Musical Revues

When the magic of live theatre extends beyond traditional storytelling, you just might be watching a musical revue! A wonderful array of songwriters’ catalogues are on display in the exciting revues listed below. With small or flexible cast sizes, simple sets and little or no prop or costume requirements, these versatile and entertaining pieces can serve theatres of any size.

2 by 5 by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Seth Glassman (US)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 3m)
Two songwriters, five performers. The talented writing team of John Kander and Fred Ebb compiled this musical cabaret of songs from their most popular and lesser-known shows, along with some of the special material written for such stars as Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand.

A Christmas Survival Guide by James Hindman and Ray Roderick (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 3w, 2m)
This intimate revue takes a wry and knowing look at a stressful season. Armed with a copy of A Christmas Survival Guide and an optimistic attitude, the characters charge into an urban holiday landscape searching for the true essence of Christmas. In songs and vignettes, they learn to cope with the season in ways that are both hilarious and heartwarming.

A… My Name Is Alice by Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 5w)
Alice enjoyed a long run at the Village Gate Off Broadway. This slick and lively revue created by a wide variety of comedy writers, lyricists and composers offers a marvelous kaleidoscope of contemporary women. Sophisticated, bawdy, funny and insightful, the 20 numbers portray friends, rivals, sisters and even members of an all-women’s basketball team. See also: A… My Name Is Still Alice (US/UK) and A… My Name Will Always Be Alice (UK).

Ad Hock by David Curtis, Alice Whitfield and Ralph Affoumado (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 1m)
This cabaret gem satirizes the wacky world of advertising, especially the Madison Avenue types who create deathless classics. There are hilarious songs and sketches like “Moscow Goes Madison Avenue” that offers an American-style radio spot on station WKGB – “the station that listens to you!” There are wistful pieces, too, such as “The Girl Who Sings the Jingles,” about a commercial-jingle singer who once dreamed of something a little higher in her life.

All Kinds of People by Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Michael Presser and Bruce D. Taylor (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 2w, 2m)
Throughout a career that spanned four decades, Oscar Hammerstein II used the theatre to promote human understanding. He continually tackled themes of racism and cultural bias, changing the very course of musical theatre in the process. All Kinds of People is a musical revue developed especially for schools (running time: 50 minutes) that addresses the dangers of prejudice, the importance of tolerance and the empowerment of self-esteem.

American Cantata by Elaine Kendall, Elaine Moe, Dennis Poore and John Sanford (US)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 5w, 1m)
A celebration in music and drama of the spirit and imagination of American women, these vignettes portray Sally Hemmings, the slave who bore children to Thomas Jefferson; Molly Maguire, 19th-century labor firebrand; Mary Surratt, accused in the Lincoln conspiracy; Elizabeth Custer, wife of the General; the innovative dancer Isadora Duncan; singer Bessie Smith; stateswoman Golda Meir; singer/dancer Josephine Baker; Eleanor and Alice Roosevelt; artist Georgia O’Keefe and 12 other notable, quotable and remarkable women.

Anything Can Happen in the Theater: The Musical World of Maury Yeston by Maury Yeston and Gerard Alessandrini (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
This unforgettable evening features a collection of songs from the two-time Tony-winning composer and lyricist. The genius of Yeston’s songs makes for a memorable evening showcasing the myriad sides of the writer’s repertoire. Showstoppers from Nine, Grand Hotel, Titanic, Phantom and Death Takes a Holiday intertwine with premieres of new songs from the Yeston songbook to show off his immense breadth of style.

As Thousands Cheer by Moss Hart and Irving Berlin (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Political Satire / 3w, 3m, Flexible)
This clever musical revue features Moss Hart’s sharp, witty and hilarious sketches, peppered with Irving Berlin songs ranging from wry to satiric to poignant. Considered a masterpiece of that specialized genre known as the topical revue, the show was a Depression-era version of Saturday Night Live or The Daily Show, inspiring some of Hart’s best solo work as a comedy writer and affording Berlin the opportunity to pen some of Broadway’s greatest musical gems.

Bittersuite: Songs of Experience by Elliot Weiss and Michael Champagne (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 2m)
Shades of Cole Porter, Nichols and May and Tom Lehrer combine here in this delightful and easy-to-produce revue about being a man and woman today. We say “delightful” even though contemporary life, as portrayed by Weiss and Champagne, is not all peaches and cream. Life is not all a bowl of cherries. Win a little, lose a little. No pain, no gain.

By Strouse by Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, Martin Charnin, Fred Tobias and David Rogers (US)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 3w, 1m)
Charles Strouse, composer of such smash Broadway hits as Bye Bye Birdie, Annie and Applause, created this dazzling musical revue featuring 46 numbers from a dozen shows. This fast, funny revue without dialogue has received unanimous rave reviews everywhere it has played.

Celebration (Friedman) by Gary William Friedman (US)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / Flexible Cast Size)
Friedman’s composition, which was performed by a 10-piece orchestra and sung by the choirs of the congregation of Temple Israel in New York City, is a blend of several musical styles sung in both English and Hebrew. It is a happy piece, combining elements of jazz, rock, classical, sacred and folk music, using Hebrew words in a distinctively contemporary setting. It is a bright, lively and quite imaginative score that manages to be exciting, interesting and really quite reverent.

Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood by Irving Berlin, Barry Kleinbort and Randy Skinner (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
This charming musical revue, featuring some of Irving Berlin’s starriest hits, celebrates the prolific composer’s glorious dance numbers written specifically for the silver screen.

Cole by Cole Porter, Benny Green, Alan Strachan and Kenneth Moule (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 4w, 3m)
Here’s a fresh musical about the King of Musicals, Cole Porter. Green and Strachan have cleverly put together most of Cole’s hit tunes with a narration which tells the story of his life, from Yale to Paris to Manhattan to Broadway to Hollywood — and, ultimately, back to Broadway. Includes such Porter standards as “I Love Paris,” “Take Me Back to Manhattan” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.”

Coping by Dave Reiser and Jack Sharkey (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 1m)
How do you cope with a nuclear power plant in your neighborhood? With your daughter bringing home swains whose purple hair doesn’t quite hide their earrings? With fickle lovers, your husband’s Other Woman, sojourns in the hospital, early retirement, a fiancé who steals cars — in fact, with just about any problem one could face? This hilarious musical revue shows that absolutely any challenge can be summarily and delightfully dealt with.

Cowardy Custard by Noël Coward, Alan Strachan, Gerald Frow and Wendy Toye (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 6w, 6m)
An immense success in London, this imaginative and innovative presentation of Noël Coward’s words, music and sketches also shows us something of the man himself. Cowardy Custard contains not only those classic medleys and duets, but also previously unpublished material, snippets of plays and dialogues, material from his autobiographies and even a few of his little-known poems. The result is a kaleidoscopic glimpse of the Coward achievement.

Cut the Ribbons: A Mother/Daughter Musical by Mildred Kayden, Nancy Ford, Mae Richard and Cheryl Hardwick (US)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 3w)
This witty musical revue comments on the many aspects of mother-daughter relationships and received rave reviews off-Broadway. Three singer/dancers take on roles in a variety of situations. Twenty-four songs scored for synthesizer and percussion are included.

December Songs by Maury Yeston (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 1w)
Inspired by the Schubert tale Die Winterreise (A Winter’s Journey), this Yeston song cycle centers on a brokenhearted young woman of the modern age wandering the snowy paths of Central Park. In this contemporary musical portrayal of her journey, she finds the strength to recover and begin her life anew.

Diamonds by Bud Abbott, Ralph G. Allen, Roy Blount Jr., Richard Camp, Lou Costello, Lee Eisenberg, Sean Kelly, John Lahr, Arthur Masella, Harry Stein, Jim Wann, John Weidman, Alan Zweibel, Gerard Alessandrini, Craig Carnelia, Cy Coleman, Larry Grossman, John Kander, Doug Katsaros, Alan Menken, Jonathan Sheffer, Lynn Udall, Albert Von Tilzer, Jim Wann Howard Ashman, Betty Comden, Fred Ebb, Ellen Fitzhugh, Adolph Green, Karl Kennett, Jack Norworth and David Zippel (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 3w, 7m)
Broadway director Hal Prince ventured off-Broadway with this engaging show about America’s national pastime. The all-star lineup of composers and lyricists includes Betty Comden, Adolph Green, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Howard Ashman, Craig Carnelia, Alan Menken, Jim Wann and many others. Comic songs and ballads are interspersed with fast-paced sketches to create a montage of all that is baseball.

