What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
SisterGeorge
Broadway Star Joined: 5/8/19
#1What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 1:05pm
I"m seeing PHANTOM in Vienna this month and CAGE AUX FOLLES in Berlin later this year, and thought it would be fun to see what American and British musicals others have seen in translation.
My first was CALLE 42 in Mexico City (my favorite show mug), followed by EL REY LEON in Madrid, HAIR and ANNIE in Oslo in Norwegian, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR in Czech in Prague in a domed theater with a 360-degree auditorium and revolving stage that resembled the Thunderdome, the Flemish premiere of CATS in Antwerp, and MY FAIR LADY in German in Vienna and Munich (I had never realized how LONG the book scenes are in MFL until seeing it in a language I don't speak -- this was before the now ubiquitous surtitles.). I also once saw a print of the movie FUNNY GIRL with the book scenes dubbed into Spanish, but the songs kept in English.
Sister George
BorisTomashevsky
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/30/22
#2What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 1:11pm
Not as many as you, but in person…
Dance of the Vampires in French
Hedwig in Korean
Mozart! in Korean (not Broadway I admit)
Miss Saigon in Thai
Mary Poppins in Italian
Notre Dame de Paris in French (in NYC, also not a Broadway show).
You can always count on me 🎶
#3What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 1:13pm
I saw that amazing all female Chicago in Japanese at Lincoln Center.
#4What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 3:46pm
In Mexico City in 2019, I saw an absolutely marvelous Spanish language production of HELLO DOLLY that recreated Gower Champion's staging to a tee. I also saw a LA CAGE AUX FOLLES staged by the same company that was absolutely appalling, so you just never know.
In Israel in 1971 HaBima staged a perfect facsimile of Broadway's THE ROTHSCHILDS in Hebrew that was spectacular, though I don't know if I would have been as entertained had they not reproduced John Bury's constantly shifting sets so masterfully.
We tried desperately to attend a Lisbon production of CHICAGO (also in 2019), but alas couldn't score a ticket. I'd happily attend any musical I know well in a foreign language I don't speak, just for the fun of seeing the show viewed from a radically different viewpoint.
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#5What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 4:22pm
In Mexico City in 2019, I saw an absolutely marvelous Spanish language production of HELLO DOLLY that recreated Gower Champion's staging to a tee.
#6What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 4:34pm
1991 in Amsterdam, my brother and I saw Sweet Charity. I didn't know the show that well, but it didn't matter - it was still wonderful. We were wondering how Hey Big Spender would sound in Dutch. We needn't have wondered - it was the only line not translated. So if you're interested, it seems Hey Big Spender is the same in English and Dutch. ;-)
SisterGeorge
Broadway Star Joined: 5/8/19
#7What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 6:49pm
For anyone traveling to Buenos Aires during their winter (our summer), they have A LOT of theater, including many Broadway musicals (and some home-grown ones as well). I was just there in April, unfortunately a little too early to catch anything, but productions of The Little Mermaid, Pretty Woman, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, The Little Prince and -- most intriguingly -- Rocky were about to open, all on Avenida Corrientes, which our guide referred to--with an adorable mixture of both pride and embarrassment--as their Broadway. And of course there are tango shows, both huge and small, on practically every block.
Sister George
inception
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/13
#8What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 9:28pm
Vancouver has a very large Persian population, and I just got an ad today on Instagram for an upcoming local production of Sound of Music in Farsi. I don't think I will go.
In April I saw Gypsy at the Philharmonie de Paris with book scenes in French, but the songs done in English.
...
UncleCharlie
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/26/16
#9What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 9:39pm
I saw Fiddler On The Roof in Yiddish and I didn't even have to leave New York. 😊
#10What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 9:50pm
Chicago in Spanish in Buenos Aires in July 2001. I didn't have to understand a word to know what was happening on stage :).
Updated On: 9/1/25 at 09:50 PM
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#11What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 10:08pm
jagman106 said: "Chicago in Spanish in Buenos Aires in July 2001. I didn't have to understand a word to know what was happening on stage :)."
They speak Castellano in Argentina. It’s basically Spanish, but they call it Castellano in Argentina.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#12What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 10:23pm
UncleCharlie said: "I saw Fiddler On The Roof in Yiddish and I didn't even have to leave New York.😊"
That's it for me, too.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#13What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/1/25 at 10:32pm
Les Miserables in French in Montreal at Theatre St-Denis. Caught a second performance of the same production - but in English - the same week at the St-Denis.
Dreamboy3
Featured Actor Joined: 10/8/18
#14What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/2/25 at 8:19am
Rent in Spanish in Barcelona. I actually liked it more than the show with the original cast in New York. There were a few changes to the text (woody Allen (!) instead of Spike Lee and they replaced “Hicksville” with another town that I don’t recall).
#15What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/2/25 at 8:21am
I’ve seen a number of plays in other languages but the only Broadway musical I can think of is also the Yiddish Fiddler.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#16What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/2/25 at 11:15am
My only entry is the New National Theatre's Japanese-language production of Pacific Overtures at the Kennedy Center in 2002. I'm slightly surprised no one else has listed it yet!
#17What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/2/25 at 3:34pm
I saw Beauty and the Beast in French when it premiered in Paris in 2013.
"Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok. Have you guys heard about fidget spinners!?" ~Patti LuPone
KevinKlawitter
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/21/20
#18What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/2/25 at 3:55pm
I haven't seen any live, but when I was in a community theatre production of Kinky Boots a few years back I had watched enough clips from the proshot on YouTube that the algorithm started recommending clips from a Korean production of the show, and it's amazing:
#19What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/2/25 at 4:35pm
Brody!! Thanks so much for posting those clips from the 2019 Mexico City DOLLY! I'd forgotten how lush the sets were. It was a performance that sent me glowing out into the Mexican night.
Templeton33
Swing Joined: 5/9/11
#20What Broadway musicals have you seen in a foreign language?
Posted: 9/2/25 at 6:51pm
Chicago in Paris 2018.
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