Dramatics Magazine Announces the 10 Most Performed Musicals & Plays in High Schools

Dramatics Magazine has announced their annual lists of the ten most performed musicals and plays in North American high schools.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast is the most performed in the Musicals category, the same as in the 2008-09 survey.  It's followed by Seussical and a tie between Into the Woods and Grease.  New to this year's list are Footloose and The Wizard of Oz while the shows Little Shop of Horrors (last year's number 2) and Guys and Dolls (5) fell from the top ten.

The 2009-10 top ten with the shows 2008-09 rank in parenthesis.

• 1. (1) Disney's Beauty & the Beast
• 2. (7) Seussical
• 3. (Tie) (4) Grease
• 3. (Tie) (8) Into the Woods
• 5. (-) Footloose
• 6. (Tie) (-) The Wizard of Oz (multiple adaptations)
• 6. (Tie) (8)You're a Good Man Charlie Brown
• 8. (10) The Music Man
• 9. (5) Once Upon a Matress
• 10. (3) Thoroughly Modern Millie

The full-length play list is topped by John Cariani's Almost, Maine which is new to the list this year as are Neil Simon's Fools and A Christmas Carol.  Falling from the top ten are Neil Simon's Rumors (2 last year), The Curious Savage, Harvey and The Miracle Worker (because of ties there were 12 plays listed in 2008-09).

• 1. (-) Almost, Maine
• 2. (1) A Midsummer Night's Dream
• 3. (4) You Can't Take It With You
• 4. (7) Noises Off
• 5. (7) Twelve Angry Men
• 6. (Tie) (7) Alice in Wonderland (various adaptations)
• 6. (Tie) (3) The Crucible
• 6. (Tie) (10) Our Town
• 9. (Tie) (-) Fools
• 9. (Tie) (-) A Christmas Carol (various adaptations)

Finally, in the category of short plays, Jonathan Rand's Check Please leads the list as it did in 2008-09.  New to the list are 13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview, Competition Please and How to Succeed in High School Without Really Trying.  Falling out of the top ten from 2008-09 are Bang, Bang, You're Dead (last years number 2), 15 Reasons Not to Be in a Play (4), The Seussifacation of Romeo & Juliet (6), Dinner With the MacGuffins (10) and The Least Offensive Play (10) (because of ties there were 12 short plays listed in 2008-09).

• 1. (1) Check Please
• 2. (6) Check Please: Take 3
• 3. (Tie) (6) The Actor's Nightmare
• 3. (Tie) (-) 13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview
• 5. (3) Check Please: Take 2
• 6. (Tie) (10) The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon
• 6. (Tie) (6) Hard Candy
• 8. (Tie) (-) Competition Please
• 8. (Tie) (-) How to Succeed in High School Without Really Trying
• 10. (5) This is a Test