Can You Guess the Most-Performed High School Musicals? | Playbill

News Can You Guess the Most-Performed High School Musicals? The Educational Theatre Association released its annual survey of most-produced musicals and plays at America's high schools in 2014-2015. The top-produced show depicts the gloomiest family in the country. No, it's not Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Six of the top 10 musicals were written in the previous century, one of them as long ago as the 1930s.

Among most-produced plays, the venerable 1936 hit You Can't Take It with You landed on the list for the 77th time in the 78 years the association has been compiling the survey.

The Top 20 Musicals
1. The Addams Family, book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa (TRW)
2. Shrek the Musical, book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Jeanine Tesori (MTI)
3 (tie): Legally Blonde, book by Heather Hach, music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin (MTI)
3 (tie): Cinderella, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers (R&H)*
5. Little Shop of Horrors, book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken (MTI)
6T. Anything Goes, book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, music and lyrics by Cole Porter (Tams-Witmark)
6T. Guys and Dolls, book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser (MTI)
8T. You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, book, music and lyrics by Clark Gesner (Tams-Witmark)
8T. The Wizard of Oz, various adaptations from L. Frank Baum
8T. Hairspray, book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman (MTI)
11. Beauty and the Beast, book by Linda Woolverton, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice (MTI)
12T. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, book by Rachel Sheinkin, music and lyrics by William Finn, additional material by Jay Reiss (MTI)
12T. Footloose, book and lyrics by Dean Pitchford, book by Walter Bobbie, music by Tom Snow and others, additional lyrics by Kenny Loggins (R&H)
14. Into the Woods, book by James Lapine, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (MTI)
15T. Grease, book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, additional songs by John Farrar (formerly Samuel French, now TRW)
15T. Once Upon a Mattress, book and lyrics by Marshall Barer, book by Jay Thompson and Dean Fuller, music by Mary Rodgers (R&H)
15T. Seussical, book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book and music by Stephen Flaherty (MTI)
18T. Mary Poppins, book by Julian Fellowes, music and lyrics by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (MTI)
18T. The Music Man, book, music and lyrics by Meredith Willson, book by Franklin Lacey (MTI)
20T. Bye Bye Birdie, book by Michael Stewart, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams (Tams-Witmark)
20T. The Sound of Music, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (R&H)
20T. Thoroughly Modern Millie, book and lyrics by Dick Scanlan, book by Richard Morris, music by Jeanine Tesori (MTI)

The Top 20 Full-Length Plays
1. Almost, Maine, by John Cariani (Dramatists Play Service)
2. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare (PD)
3. You Can’t Take It with You, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (Dramatists Play Service)
4. Twelve Angry Men, by Reginald Rose (Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing)**
5. Our Town, by Thornton Wilder (Samuel French)
6. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller (Dramatists Play Service)
7. Arsenic and Old Lace, by Joseph Kesselring (Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French)
8T. Alice in Wonderland, various adaptations from Lewis Carroll 8T. Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare (PD)
10. Harvey, by Mary Chase (Dramatists Play Service)
11T. Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare (PD)
11T. The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, by John Bishop (Dramatists Play Service)
11T. A Christmas Carol, various adaptations of Charles Dickens
11T. Radium Girls, by D.W. Gregory (Dramatic Publishing)
11T. The Curious Savage, by John Patrick (Dramatists Play Service)
11T. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield (Broadway Play Publishing)
17T. Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling (Dramatists Play Service)
17T. The Odd Couple, by Neil Simon (Samuel French)***
19T. Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare (PD)
19T. The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (Dramatists Play Service)
19T. Charlotte’s Web, by Joseph Robinette (Dramatic Publishing)

The Top 10 Short Plays
1. Check, Please, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts)
2. 10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse, by Don Zolidis (Playscripts)
3. This Is a Test, by Stephen Gregg (Dramatic Publishing)
4. It’s Not You, It’s Me, by Don Zolidis (Playscripts)
5. Check, Please: Take 3, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts)
6. 13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview, by Ian McWethy (Playscripts)
7T. Hard Candy, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts)
7T. The 9 Worst Breakups of All Time, by Ian McWethy (Playscripts)
9T. The Actor’s Nightmare, by Christopher Durang (Dramatists Play Service)
9T. Superheroes, by Ian McWethy (Playscripts)
9T. The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon, by Don Zolidis (Playscripts)

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Notes
* Includes both the Broadway version and one adapted from television.
** Includes productions of Twelve Angry Men, Twelve Angry Women, and Twelve Angry Jurors.
*** Includes both male and female versions.

 
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