My latest patriotic poll: Rank these ten Broadway musicals that take actual American history as their subject, from most to least favorite.
Two are currently on Broadway; one is scheduled to open later this season. The others had at least one run on Broadway (and live on in cast recordings.) Below the poll is a brief description of each show.
These musicals use the actual names of historical figures and attempt to re-create real events, although some take more liberties than others. (Other Broadway musicals have referred to American history, but created fictitious characters, or used fictitious names, and invented events.)
I’ve posted the aggregate results so far. (Scroll to bottom)
The titles are listed alphabetically. To rank them, simply move each into the order that you prefer — the first one at the very top — and then press “submit.”
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Music by: Leonard Bernstein; Book and lyrics by: Alan Jay Lerner
On Broadway from May 4, 1976 – May 08, 1976
The story of the White House occupants from 1800–1900,
1776
Music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards. Book by Peter Stone
Mar 16, 1969 – Feb 13, 1972
Aug 14, 1997 – Jun 14, 1998
Oct 6, 2022 – Jan 08, 2023
The deliberations that led the Founding Fathers to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Assassins
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
Apr 22, 2004 – Jul 18, 2004
Dec 3, 2012 – Dec 03, 2012
The men and women who tried to assassinate U.S. Presidents, some successfully.
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Music and lyrics by Michael Friedman
Book by Alex Timbers
Oct 13, 2010 – Jan 02, 2011
A campy unflattering dramatization of the life of President Andrew Jackson
Fiorello
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Book by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott
Nov 23, 1959 – Oct 28, 1961
The life of New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia
Floyd Collins
Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel
Book by Tina Landau
This 1994 musical is opening at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, April 21, 2025
Floyd Collins was a cave explorer who got trapped 200 feet underground, resulting in a rescue attempt that generated what’s been called the first modern media circus
Hamilton
Music, book and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Opened at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theater August 6, 2015
The life and times of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father whose face is on the ten dollar bill
Parade
Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Book by Alfred Uhry
Dec 17, 1998 – Feb 28, 1999
Mar 16, 2023 – Aug 06, 2023
The 1913 trial and subsequent lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory superintended accused of raping and murdering an employee in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Scottsboro Boys
Music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb
Book by David Thompson
Oct 31, 2010 – Dec 12, 2010
Structured as a minstrel show, the musical tells the true story of nine black teens in 1931 jailed for a rape they did not commit, which became a cause célèbre.
Suffs
Music, book and lyrics by Shaina Taub
Opened on Broadway’s Music Box Theater April 18, 2024
The last seven years in the successful struggle by American suffragists, who called themselves Suffs, to win women the right to vote.
The order of average ranking as of now:
- Hamilton
- Assassins
- Parade
- 1776
- Suffs
- The Scottsboro Boys
- Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
- Floyd Collins
- Fiorello!
- 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Worth noting: Just half of the respondents ranked Hamilton as number 1 (and about ten percent gave it a ranking of 5 or lower. ) About 15 percent each ranked Assassins and 1776 as number 1.
