These six works use aviation in markedly different ways: as comic spectacle, biographical drama, theatrical fantasy, and a test of ambition. This is a curated selection, not a definitive ranking; the available records vary from an institutional archive catalog to publisher descriptions and theater-history databases.
Six aviation works at a glance
| Work | Historical or fictional treatment | Tone and aviation’s role | Evidence available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Going Up | Fictional story adapted from a 1910 play | Musical comedy; flight becomes a practical test of a character’s claimed expertise | Historical overview from the Operetta Research Center |
| Take the Air | Fictional musical comedy | Aviation is central to the show’s framing | University of Florida playbill finding aid |
| The Aviatrix: A New Musical | Based on the lives of Harriet Quimby and Matilde Moisant | Contemporary pop and jazz musical; aviation figures drive the story | TDF listing |
| Flight of the Lawnchair Man | Fictional comic fantasy featuring Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart | Flight is the premise and the source of the fantasy | Concord Theatricals publisher description and production chronology |
| The Little Prince and the Aviator | Theatrical adaptation associated with The Little Prince | Fantasy musical; an aviator character and flight imagery appear in the production record | Ovrtur theater-history database |
| Amelia Earhart: Flights of Fancy | Historical setting built around Earhart’s 1932 solo Atlantic flight | Play with memories and specters in the cockpit | Eldridge Plays and Musicals catalog description |
Musical comedy and the thrill of flight
Going Up
Adapted by James Montgomery and Otto Harbach from Montgomery’s 1910 play The Aviator, Going Up turns aviation into a comic test of nerve. Its central character is a writer whose supposed expertise in flying is challenged when he is pushed into an actual aircraft. The Operetta Research Center’s historical overview reports that the Broadway production at the Liberty Theater ran for 351 performances before going on the road; that figure describes this production, not aviation theater as a whole. Operetta Research Center: Going Up.
Take the Air
The University of Florida’s Belknap playbill finding aid calls Take the Air a “New Musical Comedy of Aviation.” It credits Gene Buck and Anne Caldwell with book and lyrics and Dave Stamper with music, and records productions at various theaters in 1927–28. Listed songs include “Silver Wings” and “Take the Air.” The institutional catalog makes this a particularly tangible example of aviation-themed musical comedy from the period. University of Florida: Belknap playbill finding aid.
Stories drawn from aviation figures
The Aviatrix: A New Musical
TDF describes this musical as following Harriet Quimby and Matilde Moisant, with a contemporary pop and jazz score. Its listing gives an online run of January 28–31, 2021, and credits Lily Dwoskin with book and lyrics, Casey O’Neil with music, and Ellie Handel as director. TDF describes Quimby as the first American woman to earn her pilot’s license; that historical characterization is TDF’s wording. TDF listing for The Aviatrix: A New Musical.
#1 Best Overall
- Pages: 182
- Instrumentation: Piano/Keyboard
- Instrumentation: Vocal
Amelia Earhart: Flights of Fancy
Will Huddleston’s play places its audience in the cockpit during Earhart’s 1932 solo Atlantic flight. Eldridge Plays and Musicals describes memories and specters intruding there, framing early flight alongside fame, failed dreams, and courage. Its catalog page identifies the work’s premise and themes, rather than providing a fuller production history. Eldridge Plays and Musicals: Amelia Earhart: Flights of Fancy.
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Flight of the Lawnchair Man
In Peter Ullian and Robert Lindsey-Nassif’s full-length musical, Jerry Gorman, an aspiring flyer from Passaic, ties 400 helium balloons to a lawn chair and encounters Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart in the sky. The premise combines an eccentric feat of flight with aviation legends, making this the most overtly comic fantasy in the group. Concord Theatricals says the musical launched at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s 2004 festival and had its world premiere at Goodspeed Musicals on May 19, 2005. Concord’s catalog provides a “Get the Script” option for readers interested in obtaining the script; check the page for current terms and availability. Concord Theatricals: Flight of the Lawnchair Man.
The Little Prince and the Aviator
Ovrtur’s production listing identifies the aviator character as Toni and records songs including “Making Every Minute Count” and “Wind, Sand & Stars.” Its production history says the show began previews on December 31, 1981, and closed on January 17, 1982, before its scheduled opening, after running out of money. That brief, incomplete run makes it a different kind of aviation-stage story: flight is part of a theatrical fantasy, while the surviving record also traces a production that never reached its planned opening. Ovrtur production listing.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Mezzo-Soprano
- Pages: 104
- Instrumentation: Vocal
Rank #3
How these works approach aviation
- Biography: The Aviatrix follows Quimby and Moisant, while Amelia Earhart: Flights of Fancy uses Earhart’s Atlantic flight as its setting.
- Comic invention: Going Up and Take the Air draw on musical comedy; Flight of the Lawnchair Man turns flight into an absurd, balloon-powered adventure.
- Fantasy: The Little Prince and the Aviator brings an aviator into a musical world shaped by theatrical fantasy.
- What the records preserve: The University of Florida catalog supplies credits and songs for Take the Air; Concord offers a publisher description and chronology for Flight of the Lawnchair Man; theater-history records document the limited run of The Little Prince and the Aviator. These records illuminate different things and do not, by themselves, establish a ranking of artistic importance.
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