Jewish-Composed Musicals

BROADWAY AND HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS
WRITTEN BY JEWS

w = words m = music

ANNIE, Martin Charnin (w) and Charles Strouse (m)
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, Irving Berlin (w&m)
APPLAUSE, Lee Adams (w) and Charles Strouse (m)
AS THOUSANDS CHEER, Irving Berlin (w&m)
BABES IN ARMS, Lorenz Hart (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
(THE) BAND WAGON, Howard Dietz (w) and Arthur Schwartz (m)
BARNUM, Michael Stewart (w) and Cy Coleman (m)
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Howard Ashman (w) and Alan Menken (m)
BELLS ARE RINGING, Betty Comden/Adolph Green (w) and Jule Styne (m)
(THE) BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, Lorenz Hart (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
BRIGADOON, Alan Jay Lerner (w) and Frederick Loewe^* (m)
BYE BYE BIRDIE, Lee Adams (w) and Charles Strouse (m)
CABARET, Fred Ebb (w) and John Kander (m)
CAMELOT, Alan Jay Lerner (w) and Frederick Loewe^* (m)
CANDIDE, Stephen Sondheim (w) and Leonard Bernstein (m) [lyrics also by Richard Wilbur (non-Jewish)]
CARNIVAL!, Bob Merrill (w&m)
CAROUSEL, Oscar Hammerstein II^* (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
CHICAGO, Fred Ebb (w) and John Kander (m)
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, Richard and Robert Sherman (w&m)
(A) CHORUS LINE, Edward Kleban (w) and Marvin Hamlisch (m)
CITY OF ANGELS, David Zippel (w) and Cy Coleman (m)
COMPANY, Stephen Sondheim (w&m)
(A) CONNECTICUT YANKEE, Lorenz Hart (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
(THE) CRADLE WILL ROCK, Marc Blitzstein (w&m)
CRAZY FOR YOU, Ira Gershwin (w) and George Gershwin (m)
DAMN YANKEES, Richard Adler and Jerry Ross (w&m)
DEAR EVAN HANSEN, Benj Pasek (w&m) [co-written by Justin Paul (non-Jewish)]
(THE) DESERT SONG, Oscar Hammerstein II^*/Frank Mandel (w) and Sigmund Romberg (m) [lyrics also by Otto Harbach (non-Jewish)]
DO I HEAR A WALTZ?, Stephen Sondheim (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
DREAMGIRLS, Henry Krieger (m)
FALSETTOS, William Finn (w&m)
FAME, Jacques Levy (w) and Steve Margoshes (m)
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, Sheldon Harnick (w) and Jerry Bock (m)
FINIAN'S RAINBOW, E. Y. Harburg (w) and Burton Lane (m)
FIORELLO, Sheldon Harnick (w) and Jerry Bock (m)
FLOWER DRUM SONG, Oscar Hammerstein II^* (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
FOLLIES, Stephen Sondheim (w&m)
42ND STREET, Al Dubin (w) [music by Harry Warren (non-Jewish)]
FUNNY GIRL, Bob Merrill (w) and Jule Styne (m)
(A) FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, Stephen Sondheim (w&m)
GIGI, Alan Jay Lerner (w) and Frederick Loewe^* (m)
GODSPELL, Stephen Schwartz (w&m)
(THE) GOODBYE GIRL, David Zippel (w) and Marvin Hamlisch (m)
(THE) GREATEST SHOWMAN (songs), Benj Pasek (w&m) [co-written with Justin Paul (non-Jewish)]
GUYS AND DOLLS, Frank Loesser (w&m)
GYPSY, Stephen Sondheim (w) and Jule Styne (m)
HELLO, DOLLY, Jerry Herman (w&m)
HELLZAPOPPIN', Sammy Fain and Charles Tobias (w&m)
HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, Frank Loesser (w&m)
I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE, Harold Rome (w&m)
JEKYLL AND HYDE, Frank Wildhorn (m)
(THE) KING AND I, Oscar Hammerstein II^* (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, Fred Ebb (w) and John Kander (m)
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, Jerry Herman (w&m)
LADY, BE GOOD!, Ira Gershwin (w) and George Gershwin (m)
LES MISERABLES, Alain Boublil ¹/Herbert Kretzmer (w) and Claude-Michel Schönberg ¹ (m)
(THE) LION KING, Hans Zimmer (score) [original songs by Elton John and Tim Rice (both non-Jewish)]
(A) LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, Stephen Sondheim (w&m)
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, Howard Ashman (w) and Alan Menken (m)
LOST IN THE STARS, Kurt Weill (m) [lyrics by Maxwell Anderson (non-Jewish)]
MAME, Jerry Herman (w&m) [music and lyrics also by Philip Lang (non-Jewish)]
MAN OF LA MANCHA, Joe Darion (w) and Mitch Leigh (m)
MARTIN GUERRE, Alain Boublil (w) and Claude-Michel Schönberg (m)