Doctor! Doctor! by Peter Ekstrom and David DeBoy (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 2m)
Doctors and patients get a dose of rib-tickling comic medicine in sketches and songs about all things medical. Characters include the hillbilly organ donor who happened to hiccup and totaled his pickup, a hacking smoker who loves his cigarettes, and a couple living in an iron lung who every night go “bing, bang, boom!” This revue touches the heart as well as the funny bone.

Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope by Micki Grant (US)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 6w, 6m)
This dynamic mix of rock, pop, calypso and ballads – a Tony nominee for Best Musical – celebrates and explores the African American experience through vibrant song and dance.

El Grande De Coca Cola by Ron House, Alan Shearman, Diz White and John Neville Andrews (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
A simple show that is laugh-a-minute and ridiculously wonderful! The action takes place in a terrible part of Trujillo, in a nightclub, which isn’t too far from terrible itself. A local impresario, Señor Don Pepe Hernandez, has announced in the local newspapers that he is going to bring international cabaret to Trujillo. Eventually he succeeds, and we see the cabaret within the cabaret as it unfolds.

Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens by Bill Russell and Janet Hood (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 11w, 20m, Flexible)
A celebration of lives lost to AIDS, told in free-verse monologues with a blues, jazz and rock score, Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens is designed to include the community in a theatrical response to the AIDS crisis. Often performed as a benefit for fundraising and consciousness raising, the show includes the songs “Heroes All Around” and “Learning to Let Go.”

Elegies: A Song Cycle by William Finn (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 2w, 3m, Flexible)
This moving remembrance of departed friends is by the Tony-winning composer of Falsettos. With humor and pathos, the show pays tribute to a disparate group that includes impresario Joe Papp, actors Peggy Hewitt and Jack Eric Williams, a teacher, the Korean family who ran a deli frequented by Finn, relatives in New Jersey, friends, long-lost pets and, in a moving sequence, Finn’s mother. A three-song conclusion offers a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

Family Album by Joe Iconis and John Simpkins (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 10 any gender)
This dynamic, contemporary song cycle is a collection of character songs from the point of view of criminals, monstrous creatures, house pets, automatons, artists and other various weirdos. See also: Family Album: Teen Edition (US/UK).

First Time by Kirk Foster, John Gardiner and Paul Sabey (UK)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 9w, 9m)
This original and enjoyable show is best described as a musical revue which takes a lighthearted look at the first-time experience and feelings all of us have or will come up against. Each song and sketch is associated with the word “first” in one way or another — First Child, First Job, First Glance, First Family Christmas, First Bite(!).

Fugitive Songs by Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 3m)
Award-winning songwriters Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen’s Fugitive Songs is a 19-song journey across America, featuring a multi-ethnic ensemble between the ages of 20 and 40. This innovative song cycle, conceived as half-musical/half-hootenanny, spotlights people on the run: a disgruntled Subway sandwich employee, a jilted ex-cheerleader, a pair of Patty Hearst fanatics, a stoner forced to rob a convenience store against his will, and many others.

Funny, You Don’t Look Like a Grandmother by Lois Wyse, Sheilah Rae and Robert Waldman (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 5w, 2m)
This humorous, heartwarming revue looks at modern grandmothers in a whole new light. These are the women who have thrown away the granny glasses, shapeless black dresses and Red Cross shoes and replaced them with cute little tennis dresses, skis and a condo in Florida.

George M. Cohan: In His Own Words by Chip Deffaa and George M. Cohan (US)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 5w, 6m)
A dynamite performer, playwright and composer, George M. Cohan dominated the American theatre in his days as no other ever has. ASCAP Award-winning writer Chip Deffaa offers a fresh look at this quintessential showman’s life and brings a glorious chapter in showbiz to the stage.

Golf: The Musical by Eric Krebs and Michael Roberts (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 1w, 3m)
The fun, frustrations and humor of the grand-old game are celebrated in this fast-paced, tune-filled off-Broadway hit. Hilarious skits, witty songs and even a putting competition make Golf an uproarious hit with players and non-players alike.

Hot ’n’ Cole: A Cole Porter Celebration! by Cole Porter, David Armstrong, Mark Waldrop and Bruce W. Coyle (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
The spotlight is on the timelessness of Cole Porter classics, presented here with wonderfully fresh arrangements and a contemporary twist. Over 50 of Porter’s songs are woven into an entertainment that feels as much like a book musical as a revue. By turns wry, irreverent, romantic, touching and hilarious, this is a postmodern Cole Porter evening unlike any other.

Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly by Howard Crabtree, Mark Waldrop and Dick Gallagher (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 5m)
In this side-splitting musical extravaganza, new heights of hilarity are achieved in a series of outrageous skits celebrating gay life and creating an opportunity for uproarious, over-the-top costumes. For more riotous antics, see Howard Crabtree’s Whoop Dee Doo! (US/UK).

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (2018 Version) by Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 2m)
The longest-running off-Broadway revue has been revised for the 21st century! This celebration of the mating game takes on the truths and myths behind “the relationship.” Through sketches and songs, Act I explores the journey from dating and waiting to love and marriage, while Act II reveals the agonies and triumphs of in-laws and newborns, trips in the family car and pick-up techniques of the geriatric set. Also available is the Original Version (US/UK).

I’ll Die If I Can’t Live Forever by William Boswell, Joyce Stoner and Karen Johnson (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
Sometimes called “the junior Chorus Line,” this is the story of six hopeful actors auditioning to be in a musical revue in New York City at the original Improvisation comedy club.

It Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues by Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor and Dan Wheetman (US)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 3w, 4m)
This sizzling revue celebrates the blues through a series of ravishing songs that changed the way the world hears the human heartbeat. Taking New York by storm, It Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues is a dynamic and moving musical journey tracing the evolution of the blues from Africa to Mississippi to Memphis to Chicago.

It’s Only Life by John Bucchino and Daisy Prince (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
John Bucchino’s songs have been recorded and performed by Judy Collins, Patti LuPone, Yo-Yo Ma, Audra McDonald, Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel and many others. Conceived by director Daisy Prince and award-winning songwriter Bucchino, It’s Only Life is a musical revue about longing, fulfillment, loss, triumph and, ultimately, wisdom.

Judith Viorst’s Love and Shrimp by Judith Viorst and Shelly Markham (US)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 3w)
In songs and poems and musings, with wit and wisdom and rue, three women take the audience on an emotional journey from young to not so young, from dumb to not so dumb, from single to married, from parenthood to upper-eyelid droop.

Lend an Ear by Charles Gaynor (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 4w, 3m)
Responsible for giving Carol Channing her “big break,” this 1948 Broadway tuner features skits and songs on topics as varied as psychoanalysts, gossip columnists, tourism, silent screen stars and “The Gladiola Girl.”

Leonard Bernstein’s New York by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Stephen Sondheim (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 1w, 1m)
Jazzy, romantic, edgy, elegant and lyrical, this two-person musical revue explores Leonard Bernstein’s passionate relationship with New York City.

Love, Noël: The Letters and Songs of Noël Coward by Barry Day and Noël Coward (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
A loving portrait of one of the theatre’s most influential minds, Love, Noël: The Letters and Songs of Noël Coward is the dramatic staging of the letters and correspondence of the playwright, director, actor, composer and singer.

Lovesong by Michael Valenti (US)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 2w, 2m)
This delightful revue of over two dozen songs was originally produced off-Broadway in 1976. Cue Magazine called the show “ tasteful, exciting, funny and very beautiful.”

Mayor by Charles Strouse, Warren Leight and Edward I. Koch (US)
(Musical Revue, Political Satire / 4w, 4m)
If you love New York – or if you hate it – you will be sure to enjoy this peppy show, which is as much about life in the Big Apple as it is about the Mayor. Virtually every aspect of the social and political life of New York City is genially lampooned, and the result is an entertaining evening… even for audiences who wouldn’t be able to tell Ed Koch from Frank Perdue!

Monstersongs by Rob Rokicki (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 7 any gender)
Monstersongs puts audiences in a synthesized world of graphic novels, rock musicals, live performance and new technology. 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.

Mother Earth by Ron Thronson and Toni Tennille (US)
(Musical Revue, Political Satire / 5w, 5m)
A rock musical based on man’s ill-spent use of his environment, Mother Earth consists of a series of sketches for ten young and attractive people. The sketches are spoofs of General Motors and other sometimes ecological mobsters; a sketch on a television quiz show called “Killatron” comes near to lauding suicide – an ecological reality with twists of irony and satirical bravura.

