Buckle up, kids! It’s gonna be a long ride. 20 musicals that you must see! The best of the best and my all time favorites. I had the privilege of being in four of these beautiful masterpieces (three of which I actually played a guy). I also got to see three of these live, two of which were by professionals the other one was performed by my high school. In some way or another, these musicals take me on an emotional journey, and I hope that you get that experience as well if you choose to watch them. If you have already seen some, let me know what you think! This is one topic that I could talk about for hours!

1. The Phantom of the Opera

My all-time favorite musical with some of the best songs out there! Thank you, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Phantom is about a man who has lived in the opera house for many years and has became know as the Phantom and his obsession with Christine Daae, who acts at the opera house. He tries everything in his power to keep Christine close to him as she falls in love with her childhood friend, Raoul.

2. Into the Woods

Into the Woods takes all the Disney stories you knew as a kid and shows them as the original stories before Disney got a hold of them. This musical, although shows the somewhat horrifying truths of Disney classics, is one that you can enjoy from start to finish. It intertwines all the different stories beautifully.

3. Rent

Another absolutely beautiful musical! This is my second favorite musical not only because of how good it actually is, but also because of the back story of how the musical came about. Rent takes you on an emotional roller coaster that you will never want to get off of. This musical really illustrates the struggles of aspiring artists and their friends in New York at the dawn of the 1990s. The events in Rent are inspired by things in real life that happened to creator Jonathon Larson and the people he knew.

4. Oklahoma!

This was the first musical I watched my high school do, and it is the reason I wanted to be a part of the musical world in high school. Oklahoma! is about two small town girls struggling to figure out what their hearts want before it’s too late.

5. Fiddler on the Roof

I was able to be apart of this musical my freshmen year of high school, and it was absolutely amazing. I played one of the sons for this musical. Fiddler is a classic musical about a Jewish community trying to make it day to day and fight off the oppression of the Russians.

6. Wicked

I was able to see this on a big stage in London when I toured Europe in the summer of 2012. Wicked is about two girls, the Good Witch of the South and the Wicked Witch of the West and their relationship with each other.

7. Beauty and the Beast

A tale as old as time, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney musical of all time. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, you must live under a rock! To refresh your memory, Beauty and the Beast is about a young boy who was turned into a beast after rejecting an old woman seeking shelter from a storm. The musical follows the Beast in his journey as he learns to love and be loved by others so he can be turned back into his human self.

8. Grease

A summer romance turns more real than the two thought when both end up going to the same high school. Grease tells the story of two different people fighting the cliques of high school to somehow be together.

9. Les Misérables

After being a prisoner for 19 years, Jean Valjean is released on parole by officer Javert. Valjean promptly breaks parole and Javert vows to see Valjean back in prison. Such an amazing, emotional, must-see musical.

10. The Wizard of Oz

Follow the yellow brick road right to the movie store to get this musical if you haven’t seen it yet! The Wizard of Oz is another classic that is put together beautifully. For those who might not know, The Wizard of Oz follows young Dorthy in her journey to get back home after being swept up in a tornado and being dropped far away from her home in Kansas.

11. The Lion King

The Lion King is another beloved Disney Classic. This musical follows Simba as he takes back what is rightfully his after his evil uncle has taken it from him. There is so many emotions and powerful life lessons in this musical.

12. The Drowsy Chaperone

A very funny musical about a man who reflects on one of his favorite musicals. The Drowsy Chaperone pokes fun at all the characterizations of the musical theatre genre.

13. Book of Mormon

The Book of Moron is a hilarious musical! Although it does have some pretty controversial topics, it has critics raving about it! It is about two missionaries going to Africa to try to convert citizens to the Mormon religion. This mission proves to be more of a challenge than what Elder Price and Elder Cunningham ever thought!

14. Avenue Q

Avenue Q is a laugh-out-loud musical about a man who moves to New York onto Avenue Q after college. He soon finds out that his neighborhood isn’t a normal one. Avenue Q is like the grown up version of Sesame Street.

15. Hairspray

A classic in my eyes! Hairspray is about a young girl in Baltimore who just wants to be a TV star and does just that. Because of this one girl's positive attitude, she sets out to try to persuade the TV show she dances on to be racially integrated.

16. The Pajama Game

I was also part of my high schools production of this musical my senior year. I was cast as Virginia, which makes it the only time I was a girl in the musicals. The Pajama Game is about workers in an Iowa pajama factory demanding a seven-and-a-half-cent raise. The big boss man brings in a new superintendent to distract from the demands of the workers and a new romance buds.

17. Crazy For You

My junior year in high school I was part of this musical. I was cast as the role of Jimmy, a male role. Crazy for you is about a banker who has a soft spot for theatre. He goes to foreclose on a property and when he finds out it's the local theatre, he is heartbroken. From there, he plans to put on a show to help save the theatre!

18. Guys and Dolls

During my sophomore year of high school, I was able to be part of the production for this musical. I played one of the boys. Guys and Dolls is about a gambler who needs a considerable amount of money to rent out a space for his big craps game. He bets one of his buddies that he can’t get a particular girl to go on a date with him.

19. West Side Story

West Side Story is a musical you always hear about. It is a modern day Romeo and Juliet story. Two gangs in New York battle over who gets control of turf, and to complicate things, one of the leaders falls for the sister of the other gangs leader.

20. Enchanted

This isn’t really a Broadway musical, but I really like this movie/musical. Enchanted is about Princess Giselle, who is banished from the fairy-tale world into the real world. A divorced lawyer comes to help her in the real world, and she begins to fall for him. As things develop with him, things get complicated as the Prince from the fairy-tale world comes to rescue her.

All of these musicals are fun to watch and provide a little escape for you when you watch them. They are happy, sad, fun, dramatic, and every emotion in between!