Our favourite musical theatre concept albums

So many of our favourite musicals started life as concept albums.

Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita were both written as albums before being fleshed out for the stage. The same applies to Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown. And while slightly different, pieces like The Who’s Tommy and Green Day’s American Idiot weren’t written for the stage but ended up as hit shows.

Concept albums are exactly what they say on the tin, a collection of songs strung together through a theme or narrative that are proof of concept for a strong foundation for a stage show. So if you’re looking for the next big hit, it pays to look at concept albums and be at the very start of the new musical’s journey. Here are some we recommend:

2&1: A Harlem Love Story with Loose Morals

Joël René Scoville and Jenna Gillespie Byrd’s original musical transports listeners to the Harlem Renaissance in 1927 and introduces iconic characters of the era! A queer musical that celebrates Black joy, Black love and reclaims the sexuality of Black women, this is a previously ignored side of the Roaring 20s.

Ballad Lines

When Sarah reconnects with her family’s folk traditions, she traces a story through three women living across different centuries and continents. Expect traditional Scottish, Irish and Appalachian ballads in this new piece conceived by Finn Anderson. On the album, you can hear the likes of Rebecca Trehearn, Kirsty Findlay, Dylan Wood, and Danielle Fiamanya, and the show will have its London premiere early in 2026.

Beautiful Little Fool

Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller as Scottie, Ryan Vasquez as F Scott, and Hannah Corneau as Zelda lend their voices to this new musical, which tells the story of Zelda and F Scott Fitzgerald through the eyes of their adult daughter, Scottie, as she rediscovers the lives and writings of her parents. With music by Corneau and a book by Mona Mansour, it sounds wonderfully contemporary with a biting rock edge. The musical will arrive in London very soon!

Clockwork Christmas

‘Tis the season! Nobel Laureate Heinrich Böll’s short story about a year-round Christmas marks a collaboration between composer Craig Adams, lyricist Anton Mouzykantskii, and book writer Daria Aksenova. There are eight tracks to enjoy, performed by musical theatre faves Kerry Ellis, Peter Forbes, Lucy St. Louis, Claire Moore, Lauren Byrne, Louis Maskell and Soophia Foroughi.

Figaro

Sienna, a young woman longing for a life beyond her father’s farm, meets Figaro, a traveling performer who changes her life. The concept album, conceived by Ashley Jana and Will Nunziata, is spell-bindingly haunting, with a cinematic edge to the big dramatic emotion. Figaro: An Original Musical was staged at The London Palladium earlier this year, with Aimie Atkinson, Jon Robyns, and Cayleigh Capaldi (who led the album).

The Griswolds’ Broadway Vacation

50 First Dates writers David Rossmer and Steve Rosen are behind this new musical, based on the film franchise. It’s a laugh-out-loud delight with tunes that stay with you as long as holiday memories, performed by a host of Broadway names, including Santino Fontana and Kerry Butler.

Jo – The Little Women Musical

Over the last year or so, we’ve heavily documented the creative journey of Jo – The Little Women Musical, all leading up to a semi-staged concert production in the West End in a few months! It reimagines Little Women through the eyes of Jo March – a fiercely creative young writer whose grief and ambition shape one of literature’s most enduring coming-of-age stories and features a 29-strong orchestra as well as familiar names.

Little Piece of You

Written by 14-year-old Kjersti Long, with Jeremy Long and Melissa Leilani Larson, Little Piece of You – An Atypical Musical received its European premiere in 2024 with two concerts at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The piece follows Shannon and Britt, a courageous mother and daughter, as they confront their family’s hidden struggles. It has a modern rock feel, with Long’s crystalline voice like glass against fresh pop beats.

Watch a performance of “Burn It Down” with the concert cast Mica Paris, Dujonna Gift and Long below:

Mystic Pizza

Based on the 1988 hit movie starring Julia Roberts, this tasty new musical follows three working-class girls who navigate life, love and family in a small-town pizza joint. It’s like Waitress with a different type of pie and with ’80s and ’90s megahits alongside original material!

Kin

A controversial cult leader who acquires an old ranch in a small southern American town is the focus of Kin. With Alex James-Hatton and Sophie-Rose Middleton lending their voices to the album, tension steadily builds throughout the original 1980s pop-inspired score. The show played in London a couple of years back, and we’re waiting for it to have another outing. “The time is now”!

Playing With Fire

A relatively new offering from *NSYNC’s JC Chasez, and Golden Globe-winning songwriter, producer, and composer Jimmy Harry is Playing With Fire. Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Harry’s late mother, Barbara Field’s theatrical adaptation, the reimagination constructs a conversation between Frankenstein and The Creature at the grave of Frankenstein’s wife, Elizabeth, ten years after her death. The 16-track album is full of dark, brooding internal conflict and classical romanticism, interjected with dancefloor-filling electro-pop (see “You Used To Touch Me”).

Starry

Matt Dahan and Kelly D’Angelo’s Starry caught the attention of musical theatre fans worldwide circa 2020 and still has a place in our hearts. Mapping the life of the iconic painter Vincent van Gogh, a workshop starring Jamie Muscato took place in 2022, but we’ve heard nothing since. In the meantime, we can enjoy the catchy numbers and pray for a starry night.

If you’re a fan of van Gogh, you should also check out Neil Bastian’s The Rise and Fall of Vinnie and Paul, which chronicles an artist house share that results in a bloodbath.

One for the Road (Songs from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry the Musical)

Before The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry arrives in the West End, you can get familiar with the concept album from the chart-topping Passenger. Adapted by Rachel Joyce from her best-selling novel, the narrative follows Harold’s journey across England as he sets out on a spontaneous pilgrimage that changes his life and those of the people he meets. At home, his wife Maureen embarks on her own path of rediscovery.

The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical

Dearest reader, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear have had their fair share of scandals when it comes to Netflix’s Bridgerton. They were the talk of the town when they began writing songs inspired by the first season on TikTok in 2021, with their full recording going on to win a Grammy. Though any live performances have yet to actually go ahead, the recording is still available to listen to – prim and polished, it’s intelligently done with the duo effortlessly switching between a series of beloved characters and giving them their chance to shine.

Warriors

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis are at the helm of the new concept album, Warriors. Described as an “immersive listening experience,” pulling influences from thrash metal, reggae, soul, and even K-pop. The story is based on the hit 1979 Walter Hill film and follows a New York City gang from Coney Island to the Bronx and back when they’re framed for the murder of a respected gang leader. They’ve assembled a hit cast including original Hamilton stars Jasmine Cephas Jones and Phillipa Soo, and Hadestown‘s Amber Gray, alongside Billy Porter, Colman Domingo and Lauryn Hill. In our WhatsOnStage review, it was described as “a fascinating, enthralling novelty – and naturally a resounding success.”