Nightclub Cantata by Elizabeth Swados (US)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 4m)
Utilizing a fast-moving revue format, this immensely inventive theatre piece provides a truly distinctive and delightful experience for performers and audiences alike. The material, all set to original music by Elizabeth Swados, is drawn from the works of such writers as Sylvia Plath, Muriel Rukeyser, Carson McCullers and Miss Swados herself, and runs the gamut from hilarious farce to the sadness of lovers’ parting.

One Mo’ Time by Vernel Bagneris (US)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 2m)
One Mo’ Time features a group of performers at a New Orleans Club in 1926 as they put on an evening of vaudeville, ragtime and blues! This long running Off-Broadway hit, which was revived to acclaim in the 2002 Broadway season, has audiences rockin’ to the rafters and dancin’ in the aisles, thrilling to this artful recreation of old time, 1920s Black vaudeville.

Pretzels by Jane Curtin, Fred Grandy, John Forster and Judith Kahan (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 2m)
Four young performers play satirical sketches and sing catchy songs. A wide range of subjects, 15 in all, get a natty, sophisticated going-over, including Mozart, mod singing stars, unemployment benefits, cosmetology, college reunions, pretentious young men on the make and neglected suburban housewives. Because they concentrate on real-life situations, there’s many a sad moment mixed in with loud and robust laughter.

Requiem by Andrew Lloyd Webber (US)
(Musical Revue, Drama / Flexible Cast Size)
The work, although a Latin Requiem Mass, was inspired by a tragic article Andrew read in the New York Times about a Cambodian boy who suffered under the Khmer Rouge, and is also dedicated to his father, William Lloyd Webber, who died in 1982.

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s A Grand Night for Singing, conceived by Walter Bobbie (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 3w, 2m)
Taste and imagination, the two key ingredients for a first-rate revue, abound in this fresh take on the Rodgers & Hammerstein canon, conceived by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie. See also the One-Act Version (US/UK).

Rodgers & Hart – A Celebration by Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Richard Lewine and John Fearnley (US)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 3w, 3m)
From their first hit song in 1925 through their final showstopper in 1943, the prolific team of Rodgers & Hart continually redefined the musical theatre with wit, freshness and intelligence. In this rousing pastiche, the first act sets the stage for romance while the second act is comprised of their more satiric gems.

Scrambled Feet by Jeffrey Haddow and Jimmy Wisner
(Musical Revue, Parody / Flexible Cast Size)
This intimate musical revue is a zany, hilarious spoof dedicated to satirizing every conceivable aspect of show business.

Serious Bizness by David Babcock, Jennifer Allen, David Evans, Winnie Holzman and Don Perman (US)
(Musical Revue, Satire / 2w, 2m)
Up-to-the-minute social satire is the hallmark of this clever, easily staged revue. A score of sketches and songs parody modern manners and morals at a machine-gun pace. Serious Bizness covers everything from the problems of using the telephone in the age of divestiture, to explaining the origin of babies to some obnoxiously precocious children, to arranging a dinner party for a date by which one of the proposed quests will – unfortunately – be dead.

Some Enchanted Evening – The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 3w, 2m)
This stunning collection of Rodgers & Hammerstein compositions places five performers in a theatrical setting: first “backstage,” where the songs are sung as personal interplay, and then “onstage,” where they are presented to an audience.

Stardust by Mitchell Parish and Albert Harris (US)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 3m)
This musical revue features 35 of lyricist Mitchell Parish’s most enchanting songs, with music by such illustrious composers as Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Benny Goodman, Harry White and Peter DeRose.

Sweet and Hot: The Songs of Harold Arlen by Julianne Boyd (US)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 3w, 3m)
This razz-ma-tazz, high-energy revue celebrating the songs of one of America’s greatest composers has played to rave reviews around the country. Among the three dozen selections included here are “Stormy Weather,” “Get Happy,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “That Old Black Magic” and “Over the Rainbow.” The setting suggests a 1930s jazz club, a Coney Island Pier and a Caribbean port.

Taking My Turn by Robert H. Livingston, Gary William Friedman and Will Holt (US)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 4m, Flexible Cast Size)
This award-winning, critically acclaimed musical by the creators of the hit show The Me Nobody Knows was one of the first musicals to deal with aging. Interviews with people “in their prime” became the basis for the non-linear book. With humor and poignancy, the show addresses the concerns, joys and challenges of growing older through songs like “I Am Not Old,” “It Still Isn’t Over,” “Sweet Longings” and the title number.

