K-12 Theatre Season Planning: Let’s Learn! (Musicals Edition)

Theatre is educational – Ask any theatre lover and they’ll tell you how much they’ve learned, onstage and off. So, what can you learn from live theatre? Here’s a list of Concord Theatricals musicals, handily organized into categories focused on learning. From history and literature to costume and set design, this list provides plenty of educational opportunities for musical theatre fans of all ages.

Here’s a brief table of contents:

1. 1. Let’s Learn Exciting CHOREOGRAPHY
   2. Let’s Learn COSTUME DESIGN
   3. Let’s Learn to Work as an ENSEMBLE
   4. Let’s Learn HISTORY
   5. Let’s Learn LITERATURE
   6. Let’s Learn SET DESIGN
   7. Let’s Learn to SING in a Variety of Styles

1. Let’s Learn Exciting CHOREOGRAPHY

Get your bodies moving in a wide variety of dance styles, including tap, jazz, old-school rock ‘n’ roll and traditional Broadway dance… plus Latin styles from Merengue to Reggaeton.

42nd Street by Harry Warren, Al Dubin, Michael Stewart, Mark Bramble and Bradford Ropes (Also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 7f, 6m + Ensemble)

A Chorus Line: Teen Edition by Michael Bennett, James Kirkwood, Nicholas Dante, Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban (Original Edition also available) 
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 9f, 10m)

Anything Goes (2022 Revision) by Cole Porter, P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, Timothy Crouse and John Weidman (Also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 4m +Ensemble)

Chicago: Teen Edition by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 10f, 9m)

Footloose by Tom Snow, Dean Pitchford, Walter Bobbie, Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins and Jim Steinman (Also available in a 90-Minute Version and Youth Edition) 
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 7f, 8m +Ensemble)

Grease: School Version by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey (Original Version also available)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 8f, 9m +Ensemble)

In The Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 6f, 6m +Ensemble)

Nice Work If You Can Get It: Teen Edition by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and Joe DiPietro (Original Version also available)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 5m)

Sweet Charity by Neil Simon, Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields, Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 4m +Ensemble)

2. Let’s Learn COSTUME DESIGN

Gorgeous gowns and tuxes, slinky feline body suits, playful period designs and colorful creations of unlimited imagination… these shows will provide your costume team with plenty of inspiration!

CATS: Young Actors Edition by Andrew Lloyd Webber and T.S. Eliot (Original Version also available)
(Short Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 24 any gender)

Dreamgirls by Tom Eyen, Henry Krieger and Michael Bennett
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4f, 4m +Ensemble)

Heathers The Musical: Teen Edition by Kevin Murphy, Laurence O’Keefe and Daniel Waters
(Full-Length Musical, Dark Comedy / Flexible Cast Size) 

Hello, Dolly! by Michael Stewart, Jerry Herman and Thornton Wilder
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 4m +Ensemble)

Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn by Irving Berlin, Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 3m, 1 boy +Ensemble)

Once Upon a Mattress by Mary Rodgers, Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller and Marshall Barer (also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 7m +Ensemble)

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Broadway Version) by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Douglas Carter Beane (also available in Original, Enchanted or Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 4m +Ensemble)

Starmites High School by Barry Keating and Stuart Ross
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 8f, 6m +Ensemble)

The Wiz by William F. Brown, Charlie Smalls and L. Frank Baum
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 6m, 4m any gender)

2020 Salina South High School Production of Dreamland (Erin Kata)

3. Let’s Learn to Work as an ENSEMBLE

Teamwork is the key to any successful theatre program. Here’s a variety of musicals that will encourage your cast and crew to work together in harmony.

A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz, Bill Melendez, Lee Mendelson and Eric Schaeffer 
(Short Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 5f, 5m, 1 any gender +Ensemble)

Clue: The Musical by Peter DePietro, Galen Blum, Wayne Barker, Vinnie Martucci and Tom Chiodo
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 5m)

Dreamland by Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 4m, 18 any gender)

Homeroom The Musical by Andrea Green and Selma Tolins Kaufman
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 8f, 6m +Ensemble)

How To Eat Like a Child by Delia Ephron, John Forster and Judith Kahan
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 30 any gender, Flexible Cast Size)

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 1m, 17 any gender)

Snoopy!!! (Original) by Charles M. Schulz, Larry Grossman, Hal Hackady, Warren Lockhart, Arthur Whitelaw and Michael L. Grace (London Version and The World According to Snoopy also available)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 3m, 1 any gender +Ensemble)

Twelfth Night by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 7m +Ensemble)

You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Revised) by Charles M. Schulz, Clark Gesner, Michael Mayer and Andrew Lippa (Original Version also available)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 2f, 4m +Ensemble)

4. Let’s Learn HISTORY

These musicals capture real-world events, both the small moments and the seismic occurrences, and bring them to life onstage. Encourage your actors to learn more about the world by researching the stories explored in these compelling stage works.

