Books Adapted into Plays and Musicals

This mix of fiction and nonfiction books all inspired the creation of a play or musical.

Updated March 5, 2024
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Fun home : a family tragicomic
Bechdel, Alison
Paper Book
A fresh and brilliantly told memoir from a cult favorite comic artist, marked by gothic twists, a family funeral home, sexual angst, and great books. This breakout book by Alison Bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitch-perfectly illustrated with Bechdel's sweetly gothic...
Alexander Hamilton
Chernow, Ron.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller, and the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Hamilton! Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow presents a landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who galvanized, inspired, scandalized, and shaped the newborn...
Crime and punishment : a novel in six parts with epilogue
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
Paper Book
Crime and Punishment is the story of a murder committed on principle, of a killer who wishes by his action to set himself outside and above society. A novel of fearful tension, physical, and psychological, it is pervaded by Dostoevsky's sinister evocation of St Petersburg, yet in the life of its...
American Psycho
Ellis, Bret Easton.
Paper Book
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * In this modern classic, the acclaimed author of The Shards explores the incomprehensible depths of madness and captures the insanity of violence in our time or any other. "A seminal book." --The Washington Post ...
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Haddon, Mark.
Paper Book
Narrated by a 15-year-old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable of processing emotions.
Carrie
King, Stephen
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Stephen King's legendary debut, the bestselling smash hit that put him on the map as one of America's favorite writers * In a world where bullies rule, one girl holds a secret power. Unpopular and tormented, Carrie White's...
To kill a mockingbird
Lee, Harper.
Paper Book
"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel--a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem...
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the west : a novel
Maguire, Gregory.
Paper Book
This is the book that started it all! The basis for the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Gregory Maguire's breathtakingNew York Times bestseller
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Paper Book
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a landmark in psychological fiction. The respectable doctor and his horrifying double are known even to those who have never read Robert Louis Stevenson’s short novel. This special edition, based on the original one published in...
The color purple
Walker, Alice
Paper Book
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Alice Walker's iconic modern classic, now in a beautiful 40th anniversary Penguin Vitae edition with a foreword by Kiese LaymonA Penguin Classic Hardcover A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The...
The Devil wears Prada
Weisberger, Lauren
Paper Book
The deliciously witty and delightfully dishy novel about life at a glamorous fashion magazine is now a major motion picture from 20th Century Fox, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, set to open in theaters on June 30.

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.