The Full Monty
  The Full Monty (musical)
  The Full Monty is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally and score by David Yazbek.In this Americanized musical stage version adapted from the 1997 British film of the same name, six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers, low on both cash and prospects, decide to present a strip act at a local club...
- Urinetown
  Urinetown
  Urinetown: The Musical is a satirical comedy musical, with music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis. It satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and municipal politics...

2002: Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie (musical)
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan, and a book by Richard Morris and Scanlan. Based on the 1967 film of the same name, Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of a small-town girl, Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York City to marry for...
- Sweet Smell of Success
  Sweet Smell of Success
  Sweet Smell of Success is a 1957 American film noir made by Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists. It was directed by Alexander Mackendrick and stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison and Martin Milner. The screenplay was written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman...
- The Last Five Years
  The Last Five Years
  The Last Five Years is a one-act musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered in Chicago in 2001 and was then produced off-Broadway in March 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both in the United States and internationally....
- tick, tick... BOOM!
  Tick, Tick... BOOM!
  Tick, Tick... Boom! is a musical written by American composer Jonathan Larson, who won a Pulitzer and two Tony Awards for his musical Rent. Tick Tick Boom tells the story of an aspiring composer named Jon, who lives in New York City in 1990. Jon is worried he has made the wrong career choice to...

2003: Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
- Amour
  Amour (musical)
  Amour is a musical fantasy with an English book by Jeremy Sams, music by Michel Legrand, and lyrics by Didier Van Cauwelaert, who wrote the original French libretto....
- Avenue Q
  Avenue Q
  Avenue Q is a musical in two acts, conceived by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who wrote the music and lyrics. The book was written by Jeff Whitty and the show was directed by Jason Moore and produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, and Jeffrey Seller...
- A Man of No Importance
  A Man of No Importance (musical)
  A Man of No Importance is a musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and a book by Terrence McNally, based on the 1994 Albert Finney film, A Man of No Importance...
- Movin' Out
  Movin' Out (musical)
  Movin' Out is a jukebox musical featuring the songs of Billy Joel.Conceived by Twyla Tharp, the musical tells the story of a generation of American youth growing up on Long Island during the 1960s and their experiences with the Vietnam War...
- Zanna Don't

2004: Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
- Caroline, or Change
  Caroline, or Change
  Caroline, or Change is a through-composed musical with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and score by Jeanine Tesori that combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish klezmer and folk music....
- Johnny Guitar
- The Musical of Musicals
  The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)
  The Musical of Musicals is a musical by Joanne Bogart and Eric Rockwell. It is structured into five acts, each of which is a short musical parodying the style of a related group of American or British musical theatre composers, all dealing with roughly the same classic melodrama plot: "I can't...

2005: Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
- The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a one act musical comedy conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley...
- Altar Boyz
  Altar Boyz
  Altar Boyz is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and book by Kevin Del Aguila . Centering on a fictitious Christian boy band from Ohio, the show satirizes, among other things, the phenomenon of boy bands and the popularity of Christian-themed music in...
- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
  Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (musical)
  Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane; it is based on the film of the same name...
- The Light in the Piazza

2006: The Drowsy Chaperone
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It debuted in 1998 at The Rivoli in Toronto and opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006. The show won the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score. It started as a spoof of old...
- Grey Gardens
  Grey Gardens (musical)
  Grey Gardens is an American musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were...
- Jersey Boys
  Jersey Boys
  Jersey Boys is a jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is a documentary-style musical, based on one of the most successful 1960s rock 'n roll groups, the Four Seasons...
- See What I Wanna See
  See What I Wanna See
  See What I Wanna See is a musical by Michael John LaChiusa based on three short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa: "Kesa and Morito", "In a Grove" and "The Dragon". The story is told in two parts with two prologues. Each prologue involves the medieval lovers/killers Kesa and Morito...
- Thrill Me
  Thrill Me
  Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Stephen Dolginoff. It is based on the true story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, the so-called "thrill killers" who murdered a young boy in 1924 in order to commit "the perfect crime." The story is told in...
- The Wedding Singer
  The Wedding Singer (musical)
  The Wedding Singer is a musical with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy. It is based on the 1998 film The Wedding Singer.-Synopsis:Act 1...

2007: Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1892 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of...
- Curtains
  Curtains (musical)
  Curtains is a musical with a book by Rupert Holmes, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander, with additional lyrics by Kander and Holmes....
- In the Heights
  In the Heights
  In the Heights is a musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story explores three days in the characters' lives in the New York City Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights....
- Legally Blonde
  Legally Blonde (musical)
  Legally Blonde is a musical with music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. The story is based on the novel Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name. It tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who enrolls at Harvard Law School to...
- Lovemusik
  LoveMusik
  LoveMusik is a musical written by Alfred Uhry, using a selection of music by Kurt Weill. The story explores the romance and lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, based on Speak Low : The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, edited and translated by Lys Symonette & Kim H. Kowalke. Harold Prince...
- Mary Poppins
  Mary Poppins (musical)
  Mary Poppins is a Walt Disney Theatrical musical based on the similarly titled series of children's books by P. L. Travers and the Disney 1964 film. The West End production opened in December 2004 and received two Olivier Awards, one for Best Actress in a Musical and the other for Best Theatre...

