15 Best Recordings of Musicals Live on Stage Ranked

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With the cost of Broadway tickets continuously rising, many people are being priced out of experiencing the magic of live theater. Luckily, some of the most acclaimed productions from over the years — from New York City to London's West End — have been filmed and preserved for viewers to enjoy from the comfort of their own homes. We rounded up the top 15 recordings of musicals live on stage that you absolutely need to see.

Keep reading to see where your favorites rank…

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15. Grease Live!

This highly ambitious live broadcast of Grease was a social media sensation when it originally aired on Fox in 2016. Starring Julianne Hough as Sandy, Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo and Aaron Tveit as Danny, the star-filled production used both indoor and outdoor sets on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles and reinvented the form during the height of live musicals on network television. Notable performances also include Keke Palmer as Marty and Jordan Fisher as Doody, who gives a stunning rendition of "Those Magic Changes."

14. She Loves Me

The 2016 Broadway revival of the musical She Loves Me is captured in this charming and witty ProShot. The heartwarming enemies-to-lovers story stars Laura Benanti as Amalia Balash, Zachary Levi as Georg Nowack and Jane Krakowski as Ilona Ritter. They each knock their performances out of the park.

13. Anything Goes

Tony Award winner Sutton Foster stars as Reno Sweeney in the fun-filled revival of Anything Goes filmed in London's West End in 2021. With songs like "You're the Top" and "I Get a Kick Out of You," the Kathleen Marshall-directed romp will have you tapping in your living room.

12. The Sound of Music Live!

In December 2013, NBC aired Carrie Underwood's live turn as Maria von Trapp in Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 musical The Sound of Music. While the country star and True Blood's Stephen Moyer (as Captain Georg von Trapp) receive top billing for their roles, Broadway vets Audra McDonald (Mother Abbess), Laura Benanti (Elsa Schräder/Fräulein Schweiger) and Christian Borle (Max Detweiler) completely steal the show. Benanti and Borle have hilarious comedic chemistry as the vapid socialites with their renditions of "How Can Love Survive" and the more serious "No Way to Stop It." McDonald proves exactly why she's the most Tony-nominated actor in history with her inspiring ballad "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."

11. Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway

The final performance of the culture-changing 12-year run of Rent on Broadway in September 2008 is captured in an emotional film featuring Will Chase (Roger Davis), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Mimi Marquez), Eden Espinosa (Maureen Johnson) and Tracie Thoms (Joanne Jefferson). The generation-defining story created by the late Jonathan Larson follows a group of artists dealing with the AIDS epidemic in the Lower East side of Manhattan in the late 1980s.

10. Sunday in the Park With George

The 1984 production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George is pure magic from start to finish. With career-defining performances from Mandy Patinkin as preoccupied artist Georges Seurat and Bernadette Peters as his long-suffering lover Dot, the production is the definitive vibe of New York theater in the 1980s.

9. Next to Normal

The West End's 2024 rendition of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway show Next to Normal is a haunting portrait of mental illness and the affects it has on an average American family. Caissie Levy is stunning as Diana — a mother struggling with bipolar disorder who undergoes electroconvulsive therapy — in the PBS special broadcast.

8. Company

The 2011 recording of the New York Philharmonic's staging of Stephen Sondheim's Company is filled with shocking performances from people you may not have known could sing or dance. Stephen Colbert (Harry), Christina Hendricks (April), Jon Cryer (David) and Martha Plimpton (Sarah) turn in stellar performances in the ensemble show about love and marriage. All the while, stage titans like Patti LuPone (Joanne), Neil Patrick Harris (Robert) and Anika Noni Rose (Marta) show off their well-seasoned musical theatre chops.

7. Hamilton

The 2015 phenomenon Hamilton created by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda is worth the hype in this expertly shot Disney+ recording of the original Broadway production. The show follows the life of one of America's founding fathers Alexander Hamilton through rap. The music — sung by perhaps one of the most talented casts to ever grace the stage — soars and evokes deep emotion that will have any viewer reaching for the tissue box.

6. Sweeney Todd in Concert

Stage legends Patti LuPone (Mrs. Lovett) and George Hearn (Sweeney Todd) lead the spectacular 2001 staging of Sweeney Todd in Concert produced by PBS. The horrific tale of a murderer in London is just as scary as turning on a slasher movie. While many people may prefer the recording of the original Broadway production starring Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou from 1979, this version brings a fresh vision and innovation of one of Stephen Sondheim's best and most terrifying works.

5. Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary

Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary is nothing short of star-studded. With Nick Jonas as Marius, Lea Salonga as Fantine and Samantha Barks as Éponine, the cast colorfully brings Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's epic masterpiece to life. Filmed at The O2 arena in London in 2010, the large-scale production fits perfectly in the massive space and transports you back in time to France in the 1800s. Alfie Boe (Jean Valjean) and Norm Lewis' (Javert) rendition of "The Confrontation" is an absolute highlight of the show.

4. Legally Blonde: The Musical

In 2007, MTV brought viewers inside the Palace Theater on Broadway with Legally Blonde: The Musical starring Laura Bell Bundy, Christian Borle, Orfeh and Annaleigh Ashford. With The Hills stars Lauren Conrad, Whitney Port and Audrina Patridge guiding the audience through the rise of the curtain to what the cast was doing backstage during intermission, it was a millennial television experience not to be missed. The charming musical adaptation of the beloved film is nothing short of hilarious with incredibly catchy tunes. Bundy gives Reese Witherspoon a run for her money, creating an entirely different Elle Woods with whom the audience falls in love.

3. The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall is grand in every aspect. Filmed in 2011 in honor of the beloved musical's 25th anniversary, the concert adaptation directed by Harold Prince does not take any shortcuts in the special effects department despite being scaled down. Ramin Karimloo (The Phantom) and Sierra Boggess (Christine) have the perfect chemistry to differentiate this production from the thousands of other actors and actresses who have played the iconic roles.

2. Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert

John Legend produced and starred in NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert in 2018. The broadcast of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's masterpiece went on to win five Emmys. The immaculate staging — performed with a live audience on Easter Sunday in a Marcy Avenue Armory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — breathes new life into the piece. Legend definitely would have had his Best Actor in a Musical Tony moment had the show had a Broadway run. Brandon Victor Dixon, meanwhile, is a standout as Judas. Sara Bareilles is perfectly cast as Mary Magdalene and Alice Cooper brings down the house as King Herod.

1. Miss Saigon 25th anniversary performance

Eva Noblezada, Jon Briones and Alistair Brammer star in the thrilling 25th anniversary production of Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's smash hit Miss Saigon. Filmed in London's West End in 2014, the gritty and thrilling revival takes audiences on a heartbreaking journey of orphaned bar girl Kim (Noblezada) who falls in love with an American G.I. named Chris (Brammer) in the days leading up to the fall of Saigon. The way in which the stage is shot makes you feel as if you are watching a war film with sweeping music rather than a stage production. Noblezada — in her breakout role — has audiences in the palm of her hand as we see her story unfold. Her chemistry with Brammer is electric. Briones, meanwhile, makes the unsavory character of The Engineer hilarious and at times lovable, giving the tragedy some levity at moments.