Best Movie and Theater Musicals
by ttborowicz | created - 31 Jul 2015 | updated - 3 days ago | PublicGreatest Musicals
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1. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Musical
The legendary tale of a barber who returns from wrongful imprisonment to 1840s London, bent on revenge for the rape and death of his wife, and resumes his trade while forming a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall
Votes: 386,982 | Gross: $52.90M
2. West Side Story (2021)
PG-13 | 156 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
An adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez
Votes: 95,594
3. La La Land (2016)
PG-13 | 128 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.
Director: Damien Chazelle | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons
Votes: 671,870 | Gross: $151.10M
4. A Star Is Born (2018)
R | 136 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A musician helps a young singer find fame as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
Director: Bradley Cooper | Stars: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, Greg Grunberg
Votes: 419,526 | Gross: $215.29M
5. tick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.
Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda | Stars: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesus, Vanessa Hudgens
Votes: 119,669
6. Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
PG-13 | 137 min | Drama, Musical
Film adaptation of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical about Evan Hansen, a high-school senior with social anxiety disorder, and his journey of self-discovery and acceptance after a classmate's suicide.
Director: Stephen Chbosky | Stars: Ben Platt, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams
Votes: 18,608
7. In the Heights (2021)
PG-13 | 143 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In Washington Heights, a sympathetic New York bodega owner saves every penny every day as he imagines and sings about a better life.
Director: Jon M. Chu | Stars: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera
Votes: 52,135
8. The Greatest Showman (2017)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Musical
Celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.
Director: Michael Gracey | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Zendaya
Votes: 311,641 | Gross: $174.34M
9. Les Misérables (2012)
PG-13 | 158 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
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 forever.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried
Votes: 346,076 | Gross: $148.81M
10. Enchanted (2007)
PG | 107 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A young maiden in a land called Andalasia, who is prepared to be wed, is sent away to New York City by an evil Queen, where she falls in love with a lawyer.
Director: Kevin Lima | Stars: Amy Adams, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey
Votes: 217,354 | Gross: $127.81M
11. Mamma Mia! (2008)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular 1970s group ABBA.
Director: Phyllida Lloyd | Stars: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 274,459 | Gross: $144.13M
12. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
PG-13 | 114 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Five years after the events of Mamma Mia! (2008), Sophie prepares for the grand reopening of the Hotel Bella Donna as she learns more about her mother's past.
Director: Ol Parker | Stars: Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Cher
Votes: 109,039 | Gross: $120.63M
13. Hairspray (2007)
PG | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show.
Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Michelle Pfeiffer
Votes: 138,731 | Gross: $118.87M
14. Rent (2005)
PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In New York City's gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Rapp
Votes: 55,930 | Gross: $29.08M
15. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
PG-13 | 143 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A young soprano becomes the obsession of a disfigured and murderous musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opéra House.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 130,709 | Gross: $51.27M
16. Wicked (2004 Video)
153 min | Musical
A young woman, born with emerald-green skin and a bubbly blonde woman turned their initial rivalry into the unlikeliest of friendships when the world decides to call one "good," and the other one "wicked."
Stars: Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, Norbert Leo Butz, Joel Grey
Votes: 183
17. Yentl (1983)
PG | 133 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training.
Director: Barbra Streisand | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Amy Irving, Mandy Patinkin, Nehemiah Persoff
Votes: 15,869 | Gross: $40.22M
18. Sing Street (2016)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A young lad notices a beautiful girl who begins to occupy his thoughts. While struggling with poverty, personal relationships and life's woes, he starts a band, hoping to catch her attention.
Director: John Carney | Stars: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Jack Reynor
Votes: 100,964 | Gross: $3.24M
19. Once (I) (2007)
R | 86 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week in Dublin, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story.
Director: John Carney | Stars: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Hugh Walsh, Gerard Hendrick
Votes: 121,285 | Gross: $9.44M
20. Newsies (1992)
PG | 121 min | Drama, Family, History
A musical based on the New York City newsboy strike of 1899. When young newspaper sellers are exploited beyond reason by their bosses they set out to enact change and are met by the ruthlessness of big business.
Director: Kenny Ortega | Stars: Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall, Ann-Margret
Votes: 22,571 | Gross: $2.82M
21. Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven - at Christmas - forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.
Director: John McPhail | Stars: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux
Votes: 15,634 | Gross: $0.55M
22. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Approved | 102 min | Musical, Romance, Western
When a backwoodsman in 1850s Oregon brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 27,109 | Gross: $9.40M
23. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
G | 181 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon
Votes: 47,889 | Gross: $80.50M
24. The Sound of Music (1965)
G | 172 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Votes: 261,141 | Gross: $163.21M
25. Hamilton (2020)
PG-13 | 160 min | Biography, Drama, History
The real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast.
Director: Thomas Kail | Stars: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry
Votes: 113,865
26. Into the Woods (2014)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A witch tasks a childless baker and his wife with procuring magical items from classic fairy tales to reverse the curse put on their family tree.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Emily Blunt
Votes: 148,055 | Gross: $128.00M
27. Chicago (2002)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
Two death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs
Votes: 243,417 | Gross: $170.69M
28. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A poor Bohemian poet in 1890s Paris falls for a beautiful courtesan and nightclub star coveted by a jealous duke.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent
Votes: 299,410 | Gross: $57.39M
29. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
G | 100 min | Family, Fantasy, Musical
A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.
