The 11 Best Movie Musicals Set in New York City

Most NYC musical moment: One of the most triumphant shots in movie history occurs as Streisand belts “Don't Rain on My Parade” from the deck of a tugboat just as it passes by the Statue of Liberty.

Watch it: Funny Girl, on Amazon Prime Video

Hamilton (2020)

Most stories about the American Revolution are set in either Boston or Philadelphia — where 1776 takes place — but Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking hip-hop musical focuses the attention on what happened in “ye olde” Big Apple during those fateful years. Today, you can still visit historic sites that served as settings in the play: Hamilton Grange, where Alexander and his wife, Elizabeth, move in the song “It's Quiet Uptown"; Fraunces Tavern, where Hamilton and Aaron Burr have a fateful meeting before their duel; and the Trinity Church Cemetery, where he's buried.

Most NYC musical moment: In the R&B-tinged song “The Schuyler Sisters,” the line “History is happening in Manhattan / And we just happen to be / In the greatest city in the world” always brings down the house during live performances.

Watch it: Hamilton, on Disney+

Newsies (1992) and Newsies: The Broadway Musical (2017)

If you thought the first secretary of the treasury was an obscure historical figure to base a musical around, check out this 1990s Disney extravaganza about the newsboys’ strike of 1899. The film starred a very young Christian Bale (now 47) as one of the strike leaders, Robert Duvall (now 90) as Joseph Pulitzer and Ann-Margret (now 80) as a vaudeville performer who helps the boys. Originally a flop, the movie gained a cult following, and it went on to spawn a Tony-winning Broadway musical — an underdog story befitting this ragtag team of strikers.

Most NYC musical moment: Although it was filmed on a studio back lot, “Seize the Day” is one of the best dance numbers set on the streets of New York since West Side Story.

Watch it: Newsies (the original film) and Newsies: The Broadway Musical on Disney+

Rent (2005)

Set in and around the gritty East Village, this rock ‘n’ roll remake of Puccini's La Bohème was like a bolt out of the blue when it premiered in 1996, tackling such topics as AIDS, homelessness and sexuality, and picking up both the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony for best musical in the process. It stayed on Broadway for 12 years, making it the 11th longest-running Broadway show of all time, before being adapted into a 2005 film starring many of the original cast members, including Taye Diggs (now 50) and Idina Menzel (now 50).

Most NYC musical moment: Set in the Life Café, which sadly closed in 2011 after 30 years, the song “La Vie Bohème” is a toast to all the things that make downtown bohemian living so special: “To Sontag, to Sondheim, to anything taboo / Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunningham and Cage / Lenny Bruce, Langston Hughes, to the stage / To Uta, to Buddha, Pablo Neruda, too."

Watch it: Rent, on Starz on Amazon Prime Video

Annie (1982/1999/2014)

Based on the classic Little Orphan Annie comic strip, this John Huston–directed musical stars newcomer Aileen Quinn (who turns 50 later this month) as the title orphan, who must deal with the sad reality of Great Depression–era New York — and the cruelty of orphanage manager Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett, now 88) — before being adopted by America's richest billionaire, Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks (the late Albert Finney). Annie was later remade in 1999 and 2014 — if your day could use a trifecta of “Tomorrow."

Most NYC musical moment: The song “Let's Go to the Movies” culminates in a visit to Radio City Music Hall, which also happens to be where the film premiered.

Watch It: Annie (1982 version), on Starz on Amazon Prime Video; 1999 version on Disney+; 2014 version on Amazon Prime Video

42nd Street (1933, 2018)

The prototype for all backstage Broadway musicals to follow, this best picture Oscar nominee — ranked 13th on the American Film Institute's best musicals list — follows a young ingenue (Ruby Keeler) who arrives from Allentown, Pennsylvania, and becomes a star when a new musical's leading lady breaks her ankle the night before opening. The movie, which is filled with choreographer Busby Berkeley's dazzlingly kaleidoscopic production numbers, was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1981, and the 2001 production won the Tony for best revival of a musical.

Most NYC Musical Moment: In the pull-out-all-the-stops finale performance of the title tune, Berkeley's famous chorus girls hold up painted boards to create the New York skyline.

Watch it: 42nd Street (1933 movie), on HBO Max, and 2018 filmed stage version on Broadway HD

Oliver & Company (1988)

Grab the grandkids for one of Disney's lesser-known animated films, a cutesy kids movie that answers the question: What if we moved Oliver Twist from Victorian-era London to 1980s New York — and replaced everyone with dogs and cats? The cast includes Joey Lawrence (now 45) as the orphaned tabby cat Oliver, Bette Midler (now 75) as the spoiled poodle Georgette, Cheech Marin (now 74) as the feisty Chihuahua Tito, and Billy Joel (now 71) as the street-smart terrier-mix gang leader Dodger, who sang the Golden Globe–nominated song “Why Should I Worry?”

Most NYC musical moment: The film opens with the song “Once Upon a Time in New York City,” performed by Huey Lewis (now 70), as the camera pans over the skyline. To accurately recreate the scenery, Disney turned to a database kept by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the architecture firm behind One World Trade Center and this year's Penn Station redesign.

Watch It: Oliver & Company, on Disney+

Hair (1979)

Much like the original 1968 Broadway musical, this cinematic adaptation by director Miloš Forman follows a tribe of anti-war hippies (led by Treat Williams, now 70) in Vietnam War–era New York City and features scenes filmed in Central Park and Washington Square Park — coincidentally, just a few blocks away from where Hair first premiered off-Broadway at the Public Theater.

Most NYC musical moment: The Central Park–set opening number “Age of Aquarius” was choreographed by Tony winner Twyla Tharp (now 79) and features dancers from her company.

Watch it: Hair, on Pluto TV (free)