What Is the History of Mega-Mixes on Broadway?

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The term “megamix” became widely known on Broadway with that game-changing jukebox musical Mamma Mia! in 2001. The British import, featuring the tunes of ABBA set within a new story, concluded with a multi-song medley after the curtain call that encouraged the audience to sing and dance along. Such an event made sense for a jukebox show, consisting as those do of well-loved popular songs. But was Mamma Mia! really the first to present a megamix (as we call them today) on Broadway? And what shows have included this rousing, participatory tradition since then?

Actually, the first Broadway production to label one of their numbers a “mega-mix” was eight years earlier. The 1993 revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat sent audiences out onto 44th and 45th Streets after a curtain call medley at the Minskoff Theatre that consisted of eight songs from the show! Parts of “Go, Go, Go Joseph”, “Jacob and Sons”, “Joseph’s Coat”, “One More Angel In Heaven”, “Pharaoh’s Story”, “Song of the King”, “The Brothers Came to Egypt”, and “Any Dream Will Do” were all heard in the Joseph revival’s mega-mix. In contrast, Mamma Mia!’s mega-mix only regaled audiences with three tunes: “Mamma Mia!”, “Dancing Queen” and “Waterloo”. (“Waterloo” was a bonus number however, not heard in the show otherwise!)

Joseph is a stand-out as far as mega-mixes go since the majority of other shows that have included them on Broadway have been jukebox musicals, with slates of songs popularized by popular music artists prior to their inclusion in a stage musical.

However, while the first production of Joseph to label a song a “mega-mix” might have been the 1993 revival, the first production of Joseph to HAVE a mega-mix was actually the original 1982 Broadway production! In 1981, Joseph made its NYC premiere off-Broadway at the Entermedia Theatre (now the Village East movie theater) before transferring to a Broadway run at the Jacobs. When the show moved to Broadway, it was felt that it was clocking in as too short for audiences, so edits were made in order to lengthen the performance. One of the most important changes made was the introduction of the Broadway mega-mix (which was not called this yet!). Martin Silvestri, who was co-music supervisor, co-orchestrator, and co-arranger on this production, remembered putting together this first Broadway mega-mix right before the show’s first Broadway preview—and thus the mega-mix was born! Although it wasn’t labeled as such in the Playbill and is not in the history books as such, 1982’s Joseph was the first show to bring the concept of the mega-mix to life. 

Like Joseph though, Starlight Express, in its recent London revival, featured a mega-mix although not a jukebox musical. Both shows do have beloved scores, already known to audiences since these were revival productions, also with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Starlight Express, everyone’s favorite musical anthropomorphizing trains, originally opened in London in 1984 and became one of the West End’s longest running shows. It opened on Broadway in 1987 and ran through 1989. The show’s mega-mix was first introduced when the show got an overhaul in London in 1992 and was billed “The New Starlight Express”… meaning that Starlight Express’s mega-mix pre-dated Joseph’s by a year… but on the other side of the pond. 

Currently on Broadway, Moulin Rouge! essentially features at mega-mixes throughout its entire show. The jukebox musical based on the 2001 film does not have a song list in its Playbill since that might take some of the joy away from audiences who delight in being surprised by just how many popular hits each medley packs in. Over a dozen of the production’s musical numbers feature at least three separate songs within them. This does include the show’s final number. But while a mega-mix is typically meant to mean a curtain call encore highlighting multiple songs, Moulin Rouge! serves mega-mix vibes up all night. 

Also currently going strong on Broadway is MJ, the musical based on the life of Michael Jackson and featuring his catalogue of hits. Some might consider the show’s finale a mega-mix… although almost always, a mega-mix does happen at curtain call and is separate from a show’s finale. But MJ’s finale, consisting as it does of “Jam”, “Black or White”, and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”, two of which have already been heard elsewhere in the musical, might be considered a mega-mix by some. 

Like Moulin Rouge! and MJ, Six is a currently running Broadway musical featuring a mega-mix, but like Joseph and Starlight Express, Six is a British import that isn’t a jukebox musical. Six’s mega-mix marches to the beat of its own queen, being that it labels its encore number a “Megasix” instead of “mega-mix”. The show’s ultimate medley reviews many of its well-loved songs heard earlier in the performance, and in some productions (but not on Broadway), audiences are even invited to film the “Megasix”. 

The short-lived 2023 Britney Spears jukebox musical Once Upon a One More Time got audiences on their feet with a finale mega-mix officially titled as such. Mashing up “… Baby One More Time”, “Gimme More”, and “Till The World Ends”, Once Upon a One More Time allowed audiences to dance along with the show’s unconventional princesses.

Led by Stephanie J. Block in a Tony Award-winning turn, The Cher Show concluded with a mega-mix of Cher hits. This time, the mega-mix was the show’s finale (before a separate curtain call number) and consisted of five Cher tunes, performed by Block, fellow stars Micaela Diamond and Teal Wicks, and the Company. If you wanted to hear “Believe” or “Woman’s World” again before the lights went up in 2018 or 2019, The Cher Show gave you that and more. 

From 2015 to 2017, On Your Feet! got audiences on their feet for an official mega-mix at the end of the Gloria and Emilio Estefan jukebox musical. Consisting of six of the show’s most popular numbers, done medley style, On Your Feet!’s mega-mix had audiences clapping along to “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”, “Conga”, and more.

2011’s Priscilla Queen of the Desert musical featured a finale mega-mixing five songs together and inviting audiences at the Palace to sing and dance along. Officially labeled the “Finally Medley”, the company led by Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon, and Nick Adams wailed out “Shake Your Groove Thing”, “I Will Survive”, and several other hits included in the show one more time.

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