Director: Mel Stuart | Stars: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear
Votes: 227,428 | Gross: $4.00M
30. Wonka (2023)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers.
Director: Paul King | Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Gustave Die, Murray McArthur, Paul G. Raymond
Votes: 140,458
31. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Charlie, a young boy from an impoverished family, and four other kids win a tour of an amazing chocolate factory run by an imaginative chocolatier, Willy Wonka, and his staff of Oompa-Loompas.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter
Votes: 529,427 | Gross: $206.46M
32. Pitch Perfect (2012)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.
Director: Jason Moore | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp
Votes: 330,816 | Gross: $65.00M
33. Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
PG-13 | 115 min | Comedy, Music
After a humiliating command performance at The Kennedy Center, the Barden Bellas enter an international competition that no American group has ever won in order to regain their status and right to perform.
Director: Elizabeth Banks | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow
Votes: 170,449 | Gross: $184.30M
34. Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy, Music
Following their win at the world championship, the now separated Bellas reunite for one last singing competition at an overseas USO tour, but face a group who uses both instruments and voices.
Director: Trish Sie | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp
Votes: 71,863 | Gross: $104.90M
35. Grease (1978)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Good girl Sandy Olsson and greaser Danny Zuko fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway
Votes: 300,672 | Gross: $188.76M
36. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,753 | Gross: $2.08M
37. Annie (1982)
PG | 127 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A spunky young orphan is taken in by a rich eccentric, much to the chagrin of the cantankerous woman who runs the orphanage.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Ann Reinking
Votes: 49,529 | Gross: $57.06M
38. Rock of Ages (2012)
PG-13 | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A small-town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.
Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin
Votes: 81,679 | Gross: $38.52M
39. Burlesque (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A small-town girl ventures to Los Angeles and finds her place in a neo-burlesque club run by a former dancer.
Director: Steve Antin | Stars: Cher, Christina Aguilera, Alan Cumming, Eric Dane
Votes: 93,194 | Gross: $39.44M
40. Romance & Cigarettes (2005)
R | 105 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
This down-and-dirty musical set in the world of working-class New York tells the story of a husband's journey into infidelity and redemption when he must choose between his seductive mistress and his beleaguered wife.
Director: John Turturro | Stars: James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 12,838 | Gross: $0.54M
41. Nine (2009)
PG-13 | 118 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Famous film director Guido Contini struggles to find harmony in his professional and personal lives, as he engages in dramatic relationships with his wife, his mistress, his muse, his agent, and his mother.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Sandro Dori
Votes: 45,261 | Gross: $19.68M
42. Cyrano (2021)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Too self-conscious to woo Roxanne himself, wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac helps young Christian nab her heart through love letters.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn
Votes: 14,879
43. Disenchanted (2022)
PG | 119 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Fifteen years after her happily ever after, Giselle questions her happiness, inadvertently turning the lives of those in the real world and Andalasia upside down in the process.
Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Maya Rudolph, Gabriella Baldacchino
Votes: 26,410
44. Matilda: The Musical (II) (2022)
PG | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
An adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results.
Director: Matthew Warchus | Stars: Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham
Votes: 28,299
45. God Help the Girl (2014)
Unrated | 112 min | Drama, Music, Romance
As Eve begins writing songs as a way to sort through some emotional problems, she meets James and Cassie, two musicians each at crossroads of their own.
Director: Stuart Murdoch | Stars: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Pierre Boulanger
Votes: 9,236 | Gross: $0.10M
46. Cry-Baby (1990)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Musical
In 1950s Baltimore, a bad boy with a heart of gold wins the love of a good girl, whose boyfriend sets out for revenge.
Director: John Waters | Stars: Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake, Amy Locane, Susan Tyrrell
Votes: 64,843 | Gross: $8.27M
47. The Pirates of Penzance (1983)
G | 112 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
After a young man leaves a band of pirates, hilarity ensues.
Director: Wilford Leach | Stars: Kevin Kline, Angela Lansbury, Linda Ronstadt, George Rose
Votes: 3,905 | Gross: $0.69M
48. Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
PG | 130 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A few decades after her original visit, Mary Poppins, the magical nanny, returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael's children through a difficult time in their lives.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer
Votes: 95,216 | Gross: $171.96M
49. Mary Poppins (1964)
G | 139 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
In turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns
Votes: 186,095 | Gross: $102.27M
50. Dreamgirls (2006)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.
Director: Bill Condon | Stars: Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover
Votes: 77,301 | Gross: $103.37M
51. The Color Purple (1985)
PG-13 | 154 min | Drama
A tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery
Votes: 97,386 | Gross: $98.47M
52. The Color Purple (2023)
PG-13 | 141 min | Drama, Musical
A woman faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.
Director: Blitz Bazawule | Stars: Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo
Votes: 15,620
53. Cats (2019)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba
Votes: 55,922
54. High School Musical (2006 TV Movie)
TV-G | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A popular high school athlete and an academically gifted girl get roles in the school musical and develop a friendship that threatens East High's social order.
Director: Kenny Ortega | Stars: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel
Votes: 96,553
55. High School Musical 2 (2007 TV Movie)
TV-G | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
School's out for summer and the East High Wildcats are ready to make it the time of their lives after landing jobs in a wealthy country club owned by Sharpay and Ryan's family.
Director: Kenny Ortega | Stars: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel
Votes: 66,145
56. High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)
G | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.
Director: Kenny Ortega | Stars: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel
Votes: 67,551 | Gross: $90.56M
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