Musical Theatre Timeline: Time Period Musicals are Set

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The best way I’ve found to learn the chronological order of history is by looking at the art set in that time period. For example, learning about 1950 by watching musicals written during that year as well as shows set in that year written in the future. I’ve already created a glorious wall timeline of my favorite literature, so I figured I would assemble a timeline of musicals that are traditionally set in a specific time.

When selecting these musicals, I tried to choose ones that are both well-known and that illustrate society & its fascinations at the time. Clearly, there aren’t as many musicals to choose from pre-19th-century. To be honest, there are also some musicals that would fill some of my timeline gaps that I did not include. These musicals were so absorbed in modern/imaginary issues it’s nauseating and completely unhelpful in a timeline context. (I can do this because, well, it’s my blog!)

Please comment any musicals you know that are set in the time periods I have missed! I’ll be updating this timeline regularly!

January 1, 2019

Children of Eden

Nobody knows for sure where the Garden of Eden was, but most theologians agree it was located somewhere in between Europe and Asia.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Joseph lived in Canaan (near modern day Israel) with his 11 brothers and father, Jacob. And then, you know, he made it to Egypt eventually.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Hadestown

Though The Original Broadway Cast Production of this musical is set in a steampunky, post-apocolyptic setting, all of the characters beautifully illustrate Ancient Greek mythology. So I placed it here.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Jesus Christ Superstar

This musical is clearly not an accurate depiction of the life of Jesus Christ. The show is about Judas’s perception of Jesus as simply a man (instead of 100% God and 100% man). Even so, it’s set in a 60s-influenced Judea & Galilee in the time period of the Incarnate God.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

This comedy is set in the city of Rome during the reign of Nero (a bad, mean guy).

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Camelot

Once upon a time, there was some castle in Britain with a round table in it. And Julie Andrews.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Lion King

This musical could be at any time, but I decided to place it here. I like to think lions and toucans sang and danced together in the 8th century. The costume, mask, and puppet designs are inspired by Japense and Indonesia as well as Africa (the fictional location of pride rock).

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Aladdin

The fictional city of Agrabah represents the original story (The Thief of Baghdad’s) setting in modern day Iraq.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Spamalot

Again with the Middle Ages Camelot thing. Spamalot also stars King Arthur, who is still simply a folk character of British history (or was he real?)

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Into the Woods

Set in Europe in the generic Middle Ages often with some modern twists (I’m talking 18th century ballgowns as well as 20th century hairstyles)!

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Paris, France during the reign of Louis XI. Stunning Catholic cathedrals juxtaposing corrupted men and women? Sounds like a great musical.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Man of La Mancha

This musical is set in a prison in Seville, Spain as well as imaginary places in Don Quixote’s mind.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Something Rotten!

A farcical history of English play-writing & William Shakespeare. *Insert Shakespearean phrase here*

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Candide

Westphalia, Lisbon, & Paris, oh my. This musical is set in a lot of places.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Hamilton

I love Hamilton! In case you’re out of the loop, this show takes place in colonial America (mostly in New York) with a couple of scenes featuring King George III in Britain (probably Windsor Castle or Kew Palace).

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

It’s pretty hard to miss where this musical is set (as well as how Sweeney feels about it!) because of these lines in the opening song:
“There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit
and the vermin of the world inhabit it
and its morals aren’t worth what a pig could spit
and it goes by the name of London.”

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

Based on Tolstoy’s 1869 novel War and Peace, this musical is set in Moscow, Russia just before Napolean’s invasion and burning of the city.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Oliver Twist!

Though Mudfog is not a real city in England, it’s pretty similar to Sweeney’s London in that it’s described as filthy, stinky, and crime-ridden.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Les Misérables

Let me start by saying: no, this show is not about the French Revolution in 1789 with the guillotines and Marie-Antoinette. The revolution the young leads try to ignite is actually based on a “small Parisian insurrection … in June 1832.”

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Big River

Based on the Mark Twain classic, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, this musical is set near St. Petersburg, Missouri.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The King and I

This beautiful musical takes place in Bangkok, Siam (modern-day Thailand). It tells the story of two different cultures when Anna, a governess from England, comes to work for the King of Siam.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Civil War

Portraying the American Civil War from Union, Confederate, and slave viewpoints, the action in this show bounces around the north and south from battlefield to hometowns.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Mystery Of Edwin Drood

Same as many musicals set in England, this musical is set in London as well as the fictional city of Cloisterham (based on the real city of Rochester).

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Jane Eyre

Just like the adored and fantastic Charlotte Brontë novel, this musical is set in five semi-fictional locations in northern England. Some locations like Lowood School were based on actual places Charlotte and her sisters went. Thornfield & Moor House are more general English countryside manor and home, respectively.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Carousel

Billy and Julie both live and work in the little town of Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Phantom Of The Opera

As the name implies, this musical is set in The Paris Opera House. Details of the show’s opera house are very similar to the real-life Palais Garnier (including the underground lake!)

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Sunday in the Park with George

At first, this musical is set on the Island of La Grande Jette in Paris where Georges Seurat painted his famous work: A Sundy Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette. Eventually, the cast is no longer on the island, but part of the canvas itself. The show jumps forward a century and ends (no spoilers!)