Anastasia: The Musical by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 4f, 5m, 1 girl +Ensemble)

Bella: An American Tall Tale by Kirsten Childs
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 7m)

Cabaret (1998 Version) by Joe Masteroff, John Van Druten, Christopher Isherwood, John Kander and Fred Ebb (Original 1966 Version and Revised 1987 Version also available)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 8f, 8m)

Evita by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 2f, 3m +Ensemble)

SIX: TEEN EDITION by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / Flexible Cast Size)

Titanic by Peter Stone and Maury Yeston (Also available in a flexible cast-sized Ensemble Version)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 14f, 23m)

War Paint by Doug Wright, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 10f, 5m)

2019 Broadway Production of The Lightning Thief (Jeremy Daniel)

5. Let’s Learn LITERATURE

Here’s a category to make your English department happy! These musicals are all adapted from works of literature, from classics to contemporary youth fiction. Spark an interest in reading – in your cast and in your audience – by presenting a great show based on a great book.

Anne of Green Gables – The Musical by Donald Harron, Norman Campbell and L.M. Montgomery
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 17f, 12m)

Be More Chill by Joe Iconis, Joe Tracz and Ned Vizzini
(Full Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 6m +Ensemble)

Big River: Theatre for Young Audiences Edition by Roger Miller, William Hauptman and Mark Twain
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 5m, Expandable Casting)

Bridge To Terabithia by Steve Liebman, Katherine Paterson and Stephanie S. Tolan
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 3f, 1m, 5 girls, 4 boys, 3 any gender)

The Lightning Thief by Joe Tracz, Rob Rokicki and Rick Riordan
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 7 any gender +Ensemble)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Broadway Revival Version) by Rupert Holmes
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 7m +Ensemble)

The Secret Garden by Marsha Norman, Lucy Simon and Frances Hodgson Burnett
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 10f, 12m, 1 girl, 1 boy +Ensemble)

Tuck Everlasting by Claudia Shear, Tim Federle, Chris Miller, Nathan Tysen and Natalie Babbitt (also available in Theatre for Young Audiences Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 6m, 1 girl +Ensemble)

Yo, Vikings! by Sam Willmott and Marcus Stevens
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 6f, 8m +Ensemble)

2022 North London Collegiate School Production of SIX: TEEN EDITION (Alex Brenner)

6. Let’s Learn SET DESIGN

Some are whimsical and filled with magic, some are dark and filled with dread. These musicals will undoubtedly inspire your set design team to create their most impressive work.

Amélie: Teen Edition by Craig Lucas, Daniel Messé and Nathan Tysen
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 7m, 1 girl +Ensemble)

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas by Irving Berlin, David Ives and Paul Blake
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 6m, 1 girl +Ensemble)

Jasper in Deadland by Hunter Foster and Ryan Scott Oliver
(Full-Length Musical, Dark Comedy / 4f, 5m)

The SpongeBob Musical by Stephen Hillenburg, Kyle Jarrow, Tina Landau, Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I., David Bowie, Tom Kenny, Andy Paley and Tom Kitt (also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 16 any gender)

The Wizard of Oz: Youth Edition by L. Frank Baum, Harold Arlen, E. Y. Harburg and Herbert Stothart (RSC Version also available)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 3f, 5m, 16 any gender)

7. Let’s Learn to SING in a Variety of Styles

There’s more than one way to sing in a musical, and these shows feature music of all styles. Inspire your cast to sing in a new form – from operetta, traditional Broadway and early rock ‘n’ roll to bluegrass, modern rock and contemporary musical theatre.

Bye Bye Birdie by Michael Stewart, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams (also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 6f, 5m +Ensemble)

Carrie: The Musical by Michael Gore, Dean Pitchford, Lawrence D. Cohen and Stephen King
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 5f, 2m +Ensemble)

Crazy For You® by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and Ken Ludwig (also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 4m +Ensemble)

Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin, Herbert Fields, Dorothy Fields and Peter Stone
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 6m, 2 girls, 1 boy +Ensemble)

Kiss Me, Kate (Revised 1999) by Cole Porter, Sam Spewack and Bella Spewack
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 7m +Ensemble)

Punk Rock Girl by Joe Iconis, Rob Rokicki and various composer/lyricists
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 6f, 4m + Ensemble)

Rock of Ages: Teen Edition by Chris D’Arienzo (also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 11f, 9m, 10 any gender)

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 6m +Ensemble)

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock – The Musical by Mike White, Julian Fellowes, Glenn Slater and Andrew Lloyd Webber
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 6f, 9m, 6 girls, 5 boys)

The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe and Gaston Leroux
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4f, 6m +Ensemble)

The Sound Of Music by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse (also available in a Youth Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 7f, 4m, 5 girls, 2 boys +Ensemble)

The Spitfire Grill by James Valcq, Fred Alley and Lee David Zlotoff
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4f, 3m)

Zombie Prom by John Dempsey, Dana P. Rowe, Mac Tumminelli and Hugh M. Murphy (also available in a one-hour Atomic Edition)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 5m)

Plus, don’t forget to check out our guide to K12 licensing, show selection and more.