Musicals by decade

Broadway musicals of the 1940s

Oklahoma! (1943) opened the Golden Age of the book musical, where the songs grow out of character and story. Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, and Lerner and Loewe wrote many of the decade's most revived roles.

Below are the shows in our library that first opened on Broadway in the 1940s, in order of premiere. Tap any title for the full show guide.

7 musicals on this list.

Oklahoma!1943 · Richard Rodgers · Golden AgeOklahoma! is the landmark 1943 musical that reshaped what a Broadway show could be, fusing story, song, and dance into a single dramatic whole.
On the Town1944 · Leonard Bernstein · Golden AgeOn the Town is a 1944 musical comedy that follows three sailors on a whirlwind twenty four hour shore leave in New York City…
Carousel1945 · Richard Rodgers · Golden AgeCarousel follows a doomed carnival barker and the millworker who loves him in a coastal Maine town, one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's boldest and most emotionally complex…
Brigadoon1947 · Frederick Loewe · Golden AgeBrigadoon follows two American tourists who stumble upon a mystical Scottish village that appears out of the mist for only one day every hundred years.
Finian's Rainbow1947 · Burton Lane · Golden AgeFinian's Rainbow is a 1947 musical fable about an Irish immigrant who buries a stolen leprechaun's gold near Fort Knox, with music by Burton Lane, lyrics by E.Y.
Kiss Me, Kate1948 · Cole Porter · Golden AgeKiss Me, Kate follows a bickering divorced acting couple who are forced to work out their real life drama while performing a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming…
South Pacific1949 · Richard Rodgers · Golden AgeSouth Pacific is one of the great achievements of the Golden Age of Broadway, a romantic and morally serious musical set against the backdrop of World War II.

More lists of musicals