Check out these Broadway shows featuring pop music hits
These musicals feature songs from classic rock stars and modern pop stars.
Turn on the Top 40 radio or your throwback rock playlist, and you might just hear... showtunes? Pop music on Broadway isn't a new phenomenon, with jukebox musicals like Mamma Mia!, featuring the songs of ABBA, fueling the craze years ago. But now, there's a whole host of Broadway shows that feature pop music, from classic Motown tunes to '80s and '90s hits to chart-toppers from the last decade. Whether you're an original cast album fan looking for something different or a pop music junkie that's new to musical theatre, you'll find a Broadway show you can groove along to.
Get tickets to a Broadway musical on New York Theatre Guide.
MJ The Musical
Rock with Michael Jackson all night at MJ The Musical. With more than 25 hits from Jackson, the Jackson 5, and more, this musical will have you dancing into the sunlight. Jackson's hits are reframed in new, creative ways in this musical, as they bring back key memories from Jackson's life and career while he rehearses for his 1992 Dangerous World Tour.
Get MJ The Musical tickets now.
The Lion King
Go to The Lion King and you'll hear the music of one of the best-selling musical artists of all time: Sir Elton John. He composed the original music for the original 1994 Disney film (collaborating with lyricist Tim Rice), and much of that music features in the Broadway production.
Even if you're unfamiliar with The Lion King, you may recognize songs like "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" and "Circle of Life," which John released as radio singles, making them into commercial hits in the 1990s that remain famous today. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" even won John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance alongside an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1995.
Get The Lion King tickets now.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Baz Luhrmann's original film was also a jukebox movie musical, almost exclusively featuring covers of songs previously recorded by pop artists. For example, "Lady Marmalade," now widely associated with the film, was originally made famous in the 1970s by the girl group Labelle, and "Your Song," sung by the leading character Christian, was first an Elton John hit.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical follows suit, incorporating both those songs from the movie (as well as plenty of others including Carol Channing's "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," Madonna's "Material Girl," and Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy") and piles on dozens of pop songs that have topped the charts since the movie's 2001 release. It's impossible to name them all, but know that you'll hear an eclectic mix of songs from artists ranging from Adele to Britney Spears to Soft Cell to Tina Turner. It's nothing short of a pop spectacular (spectacular).
Get Moulin Rouge! The Musical tickets now.
& Juliet
We're confident that you'll know the words to most of the songs in this larger-than-life musical. After roaring with laughter and applause the first time, you'll want to go, baby, one more time. & Juliet features 30 pop songs from the '90s and '00s, all from the catalog of Swedish writer and producer Max Martin. He's behind Britney Spears's, the Backstreet Boys', and Katy Perry's biggest hits, plus many more.
All these songs are set to an original, new story from Schitt's Creek writer David West Read. The musical follows Juliet, of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, and imagines what would happen if she didn't die at the end of that classic play. She journeys to Paris, finds new friends and lovers, and finds herself. It's gonna be you that lives out your teenage dreams at this show.
Get & Juliet tickets now.
A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical
Good times — and good music — never seemed so good. The greatest hits of Neil Diamond hit the Broadway stage this fall in a new bio-musical about the bestselling artist's life. Two actors play Diamond as a young up-and-coming musician from Brooklyn and as an older man with multiple lifetime achievement awards, two hall of fame inductions, and lots of bestselling records under his belt. Discover how Diamond became an international sensation and hear all his classic songs, like "America," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," "Song Sung Blue," and of course, "Sweet Caroline."
Get A Beautiful Noise tickets now.
Once Upon a One More Time
It's Britney, baby, one more time! This new musical features the princesses from classic fairytales at a book club meeting, which is crashed by a fairy godmother who brings them The Feminine Mystique to read. The princesses realize there's more to life than being rescued by a prince — and their journey is powered by the fierce hits of none other than Britney Spears. Many of her biggest hits, like "Oops!... I Did It Again," "Lucky," "Stronger," and "Toxic" all feature in the show. Once Upon a One More Time isn't on Broadway yet; it recently wrapped a pre-Broadway run in Washington, D.C., and the musical is soon to hit the New York stage stronger.
Check back for information on Once Upon a One More Time tickets on New York Theatre Guide.
Originally published on