THEATERLE

Musicals by decade

Broadway musicals of the 1980s

The decade of the British megamusical, with Cats, Les Misérables, and The Phantom of the Opera, alongside Sondheim's Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George.

Below are the shows in our library that first opened on Broadway in the 1980s, in order of premiere. Tap any title for the full show guide.

14 musicals on this list.

  • 42nd Street1980 · Harry Warren · Golden Age42nd Street is the quintessential backstage musical, a glittering tribute to the grit and glamour of putting on a Broadway show during the Great Depression.
  • Dreamgirls1981 · Henry Krieger · Rock/PopDreamgirls is the powerhouse rock and pop musical that traces the rise of a girl group through the changing music business of the 1960s.
  • Merrily We Roll Along1981 · Stephen Sondheim · DramaMerrily We Roll Along tells the story of a composer, a writer, and their closest friend in reverse, tracing a broken friendship backward from cynical middle age to…
  • Cats1982 · Andrew Lloyd Webber · Sung-throughCats is one of the most iconic and unusual musicals in Broadway history, a sung through spectacle built entirely around a tribe of cats gathering for a single magical…
  • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat1982 · Andrew Lloyd Webber · Sung-throughJoseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical retelling of the biblical story of Joseph…
  • Sunday in the Park with George1984 · Stephen Sondheim · DramaSunday in the Park with George is a hauntingly original musical inspired by the creation of a famous pointillist painting…
  • Big River1985 · Roger Miller · Rock/PopBig River sets Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to a score of country, gospel, and bluegrass music, following Huck and the runaway slave Jim down the…
  • Singin' in the Rain1985 · Nacio Herb Brown · JukeboxSingin' in the Rain is a joyful, tap heavy musical comedy set in Hollywood during the industry's turbulent shift from silent films to talkies.
  • Into the Woods1987 · Stephen Sondheim · Comedy"Into the Woods" tangles together several beloved fairy tales, then asks what happens after everyone supposedly lives happily ever after.
  • Les Misérables1987 · Claude-Michel Schönberg · Sung-throughLes Misérables is the sweeping sung-through musical that turned a doorstop French novel into one of the most beloved shows in theatre history.
  • The Wizard of Oz1987 · Harold Arlen · JukeboxThe Wizard of Oz brings the timeless tale of Dorothy's journey down the yellow brick road to the stage, built around Harold Arlen's beloved film songs.
  • Carrie: The Musical1988 · Michael Gore · DramaCarrie: The Musical is a notorious stage adaptation of the classic horror story about a bullied teenage girl with terrifying telekinetic powers.
  • Chess1988 · Andersson & Ulvaeus · Rock/PopChess is a rock musical by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA, with lyrics by Tim Rice, that uses a Cold War era chess championship as the backdrop for a love…
  • The Phantom of the Opera1988 · Andrew Lloyd Webber · Sung-throughThe Phantom of the Opera is a gothic, sung-through spectacle about obsession, artistry, and a masked figure haunting the depths of the Paris Opera House.

More lists of musicals

All Broadway musicals A to ZMusicals by composer