The Edinburgh Fringe is upon us, and with over 3000 shows to choose from seeing everything is an impossible challenge. So, what should you prioritise?
I have put together some picks for shows in the ‘musical’ category at the festival. Have a look at my picks below. Which ones feature on your list?
Bliss: A twist on traditional fairy tales produced by the same team behind Cabaret and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Four sisters escape their tower and enter a world governed by fairy godfathers where happy endings come with a steep price. Featuring pop-rock music and West End performers, it reimagines what “happily ever after” really means.
Bloody Mary’s: Set in 1823 Edinburgh, this musical theatre production centres on Mary McKinnon, the keeper of a successful brothel. When an act of violence threatens her sanctuary, the women of historic Edinburgh reclaim their stories through song and dance.
Fantasy World Adventures Mega Park! The Musical: An original comedy musical about theme park underdogs created by FWAMP! Theatre Company. The show follows eccentric staff members, chaotic park drama, and a privileged nepo-baby navigating a series of absurd decisions.
FLOP! The Best Songs From The Worst Musicals: Arthur Hull returns with an updated version of his blockbusting musical cabaret celebrating Theatreland’s casualties. This love letter to Broadway and the West End features a motley assortment of the misunderstood, critically panned and financially catastrophic musical misfires, including forgotten gems and pleas for redemption!
Girlhood in the Bathroom: An Australian musical set entirely inside a bustling nightclub bathroom on New Year’s Eve. Through original songs and comedic drama, five young women navigate relationships, secrets, and female friendship.
GIRLZ: A high-energy musical tracking a newly formed girl group, their manager, and a struggling songwriter over the span of a single turbulent year. It features live musical sequences, energetic choreography, and a story about the personal sacrifices made in pursuit of success. The musical returns to Edinburgh following an acclaimed 2025 run.
Hole!: An irreverent, hallucinogenic comedy performance by American Sing-Song. The story revolves around a religious sect in Nebraska whose members adhere to an unusual rule in order to prevent a wrathful deity from dragging them into the sun.
Nuns!: A medieval physical comedy created by Dog Complex Theatre. Sister Gertrude wants to be the holiest nun: forgoing sin, fearing desire, yet secretly wondering what lies beneath Monk Bertram’s robes… So when whispers of witches start to plague the convent, Gertrude teams up with mysterious witch-hunter Yarrow and sets forth to rid the world of devilry and naughty lustful thoughts.
Penelope: Penelope waited twenty years for Odysseus to return from the Trojan War. Now she’s ready to share her side of the story, but she’s going to need a drink first. Starring Broadway’s Grace McLean, this contemporary chamber musical brings one of history’s greatest epics to life through a Richard Rodgers Award-winning folk-pop score.
Remember Remember: Gather around the bonfire, girlies. You think you know the story of the Gunpowder Plot? You don’t! Get ready for an incredibly misinformed, inaccurate retelling of one of Britain’s most infamous tales of treason. Expect hilarious songs, forbidden love and explosive action in this ridiculously camp new musical by WIT?
Shantify: A nautical musical performance where a cast of West End singers turn iconic pop hits, rock classics, and theatre numbers into sea shanties woven into a lighthearted story.
Spraywatch: Everyone’s favourite 90s lifeguard has washed up in Spray, a soggy and struggling British seaside town. Her only chance of getting back home? She must whip the local lifeguards into shape and get Spray to the top of the global beach rankings. But the waters of Spray are darker than they look and something sinister is lurking beneath the waves.
The Spy Who Came in from the Park: A loyal North Korean sleeper agent in Japan receives a surreal mission: escorting the regime’s headstrong heir through a capitalist theme park. Inside this “dream factory,” his ideological devotion cracks. He realises both the park and his motherland are hierarchies built on manufactured delusions. Atop the fairytale castle, the heir rejects toys for something far more addictive: the intoxicating power of looking down upon the world.
Vote: The Musical: A powerful new historical musical set in 1908 Britain, charting the rise of the suffragette movement. As women fight for the vote, VOTE asks how far you would go to be heard and what it costs to demand change in a world built to resist it. With raw dialogue, haunting original songs and moments of aching vulnerability, the show explores the fire that arises when women are pushed to the edge.
Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie: Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie is the internationally celebrated musical built around the songs, writings and remarkable life of the American folk icon. Created and performed by Broadway veteran David M. Lutken alongside three fellow actor-musicians playing more than twenty instruments between them, it draws directly on Guthrie’s own words, letters and songs to create a joyful, moving portrait of one of the most influential figures in American music.
Tickets can be bought here. Don’t forget to come back to the site to check out my Edinburgh coverage as I head to festival this summer, and in the meantime take a look at our Edinburgh interviews.
