Recommended Plays and Musicals for Cultural Festivals, School Festivals, and School Performances
Want to make unforgettable memories with your school festival play? We’ve got you covered with a variety of works, from fairy tales and musicals to anime and trending hits.
Disney titles, Studio Ghibli films, and beloved classic stories—each one is full of charm that will captivate your audience.
There are plenty that are fun to perform, too, so bring your class together to create a moving stage filled with acting, dance, and music.
It’s sure to become a memory you’ll cherish for life.
You’re bound to find the perfect piece for your class!
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Disney & Famous Fairy Tales Musical (1–10)
High School Musical
High School Musical, Disney’s musical film that aired in 2006 and became a huge hit, is also highly recommended.
It tells the story of a boy who’s great at basketball and a high-achieving girl who, after singing together at a party, decide to take on a musical.
Centered on the two of them, it’s a wonderful story where their relationships with various characters are a major highlight.
Since it’s set in a high school, I think it’s perfect as a program for a school festival.
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast, originally based on an 18th-century French folktale and also known from the Disney adaptation, captivates with its romantic story and has been performed in many forms, including animation, drama, opera, and musicals.
If you choose Beauty and the Beast as your production, please decide which format to perform it in by referring to previously released works.
Creating lavish, beautiful costumes—such as gowns and tuxedos—also sounds like a lot of fun.
Aladdin
Aladdin, the well-known Disney animated film.
Staging the flying carpet seems like it would be challenging, but brainstorming ideas together in class sounds fun.
The famous song “A Whole New World” has not only an English version but also a Japanese version, and it’s sometimes used as an assignment piece in music class.
Using a recording is of course an option, but having everyone sing it together would be wonderful too!
The Wizard of Oz
The characters are easy to recognize at a glance, and the story is familiar, so it’s naturally fun to watch.
But I also think it’s a production that even people who aren’t interested in theater will enjoy performing.
It’s fun to work backstage as a costumer or set builder too, so doing it as a class production for a school festival would make for some really great memories!
The Lion King
The Lion King is familiar to everyone.
It’s originally a Disney film, but in Japan it’s also well-known for being staged as a musical by the Shiki Theatre Company.
Their costumes are elaborate, yet it feels like you could surprisingly substitute some parts with materials like cardboard.
A musical might be a bit challenging, but give it a try!
Cinderella
It’s one of the most famous fairy tales, and to this day it has spawned numerous derivative works.
While the main storyline is set, it’s a piece that lends itself very well to adaptation—as you can tell from the sheer number of spin-offs—so with the right idea, you might be able to bring out strong originality!
Frozen
Frozen, a Disney animated film released in 2013, became a huge hit.
In Japan, it was also released to great success, with Takako Matsu providing the lead dubbing and performing the theme song.
Building on this success, a Broadway musical stage version premiered in 2018.
Since the entire show is composed of memorable songs that everyone knows, performing it together as a class at a school festival could make for a wonderful memory.
