6 Musical Theater Concept Albums You Should Listen To

You might not have known that some of your favorite 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 stage, and the same applies to Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown. Meanwhile, The Who’s Tommy and Green Day’s American Idiot went the other way, not first written with the intention for the stage but ended up there.

The result is a collection of songs strung together through a theme or narrative building a strong foundation. 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:

Figaro
Sienna is a young woman longing for a life beyond her father’s farm. Then she 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 had a concert at the London Palladium in February with a cast including Aimie Atkinson, Jon Robyns, and Cayleigh Capaldi (who led the album). It has music and lyrics by Ashley Jana and book by Jana and Will Nunziata.

Little Piece of You
Written by teenager Kjersti Long, with Jeremy Long and Melissa Leilani Larson, Little Piece of You – An Atypical Musical 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.

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 writers are Emil Dale and Stefan Kelk.

Playing With Fire
This offering from *NSYNC’s JC Chasez, and Golden Globe-winning songwriter Jimmy Harry, Playing With Fire is inspired by 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 theater fans worldwide during the pandemic. Mapping the life of the iconic painter Vincent van Gogh, a workshop starring (sorry) 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.

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. For the record, 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. Our critic called it “a fascinating, enthralling novelty – and naturally a resounding success.”