The Greatest Musicals Ever Performed on Broadway, Ranked

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Updated June 5, 2023 347.1K votes 33.4K voters 499.1K views
Over 33.4K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Greatest Musicals Ever Performed on Broadway, Ranked
Voting Rules
Only staged musicals.

List of the best musicals to ever run on stage, whether on Broadway, the West End, or in smaller fringe theaters around the world. The greatest musicals combine music, dancing, amazing stories, and top casts to take the viewer out of a theatre and into a world they never imagined.

The best Broadway musicals are a cross-section of classic musicals like Les Miserables (now an Oscar winning movie) and Cats as well as new favorites like The Book of Mormon and Wicked. Their casts feature some of the best stars on Broadway from throughout the years, and they are all worthy of more than one viewing. The best thing about musical theater, of course, is that it's never the same show twice.

What are the top Broadway musicals? What are the best musical theater shows? Which shows are the greatest musicals ever to be on stage? That's for all you musical theater fans to decide!

Vote up your favorite musicals, and vote down the ones that were disappointing. 

Photo: Metaweb / GNU Free Documentation License
Ranked by
  • Hamilton
    1

    Hamilton

    16,463 votes
    Hamilton: An American Musical is a sung- and rapped-through musical about the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, with music, lyrics and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda, inspired by the ...more
  • Les Misérables
    2

    Les Misérables

    Claude-Michel Schönberg , Jean-Marc Natel, Herbert Kretzmer
    14,021 votes
    • Characters: Jean Valjean, Javert, Fantine, Éponine, Monsieur Thénardier
    Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz is a sung-through musical based on the novel Les Misérables by French poet and novelist Victor Hugo. It has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, ...more
  • Wicked
    3

    Wicked

    Stephen Schwartz , Winnie Holzman
    12,118 votes
    • Characters: Wicked Witch of the West, The Wizard, Glinda the Good Witch, Boq, Doctor Dillamond
    Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and ...more
  • The Phantom of the Opera
    4

    The Phantom of the Opera

    Charles Hart , Richard Stilgoe, Andrew Lloyd Webber
    12,029 votes
    • Characters: Erik, Christine Daaé, Carlotta, Viscount Raoul de Chagny, Madame Giry
    The Phantom of the Opera is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart. Richard Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber wrote the musical's book together. Stilgoe also provided ...more
  • West Side Story
    5

    West Side Story

    Leonard Bernstein , Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim
    8,569 votes
    • Characters: Maria, Tony, Anita, A-rab, Bernardo
    West Side Story is an American musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, libretto/lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and conception and choreography by Jerome Robbins. It was ...more
  • The Sound of Music
    6

    The Sound of Music

    Richard Rodgers , Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay
    8,050 votes
    • Characters: Fraulein Maria, Louisa von Trapp, Marta von Trapp, Gretl von Trapp, Kurt von Trapp
    The Sound of Music is a multiple Tony Award-winning musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von ...more