Edinburgh Festival Fringe Top Picks 2026: MUSICALS
From SIX the Musical to The Choir of Man and Unfortunate, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe can be the birthplace of new musical theatre.
However, if full blown musicals are more your thing, there’s no shortage of those. You can see hit musicals including Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Frozen and The Wedding Singer. There are also opportunities to see musicals rarely performed in the UK including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Carrie, American Idiot and Tick, Tick Boom! There’s also a production of Next to Normal from the acclaimed Bare Productions and LAMDA’s Musical Theatre ensemble will present Alice by Heart, a musical that still hasn’t seen a professional production in the UK.
Penelope
Here are some of the new musicals that we’re most excited about…
Penelope
Penelope retells The Odyssey from her point of view, having waited 20 years for Odysseus to return from the Trojan War. The musical is written by Alex Bechtel, Eva Steinmetz and Broadway star Grace McLean. McLean, best known for her performances in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Suffs and Bad Cinderella, also performs the one-woman musical.
It’s already received great reviews in the USA and the score has won a Richard Rodgers Award, so this is certainly an exciting UK premiere!
Remember, Remember!
Think you know the story of the Gunpowder Plot? You don’t! WIT? Theatre Company takes to the Pleasance Dome with an incredibly misinformed, inaccurate retelling of one of Britain’s most infamous tales of treason.
The musical from four actor-writers from Fringe-favourite comedy show NewsRevue promises hilarious songs, forbidden love and explosive action, and they won the Pleasance’s Charlie Hartill Fund 2026. Fans of Operation Mincemeat and SIX - this is a must see!
The Shocking Truth About Flat Earth
Also at Pleasance Dome, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre present this new musical, following their production of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change last year.
The Shocking Truth About Flat Earth is a musical comedy about grief, belonging and the seductive pull of finding people who finally make you feel seen. We meet Sharon Hargreaves, part-time keyboard warrior and full-time flat-Earth believer. With best mate Debs and a crew of lovable oddballs, Sharon sets out to expose ‘the truth’. With big laughs, bigger tunes and absolutely zero scientific credibility, this is amongst the first productions to emerge from the Grand’s shift from being purely a receiving house to becoming a producing theatre.
Disenchanted! The Hit Musical
Another Midlands theatre turning its hand to producing their own productions is the Lichfield Garrick. They’re taking their production of Disenchanted! The Hit Musical to Edinburgh this year. Whilst not a brand new musical, it is the first professional UK production of the show (besides a digital production that was streamed during the pandemic).
Cinderella’s done cleaning, Sleeping Beauty’s wide awake and Snow White’s calling the shots now. In Disenchanted, a selection of beloved princesses are done with playing nice - they want to storm the castle - one showstopping number at a time!
Bliss
Staying in the world of fairytales, from the producers of Cabaret and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Bliss is shaping up to be one of the biggest musicals at Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year. It boasts a cast of 17 West End performers and a pop-rock score.
Four sisters escape their tower and collide with the outside world. Where fairy godfathers rule and happy endings come at a cost, this razor-sharp tale rewrites the concept of happily ever after.
Grimm AF
There are even more subverted fairytales with Grimm AF which comes from Fringe favourites Baby Wants Candy, known for their improv shows and parody musicals.
With this dark, funny and thought-provoking musical, escape to a simpler time - when men were men, women objects to be won and children were left in the forest to be eaten by wolves and witches. The villains want it back and they’re willing to steal it, in this modern tale with uncomfortably modern villains!
The Singer
Grammy Award-nominated KT Tunstall writes the music and lyrics for this new piece of gig theatre, based on the short film by Cora Bissett and Jamie Rea. We meet Joe, a deaf-artist who ‘sings’ with his hands, and Andy, a washed up musician seeking a comeback. Their unlikely partnership ignites, prejudice closes in and their bond is pushed to breaking point in this story of music, identity and connection. The show is performed at the Traverse Theatre in spoken English and British Sign Language.
Acid’s Reign
Drag superstars Victoria Scone, Scarlett Harlett and Gigi Zahir take to the stage in this new musical about activism, community and the power of performance.
In 2019, a new drag supergroup bursts onto the scene, intent on challenging climate change. Today, interest wanes and climate funding falters. When commercial opportunity knocks on the door, the group faces a tough decision: stay radical or stay visible?
Returning productions:
A handful of acclaimed musicals from previous years are returning to the Fringe this year. Some that we’d recommend seeing are…
HOLE!
Following great success at last year’s Fringe, American Sing-Song are back with their comedy musical HOLE! Ahead of the Fringe, they’ll be playing the main space at Soho Theatre.
A religious sect in Nebraska wears butt plugs at all times because they believe a wrathful God shall suck the unplugged-up to burn on the face of the sun - and they’re right! HOLE! Is a love story set in the aftermath of The Great Sucking when the only people left on Earth are the fanatical Nebraskans (and anyone else who happened to be doing butt stuff at the time).
HOLE!
Read our 5 star review from last year’s Fringe
One Man Musical
The award-winning Edinburgh Fringe smash hit from Flo & Joan returns. An icon of the musical theatre (who may or may not be Andrew Lloyd Webber - for legal reasons, it can neither be confirmed or denied…) takes the spotlight to tell the one story he hasn’t told yet - his own.
You can also catch the show at Soho Theatre prior to its return to Edinburgh.
Shantify
From Evolution Productions and musical theatre star Jo Parsons, Shantify returns to the Fringe. This nautical musical adventure stars a crew of West End talents who turn showtunes, rock classics and pop bangers into sea shanties and weave them into a joyous story.
Be sure to check back for more of our picks of this year’s Fringe, Besties…