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Classic Broadway musicals based on books
12
items Golden-age favourites that started life as novels, stories or memoirs, from Show Boat and The King and I to Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music.
Sections
2
Top 5
Main List
Top 5
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 12+
The real story of a family of singers who left Austria in the 1930s.
The memoir behind The Sound of Music.
The real story of a family of singers who left Austria in the 1930s.
The memoir behind The Sound of Music.
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria A. Trapp
★★★★½ (4.5/5) — Ages 14+
The story of King Arthur from boyhood to the fall of Camelot, funny and tragic by turns.
The musical Camelot is based on it.
The story of King Arthur from boyhood to the fall of Camelot, funny and tragic by turns.
The musical Camelot is based on it.
The Once and Future King - by T. H. White
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 14+
A Jewish milkman in a Russian village tries to keep tradition alive while his daughters choose their own paths.
Funny and heartbreaking.
These stories became Fiddler on the Roof.
A Jewish milkman in a Russian village tries to keep tradition alive while his daughters choose their own paths.
Funny and heartbreaking.
These stories became Fiddler on the Roof.
Tevye the Dairyman - by Sholem Aleichem
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 14+
A British teacher is hired in the 1860s to teach the King of Siam’s children and ends up challenging his court.
The book behind The King and I.
A British teacher is hired in the 1860s to teach the King of Siam’s children and ends up challenging his court.
The book behind The King and I.
Anna and the King of Siam - by Margaret Landon
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 8+
Light verse about a street full of eccentric cats, each with a personality of their own. Short and playful.
It became the musical Cats.
Light verse about a street full of eccentric cats, each with a personality of their own. Short and playful.
It became the musical Cats.
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
Main List
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 14+
Three generations on a Mississippi riverboat, with love and hardship along the way.
The novel became one of the first great American musicals.
Three generations on a Mississippi riverboat, with love and hardship along the way.
The novel became one of the first great American musicals.
Show Boat - by Edna Ferber
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
Linked stories of soldiers, sailors and nurses in the Pacific in World War II.
Pulitzer Prize-winning.
It became the musical South Pacific.
Linked stories of soldiers, sailors and nurses in the Pacific in World War II.
Pulitzer Prize-winning.
It became the musical South Pacific.
Tales of the South Pacific - by James A. Michener
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
A nephew is sent to live with his eccentric aunt in 1920s New York and has his life turned upside down.
Outrageous and joyful.
It became the musical Mame.
A nephew is sent to live with his eccentric aunt in 1920s New York and has his life turned upside down.
Outrageous and joyful.
It became the musical Mame.
Auntie Mame - by Patrick Dennis
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 14+
A lifelong baseball fan makes a deal with the devil to help his team win the pennant. The book is The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant.
Fun and fast.
It became the Broadway musical Damn Yankees.
A lifelong baseball fan makes a deal with the devil to help his team win the pennant. The book is The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant.
Fun and fast.
It became the Broadway musical Damn Yankees.
Damn Yankees - by Douglass Wallop
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Ages 16+
Two showgirls, a Paris trip and a very sharp-witted blonde in the 1920s.
Sparkling and cheeky.
It became the Broadway musical and the Marilyn Monroe film.
Two showgirls, a Paris trip and a very sharp-witted blonde in the 1920s.
Sparkling and cheeky.
It became the Broadway musical and the Marilyn Monroe film.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - by Anita Loos
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 16+
Three families in early 20th-century New York, whose lives are tangled up in the events of their time.
A sweeping portrait of America.
It became a Broadway musical.
Three families in early 20th-century New York, whose lives are tangled up in the events of their time.
A sweeping portrait of America.
It became a Broadway musical.
Ragtime - by E. L. Doctorow
★★★★ (4/5) — Ages 14+
An old man who has read too many chivalric tales sets out as a knight, with his loyal squire Sancho Panza beside him.
Funny, sad and surprisingly modern.
It became the musical Man of La Mancha.
An old man who has read too many chivalric tales sets out as a knight, with his loyal squire Sancho Panza beside him.
Funny, sad and surprisingly modern.
It became the musical Man of La Mancha.
Don Quixote - by Miguel de Cervantes