Small Cast Musicals

Small Shows mean Big Business!

A big musical is a splashy, fun treat that pleases both audiences and critics. Performers, directors, and choreographers love being a part of the joy of a musical, and box offices enjoy the profits that come from producing them.   From Les Misérables to prestigious Stephen Sondheim shows like Into the Woods, a big singing cast, spectacular scenery, period costumes, and lush orchestras are a mainstay of American theatre from Broadway and the West end to the regions, national tours, community theatre, and high schools.  Click here for a list of popular high school musicals. 

However, great musicals come with a variety of challenges that can make them a burden.   Big musical productions are expensive for a theater to produce.  They are challenging to stage, and the cast size can tax the local talent pool.   Given limited resources, a producer might be reluctant to place a large show in their season.   Certainly, doing these productions back-to-back is impossible.   Fortunately, producers can take advantage of a less risky option that delivers the same toe-tapping fun to a season with much less risk: the small cast musical.  Goodbye, large ensemble Rodgers and Hammerstein; hello, cast of four from a prestigious musical theatre festival. 

Indeed, a small-cast musical with limited production values can be the answer to a theatre company’s prayers.   These shows, many of which with long-running, New York off-Broadway pedigrees, can bring financial and critical rewards to a theatre season, pleasing audiences and employing actors along the way.  

HOW MANY PERFORMERS ARE IN A SMALL CAST?

The best small cast musicals have less than ten performers and no more than a quartet of musicians in the pit or onstage.  Though four musicians may seem like only a few, depending on the arrangements, they can almost sound like a full orchestra.   

MUSICALS FOR SMALL CASTS -- A SHORT HISTORY

During the late 40's and early 50's, there was a movement away from the commercial confines of Broadway towards an environment of freedom and experimentation.   The Off-Broadway scene emerged and was well established by 1956 when Lotte Lenya appeared downtown in 1956's Obie Award Winning Best Musical, The Threepenny Opera.   Four short years later, The Fantasticks opened off-Broadway at the Sullivan Street Playhouse where it ran for 42 solid years, making it the longest-running musical in American musical theatre history.   Once the market was discovered, producers were eager to embrace Off-Broadway as a viable alternative to create new works, and even establish big shows that could move to a larger market uptown.   Click here for more information about the history of Off-Broadway

Musicals for Small Casts: more than The Last Five Years, Title of Show and Falsettos.

Here's a comprehensive list of some of the most successful small-cast musicals that are great for small theatres and are currently available for production.  Though not a full list, it includes many of the most successful shows as well as a tiny synopsis, cast size, and other interesting information.  

NUNSENSE

Music & Lyrics:  Dan Goggin
Cast: five actors

Short take: a plucky troupe of Nuns stage a fundraiser in this hilarious crowd-pleaser that has been a small theatre mainstay for the past thirty years. 

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

Music & Lyrics: Rob Rokicki
Book: Joe Tracz
Cast: seven, any gender

Short take:  This musical adventure based on the bestselling book series borrows various tales from Greek mythology to frame the story of Percy Jackson's quest to find Zeus's lost lightning bolt.  A perfect show for high school production, though not just a show for kids.

THE LAST FIVE YEARS

Music & Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown
Cast: one male, one female

Short take: with only two actors, this musical theatre masterpiece by composer Jason Robert Brown is a bittersweet romance told in two different directions.    With a rabid fanbase, the story of Jamie and Cathy will resonate with anyone who has ever fallen in and out of love.   

FALSETTOS

Music & Lyrics: William Finn
Playwright: James Lapine
Cast: seven, four male, three female

Short take: FALSETTOS is actually two musicals in one: March of the Falsettos and its sequel, Falsettoland.  These two off-Broadway musicals were turned into one longer show on Broadway.   The quirky and ultimately moving story concerns Marvin, a man who comes out late in life to his wife and his son. 

HOW RUDE: The Musical

Music: Steven Silverstein
Book & Lyric: Phillip George
Cast: five actors, gender fluid

Shot take: full discloser -- this is my show and I'm plugging it.  This 90-minute, one-act musical and fast-paced revue is all about bad manners and the rotten behavior of other people that drives us all nuts.  

AND THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND

Music: John Kander
Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Cast: three women, two men

Short take: the Drama Desk award winning revue showcases the catchy songs of Kander and Ebb.  The off-broadway production proved to be a well-received song and dance Broadway celebration! 

GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL

Written by Scott Brown & Anthony King
Cast: two actors playing a variety of roles

Short take: it's a fun, comedic musical about two feckless writers presenting a new musical to investors about the life of Johannes Gutenberg.  By the end of the show, you will swear that you have seen more than two characters. 

I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

Book & Lyrics: Joe DiPietro
Music: Jimmy Roberts
Cast: two men & two women

Short Take: You can't talk about the best small-cast musicals without mentioning this little revue that swept the U.S. theatre scene in the late 80s.  This simple little revue, with its Seinfeld vibe, is a musical with themes that every theatergoer can relate to --love & relationships. 

TICK TICK BOOM 

Music and Lyrics: Jonathan Larson
Cast: two men, one woman

Short take: Musical Theatre Composer Jonathan Larson sang a song on his 30th birthday.  That song perfectly encapsulates the theme of this melancholy meditation about show business success, failure, and what it costs you to aspire to greatness.  Jonathan Larson singing 30/90

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

Music: Alan Menken
Book and Lyrics: Howard Ashman
Cast: Up to ten, five men, four women

Short Take: over the years, this devilish little rock musical has become one of the most popular musicals in theatre history.  The simple love story at the center is framed by a singing and dancing man-eating plant and a 1960s do-wop flavored score that is a definite crowd-pleaser.  The Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors cemented the show's reputation as the most successful Off-Broadway musical of all time.

THE FANTASTICKS

Music by Harvey Schmidt
Book and Lyrics: Tom Jones
Cast: seven men, one woman

Short Take:  Now old-fashioned, this little show was the proverbial lightning in a bottle -- a completely universal telling of what it means to fall in love done on a single platform with a piano and a harp.  It became the longest-running musical in American theatre history.