As the final decade of the century, the 1990s were a prolific time for musical theatre that propelled Broadway into the 21st Century. Writers like Jason Robert Brown came to the forefront with Parade. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty burst onto the scene with Once On This Island, My Favorite Year and Ragtime. Disney began adapting their beloved animated musicals for the stage and struck gold with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Of course, there was still room for cult classics like John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Keythe Farley, Brian Flemming, and Laurence O’Keefe’s Bat Boy The Musical. This week’s Playbill Mixtape takes a look at all of these shows and more with tunes any musical theatre fan should know from the ’90s.

For all of your sonic knowledge, plus playlists for every mood, be sure to follow Playbill on Spotify.

A historical guide for your listening education:
“Overture / Twenty Million People” — My Favorite Year; Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
“I Got Rhythm” — Crazy for You; George and Ira Gershwin
“On Broadway” — Smokey Joe’s Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller; Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
“Five Guys Named Moe” —Five Guys Named Moe; Larry Wynn and Jerry Bresler
“That’s How You Jazz” — Jelly’s Last Jam; Susan Birkenhead, Jelly Roll Morton and Luther Henderson.
“Le Jazz Hot” — Victor/Victoria; Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse
“This Is the Moment” — Jekyll & Hyde; Frank Wildhorn, Steve Cuden, and Leslie Bricusse
“A Tight-Knit Family / Love Is Blind” — Falsettos; William Finn
“Mama Will Provide” — Once on This Island; Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
“Sensation” — The Who’s Tommy; Pete Townshend
“Wig in a Box” — Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Stephen Trask
“When I Look at You” — The Scarlet Pimpernel; Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton
“The Proposal / The Night Was Alive” — Titanic; Maury Yeston
“Who Will Love Me as I Am? — Side Show; Bill Russell and Henry Krieger
“Lily’s Eyes” — The Secret Garden; Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon
“This Is Not Over Yet” — Parade; Jason Robert Brown
“If I Can’t Love Her” —Beauty and the Beast; Alan Menken and Tim Rice
“Where You Are” — Kiss of the Spider Woman; John Kander and Fred Ebb
“Let’s Hear it for the Boy” — Footloose; Dean Pitchford and Kenny Loggins
“Willamania” — The Will Rogers Follies; Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green
“The Oldest Profession” — The Life; Ira Gasman and Cy Coleman
“Sarah” — The Civil War; Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy
“Dance With Me, Darling” — Bat Boy: The Musical; Laurence O'Keefe
“Wheels of a Dream” — Ragtime; Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
“He Lives in You (Reprise)” — The Lion King; Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, and Lebo M
“Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk” — Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk; Daryl Waters, Zane Mark, Ann Duquesnay, Reg E. Gaines, and George C. Wolfe
“Another Day” — Rent; Jonathan Larson