- 4/27/2025
From overtures to finales, these cast recordings demand your full attention! Join us as we count down the most impeccable and iconic musical soundtracks that deserve to be played from start to finish. With masterful compositions, unforgettable performances, and songs that have become cultural touchstones, these albums represent the very best of musical theater.
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00:00Bonjour!
00:01Hola!
00:02Ni hao!
00:03My name is Elder White!
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:06And today, we're counting down our picks for the most impeccable and iconic musical cast albums, original or not.
00:12Curtain up!
00:13If you try to deny me, I'll never die, I'm alive!
00:20Number 10. The Phantom of the Opera.
00:23Perhaps we may even frighten away the ghost of so many years ago with a little illumination.
00:30Gentlemen!
00:39From the sonorous first chords of the overture to the final reprise of Music of the Night, this musical seizes you and never lets you go.
00:47Andrew Lloyd Webber's most successful musical is a Puccini pastiche in the best way possible.
00:52A tapestry of several melodies seamlessly interwoven throughout the score.
01:12The original 1986 London cast is still a tough act to beat, with Sarah Brightman's crystal-clear Christine,
01:19Steve Barton's Velvety Rowell, and Michael Crawford's Charismatic Phantom.
01:23Both the highlights and the full recording were certified platinum four times in the US, with over 4 million copies sold.
01:30We just can't get enough of this night music.
01:32And you'll live as you've never lived before.
01:47Number 9. Rent.
01:49It was definitely the season of love when Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical opened on Broadway.
02:00The original Broadway cast recording contains the full musical score, based on Puccini's La Boheme.
02:06Minus some minor spoken dialogue.
02:08And Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song.
02:15That doesn't remind us of Musetta's wall.
02:17Some highlights include not only Seasons of Love, but La Vie Boheme and Take Me or Leave Me, among other favorites.
02:24Seasons of Love alone became a pop song in its own right, hitting number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
02:30For all the show's dramaturgical quirks and flaws, Rent's cast album still sounds as fresh and modern as ever.
02:37Take me, baby! Believe me!
02:47Number 8. A Chorus Line.
02:49Right.
02:50Okay, this is the whole combination facing away from the mirror.
02:53From the top.
02:54Five, six, seven, eight!
02:56The seventh longest-running Broadway show in the US, this dance musical also showcases an incredible score,
03:04with standouts such as I Hope I Get It, What I Did For Love, and the rousing finale one.
03:09A Chorus Line score is a hit in all respects.
03:11One smile and suddenly nobody else will do.
03:18You know you'll never be lonely with you.
03:22No rule.
03:25Comic numbers such as Sing, Nothing, and Dance 10 Looks 3 are clever satires of the theater industry and the struggles of those trying to make it.
03:34The original Broadway cast recording is still the definitive album, with the talents of Kelly Bishop as Sheila, Donna McKechnie as Cassie, and Priscilla Lopez as Diana.
03:43It's no wonder it won the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 1976.
03:48I got the end this show.
03:54Number 7.
03:55My Fair Lady.
03:56A classic golden age musical, Frederick Lowe and Alan Jay Lerner's score has banger after banger.
04:02Literally.
04:03No fewer than seven songs have become standards in their own right.
04:06Does enchantment pour out of every door?
04:12No, it's just on the street where you live.
04:18Wouldn't it be loverly?
04:19I could have danced all night.
04:21Get me to the church on time.
04:22I've grown accustomed to her face.
04:24We could go on.
04:25The original Broadway cast featured Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle and Rex Harrison's expressive and hilarious Professor Higgins.
04:32Who never spoke above a hush.
04:35Now all at once you're using language that would make a sailor blush.
04:40This album has the distinction of being the first LP record to sell a million copies.
04:45It also spent no less than 480 weeks on the US Billboard 200.
04:50As loverly as this album is, many prefer the London cast recording.
04:54The same principles but in stereo rather than mono.
04:57No more than any lover.
05:04Number 6.
05:05Wicked.
05:06One short day.
05:07And we're warning the city.
05:09Now that we're in here.
05:11You'll know we've been here before we are done.
05:16Goodness knows, this musical has become one of modern Broadway's biggest successes.
05:21The original Broadway cast album featured Idina Menzel's formidable vocal belt as Elphaba
05:26and classically trained Kristen Chenoweth's impeccable vocals as Glinda.
05:29Talk to you and I defying gravity.
05:36Their respective solos, Defying Gravity and Popular, have become musical theatre standards in their own right.
05:42While tracks such as No One Mourns the Wicked showcase a powerful ensemble.
05:46Certified triple platinum, the album was re-released in new editions for its 5th, 10th and 15th anniversaries.
05:53With the popularity of the film adaptation in 2024,
05:56the original cast album re-entered the Billboard 200 chart and peaked at number 33.
06:01Thank goodness.
06:02We couldn't be luckier.
06:04I couldn't be happier.
06:06Thank goodness.
06:08The hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years.
06:29There is no problem to be solved with this Maria.
06:32This Rodgers & Hammerstein show received a successful cast album, staying 16 weeks as number one on the Billboard album chart in 1960.
06:39But it was the film soundtrack that was truly legendary, selling no less than 20 million copies worldwide.
06:45Lost in the snow may you bloom and roam, bloom and roam forever.
