Classic Novels
This Victor Hugo novel inspired the mega-musical with a barricade.
Les Miserables
This short film won an Academy Award in 1994, was adapted into a novella by James Lecesne, and then adapted into a musical.
Trevor
Harper Lee’s 1960 novel became a Tony-winning Broadway play in 2018.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Louisa May Alcott’s beloved sisters inspired a Broadway musical starring Sutton Foster in 2005.
Little Women
Originally published in 1948, is a zesty and colorful memoir inspired The Music Man.
And There I Stood With My Piccolo
Based on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, this show ran for 14,000 performances.
Phantom of the Opera
Based on the novel of the same name, written by Jodi Picoult, this musical follows 17-year-old Delilah as she struggles to balance fitting in at her new school and a romance with a prince who is another world away.
Between the Lines
John Steinbeck’s migrant tale as been adapted several times for the stage, including a 2014 revival starring James Franco.
Of Mice and Men
This musical with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz is inspired by a Victor Hugo novel.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Sam Wasson's biography about this Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Award winner became the basis for a lavish drama series from Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Fosse
Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel about Mary Lennox inspired a 1991 musical with the song “Lily’s Eyes.”
The Secret Garden
Rick Riordan’s demigod hero went to Broadway in The Lightning Thief.
Percy Jackson
This F. Scott Fitzgerald classic inspired multiple stage adaptations, including a new 2024 Broadway musical.
The Great Gatsby
Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel became a Broadway musical (and later a movie musical).
The Color Purple
In 2022, Mary Rodgers’ posthumous memoir was published with a cheeky title.
Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers
Based on a Charles Dickens novel, this Lionel Bart musical was the first musical adaptation of a famous Dickens work to become a stage hit.
Oliver
A live, theatrical stage adaptation of Suzanne Collins' novel will premiere next month at The Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre in London.
The Hunger Games
Tennessee Williams turned his own short story “Portrait of a Girl in Glass” into this play.
The Glass Menagerie
Sara Gruen’s novel inspired a 2024 Broadway musical starring Grant Gustin.
Water for Elephants
Todd S. Purdum’s 2019 portrait of these two men, their creative process, and their groundbreaking innovations is something wonderful.
Rodgers and Hammerstein
In 1995, Gregory Maguire published his first adult novel, which inspired this hit Broadway musical.
Wicked
This author wrote The Outsiders at just 16 years old; decades later, her novel was adapted into a Broadway musical in 2024.
SE Hinton
This Russian author’s works inspired many plays, including The Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters.
Anton Chekhov
James Baldwin’s novel Giovanni’s Room hasn’t hit Broadway yet, but this Baldwin play about Harlem churches did.
The Amen Corner
In addition to her memoir, this vaudeville star wrote the novels The G-String Murders and Mother Finds a Body, as well as the play The Naked Genius.
Gypsy Rose Lee