Every school year, from September to June, budding theatricians around the world get to work on school productions of plays and musicals, building their skills to become the next generation of theater artists. But school shows can range from Shakespeare to Sondheim, so the question remains: What are the most popular school shows right now?
Fortunately, we at Playbill have data from the hundreds of schools around the country that purchase their programs from PLAYBILLDER, Playbill’s program-building service, this past school year. We tabulated that data, and here are the most popular shows with schools that designed and printed their programs through PLAYBILLDER in the 2024-25 school year:
Top School Shows in 2024-25:
- The Addams Family (Theatrical Rights Worldwide)
- Hadestown: Teen Edition (Concord Theatricals)
- Mamma Mia! (Music Theatre International)
- (tie) Little Shop of Horrors (MTI) and Mean Girls High School Version (MTI)
- Disney's The Little Mermaid (MTI)
- Disney's Frozen Jr. (MTI)
- The Wizard of Oz (RSC Version) (Concord Theatricals)
- Into the Woods (MTI)
- Chicago: Teen Edition (Concord Theatricals)
- Shrek The Musical (MTI)
We also divided the data for high schools and middle schools, to see what shows are most popular at each grade level:
Top High School Shows in 2024-25:
- Hadestown: Teen Edition (Concord Theatricals)
- Mamma Mia! (MTI)
- The Addams Family (Theatrical Rights Worldwide)
- Little Shop of Horrors (MTI)
- Mean Girls High School Version (MTI)
Top Middle School Shows in 2024-25:
- Disney's Frozen Jr. (MTI)
- (tie) Disney's Alice in Wonderland Jr. (MTI) and Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka Jr. (MTI)
- Disney's The Little Mermaid Jr. (MTI)
- Seussical Jr. (MTI)
- (tie) Disney's Beauty and the Beast Jr. (MTI) and Shrek The Musical Jr. (MTI)
Take a look below at some of the creative cover designs that student artists created for their PLAYBILLDER programs for these shows. And click here for a comprehensive list of popular plays and musicals that are currently able to be licensed for school and community productions.
Addams County Christian School's The Addams Family
Kalama School District's Hadestown: Teen Edition
Hastings High School's Mamma Mia!
Interlake High School's Mean Girls High School Version
Wakefield High School's Little Shop of Horrors
Nazareth Academy's The Little Mermaid
St. John Vianney Regional School's Frozen Jr.
Liberty Tree Academy's The Wizard of Oz
Newburyport High School's Into the Woods
George Rogers Clark High School's Chicago: Teen Edition
Winnacunnet High School's Shrek the Musical
Katz Hillel Day School's The Little Mermaid Jr.
Hobart High School's Disney's Alice in Wonderland Jr.
Saints JFX Class of 2025's Willy Wonka Jr.
Natomas Charter School Performing and Fine Arts Academy's Seussical Jr.
St. John XXIII Catholic School's Shrek the Musical Jr.
To design Broadway-quality programs for your next show or special event, head to PLAYBILLDER.com. Or select from one of our over 1,500 pre-populated productions with Playbill Express. Who knows, you might just be featured in our next PLAYBILLDER Spotlight! And if you are looking for a beautiful way to display your Playbills, click here to purchase Playbill frames.
