8 Queer Musicals to Watch If You Loved 'Dicks'

From campy to hilarious, with some tearjerkers in between!

A24's new Dicks: The Musicalis a hilarious and campy musical comedy directed by Larry Charles and based on an off-Broadway musical called Fucking Identical Twins by Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson.

With some standout performances like Bowen Yang playing God and Megan Thee Stallion making her movie debut, it's only a matter of time before this becomes a cult classic.

If you're into musicals, here are 8 other queer musicals you can watch if you liked Dicks, from campy to hilarious, with some tearjerkers in between!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of the most iconic, cult classic queer musical comedies. Starring Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter, it follows Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) and Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick), who are newly engaged and find themselves in the eccentric house of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Furter is a transvestite scientist from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. In a parody of science fiction and horror movies, it explores themes of sexual liberation and self-acceptance while paying homage to the B-movies that serve as its inspiration. Fans still get together for regular midnight showings in interactive experiences where they dress up and celebrate the campy, irreverent horror and memorable songs like "Time Warp" and "Sweet Transvestite."

Rent (2005)

Based on Jonathan Larson's 1996 Broadway musical of the same name, Rent is a 2005 musical drama directed by Chris Columbus. Featuring six of the eight original Broadway cast members reprising their lead roles, such as Anthony Rapp as Mark Cohen and Idina Menzel as Maureen Johnson, it depicts the lives of several bohemians and their ongoing struggles with drugs, sexuality, and the ever-increasing problem of paying their rent in the gritty East Village of New York City between 1989 and 90. One of the overarching themes of sexuality focuses on the shadow of the AIDS pandemic, and the characters who suffer the most offer some of the most heart-wrenching and memorable storylines. Songs like "La Vie Boheme" and "Seasons of Love" stand out on their own under any circumstances, and it's well worth a watch either on stage or film.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

Another stage production that eventually became a film is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, written by, directed by, and starring John Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig Robinson. This transgender punk rock singer from East Berlin, with the "Angry Inch" a reference to the botched gender confirmation surgery Hedwig underwent in a plot to escape East Germany. The music combines rock, punk, and pop to explore themes of identity, gender, love, and self-discovery. It's gone on to gain a cult following for the powerful storytelling and unique main character, and "Origin of Love" and "Wig in a Box" are likely to stay stuck in your head long after you give it a watch.

Cabaret (1972)

Cabaret is a classical 1970s musical starring Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles, Michael York as Brian Roberts, and Joel Gray as the Emcee. It's based upon Christopher Isherwood's semi-autographical stories about Weimer-ear Berlin during the Jazz Age, and it went on to gain eight Academy Awards. One such award was for Minnelli as Best Actress, who served some of the best vocals on the musical numbers the film is known for. Among those are the titular song, "Cabaret," which is one of the most iconic from the movie, and "Maybe This Time," which is one of the most powerful and emotional solos from the whole show. It also offers a rich historical look into entertainment that welcomed LGBTQ+ performers like drag queens and allowed them to portray their art. Its depiction of LGBTQ+ characters has also aged fairly well in terms of their portrayal, and it remains a staple in the queer musical lexicon.

The Big Gay Musical (2009)

The Big Gay Musical is a 2009 satirical musical exploring what it means to be gay. The plot follows Paul (Daniel Robinson) and Eddie (Joey Dudding), who have just begun previews of an off-Broadway musical called Adam & Steve: Just the Way God Made 'Em. The movie follows along both with the lives of the two main leads and the musical, wherein God (Steve Hayes) decides to put Adam and Steve together after banishing Eve (Lena Hall) from the Garden of Eden. It's then insinuated that Eve wrote in the Bible to hate gays because of this. Paul and Eddie deal with real-life issues like being falsely accused of being HIV-positive and religious conflicts with homosexuality. Songs like "I Wanna Be a Slut" and "I'm Gonna Go Straight" look at these issues in a comedic way, while still showcasing the deeper issue at hand.

Were the World Mine (2008)

Set as a modern retelling of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Were the World Mine follows a high school student named Timothy (Tanner Cohen) who discovers a love potion that allows him to make people in his small town fall in love with the first person they see. From there, the film takes on themes of love, acceptance, and challenges. Timothy is an openly gay student at an all-boys private school and is constantly persecuted by his peers. He creates the spell after getting cast as Puck in the Shakespeare play, and the entire town is thrown into chaos as those who were homophobic find they may fall in love with members of the same sex, after all. The titular song, "Were the World Mine" shows a duet between Timothy and his crush, Jonathon (Nathaniel David Becker) as they work toward figuring out their feelings for each other.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie (2021)

Everybody's Talking About Jamie is a 2021 musical drama that's based on the true story of 16-year-old British schoolboy Jamie New (Max Harwood) as he works to overcome adversity. It was inspired by a BBC documentary of the same name, and it's known for its uplifting message of self-acceptance, as well as the importance of always staying true to yourself. Originally made into a musical for the stage in 2017 where the titular role was played by Layton Williams, it gained a devoted fanbase before being translated into film. Jamie is convinced he's going to be a superstar, and although the film removed a few songs from the original, but replaced "The Legend of Loco Chanelle (and the Blood Red Dress)" with "This Was Me."

The Runaways (2010)

The Runaways is a biopic about Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) as they went through the rise and fall of the all-girl rock band by the same name. Although the film doesn't explicitly have any homosexual content, and although Jett never confirmed nor denied her status as a lesbian, the film does paint the two as having some sort of romantic or sexual involvement. Currie's also openly bisexual in the film, but much of the characterization has also been fictionalized for the sake of drama. Still, Currie's Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway served as an initial inspiration for the film. If for nothing else, it's worth watching just to see Fanning's killer rendition of "Cherry Bomb."