The Club by Eve Merriam and Alexandra Ivanoff (US)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 7w)
Members of a stuffy all-male club, circa 1905, tap dance and sing 14 songs of the era, all indicative of male smugness and superiority. During the finale, the audience discovers that the top hats, white ties and rails are actually being worn by women.

The Kids Left. The Dog Died. Now What? by Carole Caplan Lonner (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 2m)
As introduced on NBC’s Today Show, this musical comedy salutes those valiantly struggling with divorce on their hands, gravity on their bodies, grandchildren on their self-images, and the dating scene on their egos. The risks and uncertainties of being alive come alive through song and scene. Aging gracefully is the final frontier!

The Meaning of Life and Other Vanities by Tim Albritton and Paul McCusker (US)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 4w, 4m)
A Broadway-style musical revue for a mixed cast of almost any size that intertwines music and sketches to examine the futility of life without God. Based on the Book of Ecclesiastes, this revue presents a variety of contemporary people and situations as they look for the meaning of life in unsuccessful ways.

The Melody Lingers On by Irving Berlin, Mary Ellin Barrett, Tom Briggs, Donald Johnston and Karin Baker (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Dramatic Comedy / 5w, 5m)
“It is all history now – ancient history. The celebrated romance of the Catholic golden girl, born to millions, and the immigrant cantor’s son from the Lower East Side.” So writes Mary Ellin Barrett in her biography Irving Berlin: A Daughter’s Memoir, on which this biographical revue is based.

The Wedekind Cabaret by Eric Bentley (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
Two cabaret programs, which can be performed together in one long evening or separately: the first program telling the stories of Spring’s Awakening and The First Lulu, the second framed by two Wedekind short stories.

Too Old for the Chorus, But Not Too Old to Be a Star by Marie Cain, Mark Winkler and Shelly Markham (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 2w, 3m)
A smart, funny musical revue about men and women who find themselves suddenly 50! In their neighborhood retro coffee shop, five characters express – in 18 musical numbers – the gamut of their frustrations and joys, from troublesome relations with still-demanding parents and cutting-edge technology to finding delight in second careers (and second chances), getting smarter and finally knowing that “age is just a number.”

Unsung Cole (And Classics Too) by Norman L. Berman (US)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 3w, 2m)
Unsung Cole pays tribute to Cole Porter’s work. It needs no superfluous dialogue, numerous set changes or biographical information. The songs are arranged in topics and gracefully flow from one to the other. Talk them, sing them, act them, dance them, but most of all have fun with them.

Wanna Play?! by Bryan Young, Linda Bergman, Jeff Rizzo and Barry Dennen (US)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 12 any gender)
This award-winning musical revue for teens explores the pains, pleasures and insanities of early adolescence. In the heartbreaking “Tug of War,” two kids sing about their divorcing parents arguing over who will take the TV, the liquor or the furniture, but ask in a plaintive chorus, “Who’s gonna take me?”

We Aren’t Kids Anymore by Drew Gasparini (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Cabaret / 2w, 3m)
This new theatrical song cycle was born of Drew Gasparini’s journey forging a creative path and navigating the world at large, and his desire to offer empathy and hope to everyone doing the same. How do we hold on to our childhood dreams and ideals as adult disillusionment sets in? How do we sustain life as artists without settling for others’ definitions of success? And how do we recover when we lose those battles?

Well-Behaved Women by Carmel Dean (UK)
(Musical Revue, Drama / 9w)
This contemporary song cycle for four to 20+ women is a celebration of many historic women who fought to have their voices heard and bravely made their mark on the world. Women such as Billie Jean King, Frida Kahlo, Harriet Tubman, Cleopatra and Malala Yousafzai bring their incredible stories to life through powerful, emotional and often hilarious songs, leaving audiences entertained, moved and inspired.

What’s a Nice Country Like You Doing in a State Like This? by Cary Hoffman and Ira Gasman (US)
(Musical Revue, Political Satire / 2w, 3m)
This hilarious, all-musical revue of social and political satire offers enough sparkling material for anywhere from five to a dozen performers.

For more great plays and musicals, visit Concord Theatricals in the US and UK.