Musicals that are appropriate for small venues (Musical Theater 101)

Seeing the announcement of yet another inappropriate musical in a small venue local theatre, I thought I would help them out by listing, from a directing and design point of view, musicals that are appropriate for small venue theaters and those that are not. I list appropriate shows in alphabetical order, followed by inappropriate shows in alphabetical order.  In most instances, trying to force a large-venue proscenium show into a small theatre space not only looks claustrophobic, breaks with the integrity of the piece, and in general doesn’t work in that small venue. From time to time a theatre might “pull it off” (a theatre in Connecticut recently did an almost set-less production of The Producers in the round! that worked)…but for the most part, they don’t work.  Here’s some help for this small venue local theatre that keeps picking inappropriate shows… The following is nowhere near a complete list, but its a good start. Note that most small-venue shows will almost always work in larger venues. Larger venue shows will almost never work in smaller venues.

Musicals Appropriate for Small Venues

Adding Machine

Aint Misbehavin’

The All Night Strut

Allegro

All Shook Up

Altar Boyz

Always, Patsy Cline

Amour

Aspects of Love

Assassins

Avenue Q

Baby

Bat Boy

Bed and Sofa

Beehive

Brooklyn

Blood Brothers

Bright Lights Big City

Buddy

Cabaret

Candide

Caroline or Change

A Catered Affair

Charlotte Sweet

Chess

Closer than Ever

Company

Dames at Sea

A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine

Debbie Does Dallas, the Musical

Dessa Rose

Diamonds

The Drowsy Chaperone

Ernest in Love

Evil Dead, the Musical

Falsettos

Falsettoland

The Fantasticks

Floyd Collins

Forever Plaid

Frogs

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Goblin Market

Godspell

The Goodbye Girl

Grand Hotel

Grease

The Great Trailer Park Musical

Grey Gardens

Grind

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hello Again

High Fidelity

Honk

I can Get it For You Wholesale

Irma la Duce

I Love My Wife

I Love You You’re Perfect Now Change

I Remember Mama

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

Jane Eyre

Jerry’s Girls

Jerry Springer the Opera

The Last 5 Years

Little Shop of Horrors

Little Women

LoveMusik

Lucky Stiff

A Man of No Importance

March of the Falsettos

Marie Christine

Moby Dick the Musical

My Favorite Year

Naked Boys Singing

A New Brain

Next to Normal

Nunsense

Oh, Coward

On a Clear Day You can See Forever

Once on this Island

110 In The Shade

Pacific Overtures

Passion

Pump Boys and Dinettes

Putting it Together

Rent

Ring of Fire

The Rink

The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd

The Robber Bridegroom

Rocky Horror Show

Romance, Romance

Scrooge

The Secret Garden

Seesaw

She Loves Me

Shout, The Mod Musical

Side by Side by Sondheim

Snoopy

Songs for a New World

Spring Awakening

The Story of my Life

Stop The World, I Want to Get Off

Summer of ‘42

Sunday in the Park with George

Sweeney Todd

The Sweet Smell of Success

Taboo

Tell Me on a Sunday

They’re Playing Our Song

The Thing About Men

3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down

13

Tick Tick Boom

Title of Show

Triumph of Love

The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Urinetown

Violet

Weird Romance

The Woman in White

Working

A Year with Frog and Toad

You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

Xanadu

Musicals Inappropriate for Small Venues

The Act

Aida

All Shook Up

Annie

Annie Get Your Gun

Anything Goes

Applause

Babes in Arms

The Baker’s Wife

Barnum

Beauty and the Beast

Bells are Ringing

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Big

Big River

Bonnie & Clyde

The Boyfriend

The Boys from Syracuse

Brigadoon

By Jeeves!

Bye Bye Birdie

Camelot

Carousel

Carrie

Cats

Chicago

Children of Eden

A Chorus Line

A Christmas Carol

Cinderella

City of Angels

The Civil War

Copacabana

Crazy for You

Curtains

Damn Yankees

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Dreamgirls

Evita

Fame

Fiddler on the Roof

Finian’s Rainbow

Fiorello

Flower Drum Song

Follies

Footloose

42^nd Street

Fosse

Frankenstein the Musical

The Full Monty

Funny Girl

George M!

Ghost

Greenwillow

Guys and Dolls

Gypsy

Hair

Hairspray

Half a Sixpence

Hello Dolly

High School Musical

High School Musical 2

High Society

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

I can Get it For You Wholesale

In the Heights

Into the Woods

Jekyll and Hyde

Jesus Christ Superstar

Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat

The King and I

Kismet

Kiss Me Kate

Kiss of the Spider Woman

La Cage aux Folles

The Last Starfighter

Leader of the Pack

Legally Blond

Les Miserables

The Light in The Piazza

The Lion King

A Little Night Music

Mack and Mabel

Mame

Mamma Mia

Merrily We Roll Along

Man of LaMancha

Me and My Girl

Meet Me In St Louis

Memphis

Metropolis

Miss Saigon

The Most Happy Fella

Movin’ Out

The Music Man

My Fair Lady

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

My One and Only

Nine

9 to 5 the musical

Notre Dame de Paris

No No Nanette

Notre Dame de Paris

Oklahoma

Oliver

On the Town

On the Twentieth Century

On Your Toes

Once Upon a Mattress

Over Here!

Paint Your Wagon

The Pajama Game

Pal Joey

Parade

Peter Pan

Phantom

Phantom of the Opera

Pippin

The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirate Queen

The Producers

Promises, Promises

Purlie

Rags

Ragtime

7 Brides for 7 Brothers

70 Girls 70

Shreck

Song of Norway

Sophisticated Ladies

Sunset Boulevard

Saturday Night Fever

Seussical the Musical

Shenandoah

Showboat

Side Show

Singin’ in the Rain

Showboat

Smile

Song and Dance

The Sound of Music

South Pacific

Spamalot

Starlight Express

State Fair

Steel Pier

Sunday in the Park with George

Sweet Charity

Swing!

Take Me Along

A Tale of Two Cities

The Tap Dance Kid

Tarzan the Musical

Thoroughly Modern Millie

Timbuktu

Titanic

Tommy

Two Gentlemen of Verona

We Will Rock You

The Wedding Singer

West Side Story

Whistle Down the Wind

White Christmas

Wicked

The Will Rogers Follies

The Witches of Eastwick

The Wiz

The Wizard of Oz

Woman of the Year

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown