Jun 21, 20203 min read

Celebrating The 10 Best Fathers In Musical Theatre

It's Fathers Day today so what better time to look at the best dads in musical theatre?

It was surprisingly hard to find fathers in shows that weren't terrible people as they range from the flawed (some of those actually made this list) to the downright awful such as Jamie's dad in Everybody's Talking About Jamie.

But sticking with the positive, here are some of the theatre dads that don't completely suck. This post contains spoilers about the shows mentioned, but some of them have been running for over 20 years so if you don't know the story by now, when will you?

JEAN VALJEAN, LES MISERABLES

Jean ValJean steals Cosette away from the Thenadiers and gives her a new life. He's not perfect by a long shot, withholding the truth about him and wanting to flee the country away from her true love (who she'd known for all of two minutes). He makes up for it by saving Marius and bringing him home to her. What more could you ask for from a dad?

ALEXANDER HAMILTON, HAMILTON

Another flawed dad thanks to cheating on his wife, when it comes to his children, Alexander Hamilton has a lot of love for them. The only child of his we see in the musical is his eldest son, Phillip. He teaches him about honour which ultimately leads to his death, though the grief that is displayed after leads to the most emotional moment of the show in 'It's quiet uptown'. Here's A.Ham and A.Burr singing about their children in 'Dear Theodosia'

LARRY MURPHY, DEAR EVAN HANSEN

While he regrets the decisions he made with his own son Connor, Larry gets a second chance and gives Evan the father figure he desperately craves. Larry's father is front and centre in the show in act 2's 'To break in a glove'.

DADDY WARBUCKS, ANNIE

The clue is in the name really. The billionaire opened his home to little orphan Annie and grew to love her after realising something was missing in his life.

MUFASA, THE LION KING

There's no greater testament to a fathers love for his child than putting your own life in danger rescuing him, ultimately sacrificing yourself. I'm sorry, I have something in my eye...

WILBUR TURNBLAD, HAIRSPRAY

Not the most fleshed out character in Hairspray but Tracy's dad is incredibly loving, encouraging her to follow her dreams. While most of Wilbur's screentime is devoted to his relationship with his wife Edna, the time he spends with his daughter is always heartwarming. And isn't it nice to see Christopher Walken in a musical role where he isn't completely awful?

TEVYE, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

The main protagonist in Fiddler, Tevye has deeply traditional values which is tested by the growing up of his five daughters. Ultimately, he puts their happiness and freedom over his own values and faith.

SAM, BILL & HARRY, MAMMA MIA

Why have one father when you can have three? Not knowing which one is her dad, Sophie invites all three possibilities to her wedding. Rather than find out which one of them is her biological dad, they agree to share 1/3 of her each and all be her father. You never saw that on Jeremy Kyle!