Have you attended a Broadway musical where the audience jumps to their feet and rocks with the band at the finale? Shows that end on a note of high exuberance, inviting the audience to leap up and dance in celebration to an encore at the curtain call, are quite the norm these days. Whether you are enthusiastically participating in the megamix mashup cheekily titled “Megasix” in Six or irresistibly drawn into the aisle to boogie to a second rendering of “Oh, What a Night” at Jersey Boys, you realize this isn’t the Broadway conjured-up by My Fair Lady, South Pacific or West Side Story. This experience is more like grooving at a rock or pop concert. Let’s call these shows “Musicals That Rock” – a breed of Broadway musical that stands at the intersection of Broadway, Rock, and Pop. And you can bet they are here to stay.

Over the years, Broadway has also embraced shows with original music written by cross-over artists from the worlds of rock and pop, welcoming the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Elton John, Sting, and The Who. 

“I think the trend is only going to become stronger,” says Russo. “These musicals stand out because you know what you are getting — pure joy in the theater. And these talented singers and dancers, and these musicians, are doing all this live without a net every single night.”

Musicals inspired by rock and pop are not new, but now expect at least one show that will quicken your pulse and set your body swaying in every new Broadway season. “It’s truly a phenomenon,” says musicologist Rich Russo, host of the freeform radio show Anything, Anything, and self-described excessive record collector. “It is really amazing that all this is coinciding with the vinyl resurgence,” he adds. “People want familiarity; they want to be entertained. The jukebox musicals are done so well. But in the end, I think it’s because good music is good music, is good music.”

A guilty pleasure for some and once an object of derision by Broadway snobs, the jukebox musical typically relies on an existing popular hit-song list with a narrative to service those songs. “The problem with the word “jukebox” is that there are very few people today who actually had jukeboxes in their lives,” notes Russo. “A true jukebox had only about 100 records in it, and, by the way, the flipsides of those 45 rpm singles were not always popular songs. So think of the curation that went into a jukebox,” he notes. “A diner in Mississippi might have had a very different jukebox from a diner in New Jersey.” 

The unprecedented 2001 Broadway box-office success of Mamma Mia! (created with popular ABBA hits) caused naysayers to pause, and the 2006 Best Musical Tony awarded to Jersey Boys (with a playlist from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons) marked the genre’s critical ascendance as well. A recent example of the Broadway jukebox musical is Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Based on the Baz Luhrmann movie, the musical is stuffed with a record number of 70 pop songs. It won the 2021 Tony Award for Best Musical and is still drawing audiences both on Broadway and on tour nationally.

Another version of the genre, the multiple Tony nominee Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, expertly uses the music of the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Carole King. The show charts the rise to fame and personal story of the popular artist who got inducted last year into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Similarly, this past season, Broadway enthusiastically rocked to the sound of Tina -The Tina Turner Musical and is currently thrilling to MJ The Musical, which showcases the unique artistry of Michael Jackson.

Over the years, Broadway has also embraced shows with original music written by cross-over artists from the worlds of rock and pop, welcoming the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Elton John, Sting, and The Who. 

“I think the trend is only going to become stronger,” says Russo. “These musicals stand out because you know what you are getting — pure joy in the theater. And these talented singers and dancers, and these musicians, are doing all this live without a net every single night.”

Kinky Boots, Stage 42

This is the first Broadway musical from Grammy and Emmy award-winner Cyndi Lauper, who received a Tony Award for her original score. After enjoying a six-year run on Broadway (having won the Best Musial Tony in 2013), it has returned for a new lease of life Off-Broadway. Adapted from the British movie of the same name by Tony Award-winning playwright Harvey Fierstein, Kinky Boots is an uplifting tale about an unlikely friendship between a strait-laced young heir to a failing small town shoe factory and a fabulous drag artiste from London’s cabaret world. This results in the factory switching to manufacturing fetish footwear for men. The exuberant feel-good musical is directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, a Tony winner for his work on La Cage aux Folles.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Al Hirschfeld Theatre (also on tour)

If you thought the Baz Luhrman movie about doomed lovers in turn-of-the-century Paris was over the top, wait till you experience the unabashed excess of the musical stage extravaganza based on the 2001 movie. The star-crossed romance between an impoverished American writer and the glamorous star of the Moulin Rouge plays out against an eye-popping recreation of the legendary French nightclub, dripping with decadence and patronized by both high and low society. Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a jukebox musical that sets out to top all others in the sheer abundance of its music. The score for the musical is fashioned from over 70 well-known songs made famous by Lady Gaga, David Bowie, Adele, Beyoncé, and Katy Perry among others. 

MJ The Musical, Neil Simon Theatre

The new musical is inspired by the art and career of showbiz icon Michael Jackson and incorporates more than 25 hits from the extensive Jackson catalog. MJ recreates the dazzling moves that made the King of Pop a worldwide superstar. The non-linear narrative by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage takes place in a Los Angeles rehearsal studio on the eve of Jackson’s famous 1992 Dangerous World Tour. He rehearses his dancers for the upcoming tour while flashing back to key moments in his development as an artist. Broadway newcomer Myles Frost continues his astonishing Tony Award-winning performance as Jackson.