MARY POPPINS, Richard and Robert Sherman (w&m)
MILK AND HONEY, Jerry Herman (w&m)
MISS SAIGON, Alain Boublil (w) and Claude-Michel Schönberg (m)
(THE) MOST HAPPY FELLA, Frank Loesser (w&m)
MY FAIR LADY, Alan Jay Lerner (w) and Frederick Loewe^* (m)
NINE, Maury Yeston (w&m)
OF THEE I SING, Ira Gershwin (w) and George Gershwin (m)
OH, KAY!, Ira Gershwin (w) and George Gershwin (m)
OKLAHOMA!, Oscar Hammerstein II^* (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
OLIVER!, Lionel Bart (w&m)
ON THE TOWN, Betty Comden/Adolph Green (w) and Leonard Bernstein (m)
ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, Betty Comden/Adolph Green (w) and Cy Coleman (m)
ON YOUR TOES, Lorenz Hart (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
PAJAMA GAME, Richard Adler and Jerry Ross (w&m)
PAL JOEY, Lorenz Hart (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
PAINT YOUR WAGON, Alan Jay Lerner (w) and Frederick Loewe^* (m)
PETER PAN, Betty Comden/Adolph Green/Carolyn Leigh (w) and Mark Charlap/Jule Styne (m)
PIPPIN, Stephen Schwartz (w&m)
POCAHONTAS, Stephen Schwartz (w) and Alan Menken (m)
PORGY AND BESS, Ira Gershwin (w) and George Gershwin (m) [lyrics also by Du Bose Heyward (non-Jewish)]
(THE) PRINCE OF EGYPT, Stephen Schwartz (songs: w&m) and Hans Zimmer (score)
(THE) PRODUCERS, Mel Brooks (w&m)
PROMISES, PROMISES, Hal David (w) and Burt Bacharach (m)
PURLIE, Peter Udell (w) and Gary Geld (m)
RAGTIME, Lynn Ahrens (w) [music by Stephen Flaherty (non-Jewish)]
RENT, Jonathan Larson (w&m)
1776, Sherman Edwards (w&m)
SHALL WE DANCE, Ira Gershwin (w) and George Gershwin (m)
SHENANDOAH, Peter Udell (w) and Gary Geld (m)
SHOW BOAT, Oscar Hammerstein II^* (w) and Jerome Kern (m)
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, Arthur Freed (w) [music by Nacio Herb Brown (non-Jewish)]
(THE) SOUND OF MUSIC, Oscar Hammerstein II^* (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
SOUTH PACIFIC, Oscar Hammerstein II^* (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
STATE FAIR, Oscar Hammerstein II^* (w) and Richard Rodgers (m)
STOP THE WORLD - I WANT TO GET OFF, Anthony Newley² (w&m) [lyrics and music also by Leslie Bricusse]
STRIKE UP THE BAND, Ira Gershwin (w) and George Gershwin (m)
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, Stephen Sondheim (w&m)
SUNSET BOULEVARD, Don Black (w) [lyrics also by Christopher Hampton (non-Jewish) and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber (non-Jewish)]
SWEENEY TODD, Stephen Sondheim (w&m)
SWEET CHARITY, Dorothy Fields (w) and Cy Coleman (m)
SWING TIME, Dorothy Fields (w) and Jerome Kern (m)
THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG, Carole Bayer Sager (w) and Marvin Hamlisch (m)
(THE) THREEPENNY OPERA, Kurt Weill (m) [play and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht (non-Jewish)]
TITANIC, Maury Yeston (w&m)
TOP HAT, Irving Berlin (w&m)
UP IN CENTRAL PARK, Dorothy Fields (w) and Sigmund Romberg (m)
WEST SIDE STORY, Stephen Sondheim (w) and Leonard Bernstein (m)
WICKED, Stephen Schwartz (w&m)
(THE) WIZARD OF OZ, E. Y. Harburg (w) and Harold Arlen (m)
WONDERFUL TOWN, Betty Comden/Adolph Green (w) and Leonard Bernstein (m)
YENTL, Alan Bergman/Marilyn Bergman (w) [music by Michel Legrand (non-Jewish)]
ZORBA, Fred Ebb (w) and John Kander (m)

NOTES
1. See Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now, by Mark Steyn (Routledge, NY, 1999, p. 87). According to Steyn, "Cameron Mackintosh isn't Jewish, but his writers on Les Miz and Miss Saigon, Boublil and Schönberg, are. 'Claude-Michel Schönberg,' he says, 'is Hungarian-Jewish.'"
2. Jewish mother, non-Jewish father. In an interview with Francine Cohen published in the Arts and Leisure Guide of the November 4, 1994 issue of The Jewish Chronicle (London), Newley stated concerning his 'Jewish genes': "My mum's side is Jewish and so is Joan Collins's dad's side, so I suppose you could say we had a full set between us. We both always used to say that whatever talent we had came from our Jewish backgrounds."

* Oscar Hammerstein II and Frederick Loewe had Jewish fathers.

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