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Jekyll and Hyde

The novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson is set in a London that is heavily influenced by his hometown of Edinburgh. The theme of the “facade” of being a “gentleman” found in the musical and novel is illustrated not only by Doctor Jekyll / Mr. Hyde but also by the city during the day versus the night.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Show Boat

This show is set on the Cotton Blossom, a fictional Mississippi River showboat. Fun fact: it is often pointed to as the first book musical.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Annie Get Your Gun

This musical is set in New York City as well as the American Mid-West as the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show travels around.

January 1, 2019

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January 1, 2019

Spring Awakening

Set in Germany, this show is very focused on how teenagers felt oppressed in their environment. The girls’ baby doll dresses are reasonably historically accurate as well indicative of the naiveté of the characters.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Newsies!

You can’t watch this show without understanding exactly where its set: New York City! Various boroughs are mentioned as well as Jack’s dream to go to Santa Feeeeeeeee!

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

A Little Night Music

This lovely Sondheim show features multiple love stories all set in Sweden. Timeless problems in a new century.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Fiddler on the Roof

The Pale of Settlement where Jewish men and women were permitted to live in Imperial Russia was an oppressive and dangerous place to live. Fiddler artfully captures this period of hate directed at the long-suffering Jewish people by sharing the fictional story of the people in the town of Anatevka.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Oklahoma!

You probably guessed it, this show is set in Claremore, Louisiana. Just kidding. It’s in Oklahoma.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Ragtime

Set in New York City, this show tells the story of three social groups: African Americans in Harlem, upper-class suburbanites, and Jewish immigrants. (Tateh and his daughter are from Latvia, part of which was included in the Pale of Settlement. Tateh . . . Tevye . . . just saying.)

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

My Fair Lady, The Music Man

These musicals are set in London and River City, Iowa respectively. Very different places and social situations are illustrated by these musicals, and yet, their sensibilities are so similar.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Parade

Again, this musical is about oppressing good, Jewish characters this time in the southern town of Marietta, Georgia.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Gypsy

Dance Moms have nothing on Mama Rose. This show is set all across America, showcasing the death of vaudeville circuits and the struggles of an overbearing mother trying to live vicariously through her daughters.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Thoroughly Modern Millie

The titular character is from Kansas, but she sets her sights on marrying for money instead of love. And what better place for $$ than New York City?

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Bright Star

This show is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina over multiple decades.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Singin’ in the Rain

Depicting three performers in Hollywood, California, this show is best known for literally “making it rain.”

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Chicago

Illinois. Features some super-talented leads: Roxie, Velma, & Billy Flynn. (I would mention Roxie’s husband, Amos, but that would be noticing him. That would never do.)

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Drowsy Chaperone

The record of a 1928 musical being performed at the Morosco Theatre is played by the Man in Chair circa 2008. That’s right. Musical within a play.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Porgy and Bess

This musical is set in Catfish Row, a dockside area of Charleston, South Carolina. This area is where the city’s poorest black residents live and where this story of isolation, compassion, and abuse it told.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Cabaret

I love the setting of this show. It’s pre-war Berlin just as the Nazis are rising to power. The nightlife at the Kit Kat Klub keeps the audience and characters distracted from the evil happening in society and impending genocide of the very “undesirable” performers at the club.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Annie, 42^nd Street

Both of these shows are set in New York City during the Great Depression. They’re also both rags to riches stories–the kind of American dream that impoverished Americans craved at this time period.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Bonnie & Clyde

Based on the real-life outlaws, this musical starts with the pair meeting and falling in love / lust in Texas. Their crimes ranged from Missouri, to Oklahoma, to New Mexico, but always back to Texas to meet their parents.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Evita

This show mostly takes place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eva also takes a tour of Europe–being snubbed by the English when they don’t invite her to Buckingham Palace.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Sound of Music

Following her position as a postulant in Nonnberg Abbey, a real Benedictine Abbey, Maria is sent by the Mother Abbess outside to the town of Salzburg, Austria. In the 7 years between Cabaret and The Sound of Music, the Nazi Party grew to enormous power.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Allegiance

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Internment in America began. This musical tells the story of George Takei and his family who were forced to move from their farm in California to The Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

South Pacific

Set on an island in the south pacific during WWII, this show explores themes of racism and love.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Kiss Me, Kate

This show is set in June 1948 at a theatre in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a musical-within-a-musical as a company of actors and their backstage antics mirror their brand new production – a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. 

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Sunset Boulevard

 This musical is all about Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the fabled titular Los Angeles street.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Guys and Dolls

Missionaries and gamblers in Manhattan? Dates to Havana, Cuba? Yep. This musical’s settings are as juxtaposed and colorful as its beloved characters.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Jersey Boys

Based on the real, highly popular musical quartet, The Four Seasons, this show takes place in Belleville, New Jersey.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Light in the Piazza

Margaret and Clara (her young adult, disabled daughter) from the South of America spend a summer in Italy. Adam Guettel’s music beautifully tells Clara and the Italian Fabrizio’s story of love and hope.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Million Dollar Quartet

This jukebox musical ACTUALLY HAPPENED. On December 4, 1956, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley met at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee for what would be one of the greatest jam sessions ever.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Bye Bye Birdie, West Side Story

These musicals are set in the fictional town of Sweet Apple, Ohio, and in the upper West Side of New York City respectively. Both feature teenage romance as the central plot devices but differ greatly in their degrees of lightheartedness and overall theme.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Grease

At Rydell High School, there is lots of drama and teen love. The fictional high was based on a school in Chicago, Illinois where its working-class students faced many of the same complexities of peer pressure and politics.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Beautiful: A Carole King Musical

This jukebox musical following the life of Carole King takes place in New York City as well as scenes on tour and in Los Angeles.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Hairspray

Set in Baltimore, Maryland, this show features a mom played by a man, 60s style dance music, and masterfully condemns racism.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Little Shop of Horrors

“Down on Skid Row” in New York is where this doo-woppin’ musical takes place. The show uses the ensemble to create that city street vibe (which contrasts so beautifully to Audrey’s dream of somewhere green).

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Dogfight the Musical

The story of Eddie Birdlace and Rose begins in San Francisco the night before he ships out to Vietnam with the Marine Corps and ends with his shame-filled return to the ungrateful city.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Hair

The hippies in this raunchy show live the bohemian life in New York City.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

A Chorus Line

This musical is set in an especially rigorous chorus dancers’ audition in a New York Broadway musical theater.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Merrily We Roll Along

The story of songwriter / producer Frank Shepard begins when he is at the height of his career in a swanky LA apartment. The show ends with him penniless in an old 110th street New York apartment.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas

This story was inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Grange, Texas. Unfortunately for my alma mater, A&M, this story features some less than ideal promiscuity.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Miss saigon

A love story set at a turning point in the Vietnam War, this show illustrates struggles between Vietnamese and Americans during the war.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Wiz

This show is a retelling of L. Frank Baum‘s children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of 70s Black culture. 

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Sister Act

Featuring some crooked fictional people and clergy, this musical occurs mostly at a parish located in a run-down San Francisco neighborhood.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Carrie the Musical

Based on the movie, Carrie lives in the fictional town of Chamberlain, Maine.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Footloose the Musical

Ren and his mother move from Chicago to the small, fictional town of Bomot, Oklahoma. Due to a fatal car accident years prior, the city council has banned dancing and rock music. This is, naturally, a problem for rebellious teens with angsty moves such as Ren.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

dreamgirls

Based on the real singing group The Supremes, this musical is set in Detroit, Michigan.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Matilda the Musical

This musical takes place in an English village, and more specifically, at Matilda’s home, school, and briefly, at Miss Honey’s cottage in the country.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Rock of Ages

Another jukebox musical, this show is set in Los Angeles, California. (Fun fact: the full name of Los Angeles is El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula, or “The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciúncula.”)

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Heathers the Musical

Set at Westerburg High School somewhere in Ohio, this show is very similar to Grease . . . just with more murder.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Band’s Visit

The location of this show is due to a bus ticket mix up: Haled asks the clerk for a ticket to the city of Petah Tikvah, but due to his Egyptian accent, she misunderstands him and sells him tickets to the isolated desert town of “Bet Hatikva”. *Cue the song “Welcome to Nowhere”*

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Mamma Mia!

The fictional “Villa Donna” located on fictional “Kalokairi” is supposed to be in Greece (real).

January 1, 2019

Modern Day (in parentheses, year movie or musical released). These shows (and some of the above) could really be played in any time period, so I put them in this separate timeline grouping.

January 1, 2019

Legally Blonde the Musical

The glamourous Elle Woods was as a sorority girl at a fictional college CULA in California before being accepted to Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The Last Five Years

This story told in reverse chronological order between Jamie and Cathy takes place in New York as well as Ohio.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Avenue Q

Apparently in the “outer-outer-borough” of NYC there are puppets discussing adult themes.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Putnam Valley Middle School is geographically ambiguous. Could be any American middle school.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Next to Normal

This musical is set in an unidentified suburban American
community. Much of the action takes place in the family home, various doctor’s offices, Natalie’s school, and the dark corners of Diana’s tortured psyche. Settings shift
frequently and quickly throughout the play just like Diana’s disorder causes her to shift moods.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Once the Musical

This beautiful musical takes place in Dublin, Ireland. The main characters “Guy” and “Girl” are Irish and Czech respectively and tell a gorgeous story of impossible love.

January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019

Dear Evan Hanson

Evan, his mother, and Connor’s family all live in suburban New York.

January 1, 2019

Bonuses!! Here are a couple of musicals that are set in too fantasy of a realm to classify their time period or setting in the musical timeline.

• Seussical
• Wicked
• Shrek the Musical
• Cats (ugh)
• Alice in Wonderland (or Wonderland)

There you go! A timeline based on when musicals are set.

Grace

Howdy, I’m Grace! I'm a Catholic music educator and voice teacher in Fort Worth, TX. Every week I share a podcast teaching Catholic kids sacred music--want to learn more? Try Sing With Grace for free today!