2008: Passing Strange
Passing Strange
Passing Strange is a rock musical about a young African American's artistic journey of self-discovery in Europe, drawing on heavy elements of existentialism, metafictional comedy, and the Künstlerroman. The musical's lyrics and book are by Stew with music and orchestrations by Heidi Rodewald and Stew...
- Adding Machine
  Adding Machine (musical)
  Adding Machine is a musical adaptation of Elmer Rice's 1923 play The Adding Machine, with music by Joshua Schmidt, and book and lyrics by Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt. The show opened in 2007 in Illinois before moving Off-Broadway in 2008...
- A Catered Affair
  A Catered Affair
  A Catered Affair is a musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by John Bucchino. It is based on both the 1956 film The Catered Affair written by Gore Vidal and the original 1955 teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky, set in 1953 in the Bronx...
- The Glorious Ones
  The Glorious Ones
  The Glorious Ones is a musical with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Set in 17th-century Italy, it concerns a theatre group in the world of commedia dell'arte and theatre of the Italian Renaissance....
- The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island
- Xanadu
  Xanadu (musical)
  Xanadu is a musical comedy with a book by Douglas Carter Beane, music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, based on the 1980 cult classic film of the same name which was, in turn, inspired by the 1947 Rita Hayworth film Down to Earth. The title is a reference to the poem, Kubla Khan, or A...

2009: Billy Elliot the Musical
Billy Elliot the Musical
Billy Elliot the Musical is a musical based on the 2000 film Billy Elliot. The music is by Sir Elton John, and book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around motherless Billy, who trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes...
- 9 to 5
  9 to 5 (musical)
  9 to 5: The Musical is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton and a book by Patricia Resnick, based on the 1980 movie Nine to Five...
- Fela!
  Fela!
  Fela! is a musical with a book by Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis, based on music and lyrics by the late Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, with additional music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan Mclean and additional lyrics by Jim Lewis. It is based on events in the life of groundbreaking Nigerian composer and...
- Liza's at the Palace...!
  Liza's at the Palace...!
  Liza's at The Palace...! was a concert presented by Liza Minnelli at the Palace Theatre on Broadway from December 3, 2008 through January 4, 2009....
- Shrek the Musical
  Shrek (musical)
  Shrek the Musical is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. It is based on the 2001 DreamWorks film Shrek and William Steig's 1990 book Shrek!. After a tryout in Seattle, the original Broadway production opened in December 2008, and closed after a run of...
- The Story of My Life
  The Story of My Life (musical)
  The Story of My Life is a musical with music and lyrics by Neil Bartram, and a book by Brian Hill. The show follows two childhood friends from age six to 35 and has only two characters....

2010s

2010: Memphis
Memphis (Musical)
Memphis is a musical by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro . It is loosely based on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips, one of the first white DJs to play black music in the 1950s...
- American Idiot
  American Idiot (musical)
  American Idiot is a one-act, through-sung stage musical. The show is an adaptation of punk rock band Green Day's concept album of the same name. Additional Green Day songs were interpolated from other sources, including 21st Century Breakdown, American Idiot b-sides, and an unreleased song called...
- Everyday Rapture
  Everyday Rapture
  Everyday Rapture is a musical with a book written by Sherie Rene Scott and Dick Scanlan and music by various composers. It ran Off-Broadway in 2009 and opened on Broadway in 2010...
- The Addams Family
  The Addams Family (musical)
  The Addams Family is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The show is based upon The Addams Family characters created by Charles Addams in his single-panel gag cartoons, which depict a ghoulish American family with an affinity for...
- The Scottsboro Boys
  The Scottsboro Boys (musical)
  The Scottsboro Boys is a musical with a book by David Thompson, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Based on the Scottsboro Boys trial, the musical is one of the last collaborations between Kander and Ebb prior to the latter's death...
- Yank!

2011: The Book of Mormon
- In Transit
- Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical
- See Rock City & Other Destinations
- Sister Act
- The Kid
  The Kid (musical)
  The Kid is a musical with a book by Michael Zam, music composed by Andy Monroe and lyrics by Jack Lechner. The comic story concerns an open adoption process by a same-sex couple. It is based on the 1999 non-fiction book by Dan Savage, The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go...

External links

Drama Desk official website