How Many Broadway Musicals Are Based on TV Shows?

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With Smash about to make a splash on Broadway this season, the question was asked: how many Broadway musicals have been based on television?

While historically, far more Broadway musicals have been based on books or movies, television shows have also provided source materials for several productions on the main stem. Because of their episodic nature, TV programs might seem inherently less suited to be adapted into book musicals—but some have made for excellent stage productions. The majority of musicals based on television shows tend to land off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, in touring, or in licensing, many as parody musicals, but a handful of them have indeed made it to Broadway.

In 2017, theatergoers saw a major musical based on the popular television show SpongeBob SquarePants play the Palace. The show retained the subversive nature of the television program, and with a book by Kyle Jarrow, told the story of a pending environmental disaster. The score for the SpongeBob musical contained songs by a large variety of writers, with everyone from Sara Bareilles to David Bowie to Cyndi Lauper contributing a number or two. The resulting smorgasbord of a score made perfect sense for this show populated by a delightful smorgasbord of oddball characters. In a full circle moment, the stage SpongeBob was filmed live for a television special.

Currently in development for Broadway are several stage shows based on TV. One of these is Schmigadoon!, which is about to have an out-of-town premiere at the Kennedy Center. In contrast with other stage musicals based on TV shows, Schmigadoon! had quite a fast turn-around, with the original program airing in 2021, prior to the world premiere musical in 2025. The story about two New York City doctors who find themselves in a magical land where life is like a Golden Age musical will be brought to life on stage by a high profile cast in Washington D.C. and we’ll hopefully see the show on a New York stage soon after. Other television show-based shows that have had out-of-town runs aimed at Broadway in the last decade include The Honeymooners, based on the iconic 1950s show, which played Paper Mill Playhouse in 2017.

More than three decades ago, another new musical based on a television show premiered at the Kennedy Center, and made it to Broadway. This was Shõgun, which in 1990 spent three months at the Marquis Theatre. Shõgun was based on both the television miniseries of the same name and also the novel. The show is about an English sea captain in the 17th century who falls in love with a married Japanese noblewoman. Shõgun was created in the vein of then-recent stage epics like Les Misérables, and similarly packed a substantial amount of source material into an evening at the theater.

Back to the 21st century, in 2008, a charming intimate musical about a young couple getting married with a beautiful score by John Bucchino opened on Broadway. This was A Catered Affair, a musical based on both a 1955 television play and a 1956 film. The story was originally written for television, in the old fashioned format of a teleplay. Television plays were more common in the early days of television, and were dramatic works usually filmed in a studio as though a play was being taped live with multiple cameras. The Catered Affair (later retitled A Catered Affair for the stage) became a major motion picture the year after it was a television play, and then over five decades later, became a Broadway musical. 

A more well-known musical based on a teleplay is Man of La Mancha. The 1966 Best Musical Tony Award winner was adapted from a television play called I, Don Quixote, which in turn was adapted from the classic 17th century novel Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes. I, Don Quixote, which aired on television in 1964, was written by Dale Wasserman, who later wrote the book for the musical Man of La Mancha, alongside the indelible score by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion. 

Another well-known show that took a circuitous journey to the Broadway stage via a stop on television is Cinderella. Since Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein worked in many mediums but are hailed most often as groundbreaking stage dramatists, many think that their Cinderella was originally written for the stage. In fact, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella originated as a made-for-television work in 1957, starring Julie Andrews in the title role. After their version of the classic story was seen on television, it then made its leap to becoming a stage musical, eventually reaching its Broadway bow in 2013.

In this era where many intellectual properties are adapted into many different forms, there are also a plethora of musicals where audience members might originally have familiarity from television although the show itself is not based on television. One example of this is The Addams Family. The 2010 Broadway musical, which has become very popular in amateur licensing, is based on Charles Addams’ comic strip of the same name, although many know The Addams Family from its television adaptations, also based on the comic. 

And speaking of licensing, there are many musicals based on television that have not been to Broadway but are beloved in licensing. One example here is Schoolhouse Rock Live! Based on the popular children’s program and with songs culled from its airwaves, Schoolhouse Rock Live! did play a successful off-Broadway engagement in 1995 before hitting the licensing circuit. 

Of course, traditional New York stages aren’t the only place one can launch stage musicals based on television shows. Rogers: The Musical, based on the fictional musical seen in the Marvel television series Hawkeye, made its actual stage debut at Disney California Adventure in 2023. The show includes songs written by Broadway favorites Alan Menken, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, and David Zippel and a book by Hunter Bell ([title of show]). 

And that brings us back to Smash—which, like Hawkeye, chronicled the story of a fictional musical. Actually, Smash’s framework found the show telling the stories of multiple fictional musicals. Both Bombshell and Hit List have made it to the stage since Smash’s time on television in 2012 and 2013. Bombshell was seen on stage in a 2015 concert version at the Minskoff Theatre and Hit List was seen on stage in a 2013 concert version at 54 Below (which I produced!). The upcoming Broadway bow for Smash is an adaptation of the television series itself, rather than an adaptation of any musical therein. Hopefully it will be a smashing success and then maybe someday we can get Three on a Match live on stage!