06:58Overall, the soundtrack stayed on the Billboard 200 for 238 weeks.
07:03There is the excellent score, of course, filled with standards such as the titular Sound of Music,
07:08My Favorite Things, Do Re Mi, and the soaring Climb Every Mountain.
07:12But there is also Julie Andrews' indelible performance as Maria, making this soundtrack album a must-have.
07:19I have confidence in sunshine.
07:22I have confidence in rain.
07:25I have confidence that spring will come again.
07:29Besides which you see, I have confidence in me.
07:32Number 4. Chicago.
07:34Although this Candor & Ebb musical premiered in 1975,
07:37it wasn't until its revival in 1996 that this show's quality was properly recognized.
07:43Start the car, I know a whoopee spot.
07:46Where the gin is cold, but the piano's hot.
07:50The 1996 cast album is iconic, to be sure.
07:53But it's the film soundtrack that truly made this musical soar,
07:56reaching number 2 on the Billboard 200 and selling more than 2 million copies.
08:00It's a tour de force of great performances, particularly Catherine Zeta-Jones' Velma Kelly and Renee Zellweger's Roxy Hart.
08:21You'll also get well-thought-of arrangements of Cell Block Tango, We Both Reached For The Gun and All That Jazz.
08:27You won't want to skip any track of this album.
08:30And then those stupid Johnnies did it up round
08:33To cheer the best attraction in town
08:36They nearly tore the balcony down
08:39Number 3. Hamilton.
08:42Granted, this isn't Lin-Manuel Miranda's first musical rodeo.
08:55His first project, In the Heights, deserves a shout-out for its unique salsa flair.
08:59But when it comes to musical greatness,
09:01few musical recordings can beat Hamilton's critically acclaimed original cast album.
09:06We won! We won! We won! We won! We won! We won! We won!
09:09The world turned upside down!
09:16This album smashed many records,
09:18becoming the first cast album to reach number 1 on the Rap Albums Chart.
09:22It was also certified Diamond in the U.S.
09:25With heavyweights like Alexander Hamilton and Hamilton's defiant cri de coeur, My Shot,
09:29History definitely has got an eye on this album.
09:32When you're gone, who remembers your name?
09:34Who keeps your flame?
09:36Who tells your story?
09:38Who tells your story?
09:40Who tells your story?
09:44Number 2. Fiddler on the Roof.
09:53A fiddler on the roof.
09:56Sounds crazy, no?
09:58From the first notes of the titular Fiddler,
10:00this 1964 musical's cast album is still one of the best in musical theater history.
10:05From the rousing opening tradition, to the ebullient to life,
10:09to the plaintive finale Anatevka,
10:11Fiddler's score is as heart-stirring and heart-wrenching as ever.
10:14Then you love me.
10:18I suppose I do.
10:24Zero Mostel's performance as the original Tevye is still a hard act to beat,
10:28especially his definitive If I Were a Rich Man.
10:31And then there's the ensemble cast's beautiful sunrise sunset,
10:34which never fails to bring tears.
10:36It's no wonder it was chosen by the Library of Congress in 2020
10:40to be preserved in the National Recording Registry.
10:43God has given you to me.
10:53Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:57Who doesn't know this iconic and chart-topping film soundtrack?
11:11The Music Man will always march in time with this Grammy award-winning album.
11:15Hairspray.
11:24This joyous ode to equality has never sounded this good.
11:28Now, yesterday is history.
11:30And it's never coming back.
11:33Cause tomorrow is a brand new day.
11:36And you don't know what comes back.
11:39Heather's The Musical.
11:41Step into this candy store of an album.
11:43Of course, if you don't care.
11:45Fine, they'll braid her hair.
11:47Maybe Sesame Street is all low.
11:50Or forget that creep.
11:52And get my jeep.
11:53And let's go tear off someone's mom low.
11:57Hadestown.
11:58Anais Mitchell's Grammy award-winning album is haunting and tragic.
12:02Way out, beyond.
12:05I'm dreaming too.
12:07I'm coming too.
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12:25Number 1.
12:27West Side Story.
12:28But of course, the most golden of the golden age musicals has a cast album that is just as iconic.
12:33Just play it cool, boy.
12:36Real cool.
12:39Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's collaboration produced a score that can be said to be flawless.
12:45Honestly, it's much easier to identify which songs haven't become standards ingrained in our cultural consciousness.
12:51I feel pretty.
12:52I feel pretty.
12:53Oh, so pretty.
12:54I feel pretty and witty and gay.
12:57And I pity any girl who's in me today.
13:04Sid Raymond and Erwin Costell, working with Bernstein, also supplied some of the most gorgeous and vibrant orchestrations ever to Grace Broadway.
13:12Meanwhile, the performances are absolutely timeless.
13:15Carol Lawrence, having originated Maria, is a clear standout with her beautiful, emotionally charged vocals.
13:28Even the instrumental numbers pull their weight narratively as you let the soundtrack carry you through the musical's classic love story.
13:34This is sheer musical genius from beginning to end.
13:38Your love is your life.
13:54Which other musical has a perfect cast album or soundtrack?
13:57Let us know in the comments below.
13:59Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down, you're rockin' the boat.
14:03Do you agree with our picks?
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