Educational Theatre Association’s Dramatics magazine has released its annual list of the most produced full-length plays, full-length musicals and short plays.
John Cariani’s Almost, Maine and the Andrew Lippa musical The Addams Family, both of which topped last year’s most-produced play and musical list, maintained their leading positions for the 2015-16 season.
According to the EDTA, approximately 1,200 schools out of approximately 5,200 member schools participated in the survey. The survey has been conducted annually since 1938.
National Public Radio compiled 77 years’ worth of survey results into an interactive database, which can be found at npr.org.
Dramatics Survey of 2015-16 High School Play Productions
FULL-LENGTH PLAYS
1. Almost, Maine (John Cariani)
2. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (William Shakespeare)
3. Servant of Two Masters (Carlo Goldoni)
4. Twelfth Night (William Shakespeare)
5. You Can’t Beat the House (Pat Cook)
6. The Odd Couple (Neil Simon)
7. Arsenic and Old Lace (Joseph Kesselring)
8. The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon (Don Zolidis)
9. (tie) The Crucible (Arthur Miller)
9. (tie) Rabbit Hole (David Lindsay-Abaire)
FULL-LENGTH MUSICALS
1. The Addams Family (Andrew Lippa, Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice)
2. Mary Poppins (Sherman Brothers, George Stiles, Anthony Drewe, Julian Fellowes)
3. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (William Finn, Rachel Sheinkin)
4. Cinderella (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Douglas Carter Beane)
5. Legally Blonde (Nell Benjamin, Laurence O’Keefe, Heather Hach)
6. (tie) Grease (Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, John Farrar)
6. (tie) Into the Woods (Stephen Sondheim, James Lapine)
6. (tie) The Little Mermaid (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Glenn Slater, Doug Wright)
9. Little Shop of Horrors (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman)
10. Beauty and the Beast (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Linda Woolverton)
10. High School Musical (various writers)
SHORT PLAYS
1. The Show Must Go On (Laurence Klavan)
2. Our Place (Terry Gabbard)
3. Check Please (Jonathan Rand)
4. Oh, What a Tangled Web (John R. Carroll)
5. The Audition (Don Zolidis)
6. (tie) Sorry, Wrong Number (Lucille Fletcher)
6. (tie) The Thomas Paine Panther (T.J. Walsh)
8. The Role of Della (John Wooten)
9. The 9 Worst Breakups of All Time (Ian McWethy)
10. (tie) 13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview (Ian McWethy)
10. (tie) Booby Trap (Ed Monk)
10. (tie) Superheroes (Ian McWethy)
