If you are looking for a musical to produce or to see in celebration of Halloween, here are a few suggestions. Some are funny and some are serious, some are well known and some are off the beaten path, but all embody the spirit of Halloween!
Bat Boy
One of the most overlooked Halloween characters is the humble bat, but, when a half-bat/half-human boy is discovered in a cave near a small town, the bat is celebrated. Based on stories made popular in tabloid newspapers, Bat Boy is the perfect combination of humor and melodrama. And, the score is fantastic!
Brenda Bly, Teen Detective
Scooby Doo meets Nancy Drew as teenaged gumshoe, Brenda Bly, uses her wits to solve the mystery of who is trying to sabotage the school musical. The show features 50's style tunes that audiences will love and, not only does Brenda Bly solve the mystery and capture the villain, but she also finds love along the way.
Dracula: The Musical?
Fans of cheesy comedy, goofy puns, and over-the-top slapstick will love Dracula: The Musical? It's a silly musical farce based on the classic Dracula story and, if you can turn off your brain, sit back, enjoy the ride, and have an entertaining Halloween evening.
Halloween Hullabaloo
Overweight vampires, depressed pumpkins, and an insecure monster are featured in this hilarious, fast-paced Halloween musical revue for adults. It has a Saturday Night Live/Laugh-In feeling and is chock full of brilliantly satirical skits and original songs about Halloween.
Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors is a musical parody of 1950's sci-fi movies that has delighted audiences across the country since 1982. In addition to fantastic rockin' tunes, it features a gory plot where a clueless skid row floral assistant raises a plant by feeding it human blood.
Mystery of Edwin Drood
It's not just a Charles Dickens novel; it's also a skillfully written musical theatre piece inspired by British music halls and pantomimes. And because Dickens left the novel unfinished at the time of his death, the spectators get to vote on who murdered Edwin Drood, and the show has multiple endings depending on the whim of the audience.
Ruthless
It's always good fun to watch an evil little girl get her way via homicide, and this cynical musical parody of The Bad Seed is no exception. This time, little Tina Denmark commits murder to get the leading role in her elementary school production of Pippi Longstocking. As the plot veers beyond The Bad Seed into Gypsy and All About Eve territory, mother and daughter compete for stardom, and the story spirals into an outrageously satisfying climax.
Sweeney Todd
Stephen Sondheim is one of the titans of American musical theatre and the award-winning Sweeney Todd is his most chilling work, telling the story of a homicidal barber and his meat pie-making accomplice. It's appropriately dark and grisly for Halloween and will provide your audience with a truly spine-tingling experience.
Side Show
"Come look at the freaks!" is the siren call of the sideshow performers at the carnival where conjoined twins, Daisy and Violet live and find love. It's a shocking story of cynicism, manipulation, and narrow-mindedness, but ultimately there is something inspiring and poignant about the twins and their hopes and dreams.
Threepenny Opera
If you like Brechtian drama and the music of Kurt Weill, you will love the dark drama of Threepenny Opera. With a score featuring the now-popular song "Mack the Knife" and a recounting of the wrongdoings of the infamous outlaw and womanizer Macheath, the show challenges the audience's preconceptions about good vs. evil.
And if that's not enough for you, there are tons of other options like: Clue: The Musical, Evil Dead, Ghost, Jekyll & Hyde, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Lucky Stiff, The Phantom of the Opera, The Rocky Horror Show, The Toxic Avenger, Wicked, Young Frankenstein, and Zombie Prom.