Rob Rokicki’s Monstersongs (US/UK) is a musical odyssey through the world of a dozen monsters, from a desiccated mummy to a pair of abominable beasts. Following the journey of a child who opens a portal into the psyches of often misunderstood creatures, Monstersongs flips the switch on the monster narrative, inviting audiences to explore the humanity that binds us all.
Monstersongs inspired us to look through the Concord Theatricals catalog, where we found a menagerie of characters regarded as “monsters,” whether they deserved it or not. Here’s a look at each of the Monstersongs creatures and their songs, along with some related plays and musicals for you to explore. (Click the song titles to listen on Spotify while you check out the shows!)
Enjoy, but beware: Though some are comical, some are harmless, and some are simply misunderstood, a few of these characters are truly dangerous!
Monsters: “Monsterbaby”
“We come from the dark / And we come from the dead”
The show’s opening number features ghoulish creatures of all sorts. Check out these chilling shows featuring a variety of haunting characters.
- Frankenstein by Tim Kelly, based on the novel by Mary Shelley (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4f, 4m) - Hookman by Lauren Yee (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 5f, 1m) - I’ll Be Back Before Midnight by Peter Colley (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2f, 2m) - Jekyll and Hyde by Leonard Caddy (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Melodrama / 4f, 4m, 1 boy or girl)
Mummy: “Unravel”
“If you unwrap my heart all you’ll find is dust and ash”
Dusty, decaying and cursed, the embalmed corpse rises from its tomb to right an ancient wrong.
- The Curse of the Egyptian Mummy by David Conville, David Gooderson (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5f, 7m, 8 boys or girls) - The Mummy’s Claw! by Mark Chandler (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 8f, 3m, 1 any gender) - The Mummy’s Tomb by Ken Hill (UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2f, 7m) - The Pharaoh’s Revenge by Julie Tosh (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 13 girls, 16 boys, 2 any gender)
Medusa: “Say Goodbye”
“I’ll only turn you to stone / Don’t look me in the eye”
This monstrous Gorgon of Greek myth, with a headful of hissing snakes, can literally petrify with her gaze.
- Medusa by Don Nigro (US)
(Monologue, Drama / 1f) - Pandemonium (A Greek Myth-Adventure) by David Perkins & Jenifer Toksvig (UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 7m, 10 boys or girls)
Vampire: “Blood and Brains”
“I love him for his blood”
Powerful, immortal and nearly human, the vampire may be the most chilling and compelling monster of all.
- Count Dracula by Ted Tiller (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2f, 7m) - Dracula by Hamilton Deane & John L. Balderston, from the novel by Bram Stoker (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2f, 6m) - Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors by Gordon Greenberg & Steve Rosen (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2f, 3m) - Let the Right One In by Jack Thorne (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3f, 6m) - Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by Charles Busch (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 2f, 6m)
Zombie: “Blood and Brains”
“He doesn’t mind that I’m a messy eater”
Brains, brains, brains! Zombies have just one thing on their minds… and in their teeth.
- Night of the Living Dead Live by Christopher Bond, Dale Boyer & Trevor Martin, created by Christopher Harrison & Phil Pattison (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 2f, 4m) - The Zombie by Tim Kelly (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4f, 4m, 2 any gender) - Zombie Prom by Dana P. Rowe, John Dempsey & Hugh Murphy (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5f, 5m)
Igor: “The Plans”
“Will I ever be more than your humble henchman elf?”
Dr. Frankenstein’s poor abused assistant (sometimes spelled “Ygor”) never gets the credit he deserves.
- The Frankenstein Monster Show by John Crocker, Tim Hampton, Ken Bolam & Les Scott (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play with Music, Comedy / 2f, 11m) - The House of Frankenstein by Martin Downing (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4f, 6m) - Twisted Tales of Terror by Jeanine Harvey (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 21f, 16m)
Ghost: “Right Through You”
“I got nothing but time, time, time”
Ghosts have haunted the stage since theatre began. Here’s a handful of shows, old and new, about spectral beings.
- Afterlife: A Ghost Story by Steve Yockey (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3f, 3m) - Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5f, 2m) - The Canterville Ghost by John Vreeke, George David Weiss & Will Severin, based on the novel by Oscar Wilde (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3f, 5m, 3boys or girls) - Feeding Beatrice by Kirsten Greenidge (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2f, 2m + Ensemble) - High Spirits by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3f, 1m + Ensemble)
Dragon: “Reluctantly”
“And we rage, rampage, come of age and never try to put the pieces back”
The ultimate foil to gallant knights and dashing heroes, the dragon features in many plays for teens and kids.
- She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms by Qui Nguyen (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 8f, 4m) - The Last of the Dragons by Kristin Walter, adapted from the story by Edith Nesbit (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 2f, 3m, 1 any gender) - Nobody Loves A Dragon by Robert Gerlach & David Vos (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 1f, 5m) - The Tales of Custard the Dragon by Mary Hall Surface, Brad Ross & Danny Whitman, based on the books Ogden Nash (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical / 2f, 4m)
Doppelgänger: “I’m Sorry”
“There’s something about me that you don’t know / Some other side that I have to show”
Literally “double walker,” the Doppelgänger is a ghostly or paranormal look-alike of a living person. In each of these bone-chilling shows, a woman’s uncanny resemblance to someone else leads to dark complications.
- The Woman in White by Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Zippel & Charlotte Jones (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 3f, 4m, 1 girls + Ensemble) - Veronica’s Room (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2f, 2m)
Witch: “Hell Hath No Fury”
“You wrote your little fairy tale and painted me the fool / A harpy and a harlot, a goblin and a ghoul”
They can be fun or they can be terrifying. Shunned and feared by mere mortals, these “witches” range from a telekinetic high school student to a green-skinned sorceress.
- Carrie: The Musical by Michael Gore, Dean Pitchford, Lawrence D. Cohen & Stephen King (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 8f, 6m) - Dark of the Moon by Howard Richardson & William Berney (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 12f, 10m) - Witch by Jen Silverman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2f, 3m) - The Witches by David Wood, based on the book by Roald Dahl (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 6f, 4m) - The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Harold Arlen, E. Y. Harburg, Herbert Stothart, Peter Howard, Larry Wilcox & John Kane (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 3f, 5m + Ensemble)
Yeti/Sasquatch: “Footprints”
“No one ever believed in me / I’m footprints in the snow”
These enigmatic, elusive beasts remain unidentified… and misunderstood.
- Whenever by Alan Ayckbourn & Denis King (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 5m) - Yeti by Don Nigro (US/UK)
(Monologue, Drama / 1f)
All Monsters: “It’s Over / Return of Monsterbaby”
“We come from the dark, to the dark we go”
Want more monsters? Each of these shows features an assemblage of creepy creatures.
- Cinderella Meets the Wolfman! by Tim Kelly & Jack Sharkey (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 14f, 9m) - The House of Dracula by Martin Downing (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5f, 7m) - The Monster by Ry Herman (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 8f, 2m) - Monster Makers by Stephen Dolginoff (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 1f, 4m)
For more great shows, visit the Concord Theatricals website in the US or UK.
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