Six, Brooks Atkinson Theatre (also on tour)

Only one of King Henry VIII’s six wives survived him, but they all get to dish on the plump Tudor tyrant in a high-energy musical that truly rocks. Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss (Tony Award winners for Best Original Score in 2022), Six gleefully revisits 16th-century English history with a contemporary eye. Backed by a fierce on-stage all-female band, the disposed English queens stay faithful to historical facts while staking their claim for recognition in the 21st century within a concert-style framework. And while they’re at it, the newly empowered six from the past channel pop queens from today in their musical numbers. Have fun identifying Beyoncé, Adele, Rihanna, Britney, and Ariana, to name just a few. 

Coming in the Fall 

Almost Famous, Bernard B. Jacobs Theater
(starts October 3)

Cameron Crowe’s acclaimed 2000 movie, a love letter to rock and roll, makes a natural fit for a musical that rocks. Almost Famous is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about an aspiring teenage journalist who goes on tour with an up-and-coming 1970s rock band in the hopes of landing a cover story for Rolling Stone magazine. With his unique backstage pass, the young writer experiences the thrills of rock and roll and romance and learns some valuable lessons in integrity. Crowe has adapted his Academy Award-winning screenplay and penned lyrics with Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next To Normal), who has composed an original groovy 1970s-style score for the production, enhanced with actual hits from the period. 

KPOP, Circle in the Square Theatre
(starts October 13)

The sound and vibe of K-pop is now internationally famous through Korean pop sensations like BTS and Blackpink. This new Broadway musical takes you behind the scenes as a group of superstars prepare for a special one-night concert. With a book by Jason Kim and original music and lyrics written by Helen Park and Max Vernon, the multimedia musical entertainment captures the high-stakes competition, raw ambition, and an artist’s struggle with personal demons as the mega-industry trains its sights on the American market. The show includes a multi-talented cast, 16 of whom make their Broadway debut, including Korean superstar Luna. The pop artist, who leads the show, began her career as a member of the K-pop group f(x) and has since become a chart-topping solo artist. 

& Juliet, Stephen Sondheim Theatre
(starts October 28)

Songwriter and record producer Max Martin may not be well-known to many. But, the hit songs he wrote for some of the most popular performers of the last three decades are world famous: “…Baby One More Time,” “Oops!..I Did It Again” (Britney Spears); “Break Free,” “Problem” (Ariana Grande); “Blow” (Kesha); “Teenage Dream” (Katy Perry); “I Want It That Way” (Backstreet Boys) and “That’s the Way It Is” (Céline Dion) to name just a few. Librettist David West Read (Emmy Award winner for Schitt’s Creek) has woven nearly 30 songs from Martin’s unrivaled catalog in a feminist makeover of Romeo & Juliet that imagines a life for the heroine after Romeo. Betsy Wolfe plays Anne Hathaway, who pushes her husband, William Shakespeare (Stark Sands), to rewrite his tale of the doomed lovers.

A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical, Broadhurst Theatre
(starts November 2)

Will Swenson (Tony nominee for Hair) gives a virtuosic performance as he mines a treasure trove of Neil Diamond’s greatest hits, including “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” “America,” “Cracklin’ Rosie,” and “Sweet Caroline” in the new bio-musical which spans the soft rock crooner’s 60 years of songwriting. Based on a libretto written by Anthony McCarten (Academy Award nominee for Bohemian Rhapsody), the buoyant production is directed by Michael Mayer (Tony Award winner for Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, American Idiot). 

On Tour

Ain’t Too Proud, The Life and Times of the Temptations

Written by playwright Dominque Morisseau, based on the memoir by Otis Williams, this spirited musical charts the spectacular journey of The Temptations. It follows the group from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The show vividly brings to life the “Classic Five’s” signature moves and showcases some of the greatest hits of the popular Motown group, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.” The production is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys, The Who’s Tommy) and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo (On Your Feet, Memphis).

Beautiful -The Carole King Musical

Fans of the Grammy Award-winning songwriter and performer will hear “You’ve Got a Friend,” “One Fine Day,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Natural Woman,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” and other memorable hits from the Carole King songbook in this heart-warming musical. We follow King from the start of her career when she was a teenager in the 1950s, writing hit songs for groups like the Drifters, the Shirelles, and the Righteous Brothers. Then, we shift to her solo triumph, overcoming trauma in her personal life, with “Tapestry.” 

Jagged Little Pill

Heartbreaking songs by seven-time Grammy Award winner Alanis Morissette and six-time Grammy winner Glen Ballard weave into an emotionally devastating musical that explores the joys and pains of a suburban family. Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (Juno)’s libretto encompasses the addictions, confusions, and perils of contemporary American life with humor and passion, reimagining Morissette’s alt-rock hits, including- “All I Really Want,” “Hand in My Pocket,” “You Oughta Know,” and “Wake Up.” The production is directed by Diane Paulus (Tony Award winner for Pippin). 

Jersey Boys

Still going strong since making a splash on Broadway over 15 years ago, the documentary musical, which tells the story of the legendary 1960s rock and pop band Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, has spawned several international productions and multiple national tours. As the enthusiastic audiences for Jersey Boys will attest, the hit songs like “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What A Night,” “Walk Like A Man,” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” remain perennial favorites.

Tina: The Tina Turner musical

After ending an acclaimed Broadway run this month, the Tina Turner musical embarks on a national tour. The musical celebration of the legendary rock goddess’ remarkable triumph over the many obstacles in her turbulent life features great hits, including “Nutbush City Limits,” “Proud Mary,” and, of course, “River Deep, Mountain High.” The production is directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast.