The 2010-2011 annual play survey
Looks like this Bard of Avon guy is something more than a flash in the pan. William Shakespeare placed three titles in the top ten, including the number one spot, among full-length plays in our annual survey of the most-produced plays and musicals in American high schools. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a perennial favorite among school theatre directors in recent years, was the most frequently produced full-length play during the 2010-11 school year, and Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet were in a three-way tie for eighth place with Joseph Kesselring’s Arsenic and Old Lace.
Remarkably, productions of a total of fifteen different Shakespeare plays were reported in this year’s survey. These included, in addition to the titles one might expect—the Scottish play and comedies like Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and The Taming of the Shrew—challenging work among the histories and tragedies: Hamlet, Henry V, Richard III, and King Lear(!).
On the musical theatre side, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast seems to have taken up permanent residence at the top of the list. It had the highest number of reported productions in the survey for the fourth year in a row.
Dramatics has compiled the production survey based on reports from schools affiliated with the Thespian Society every year since 1938. This year, for the first time, a select group of unaffiliated high schools were also invited to participate. A total of 830 schools responded.
Here are the top tens in each category.
Musicals
1. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Linda Woolverton (MTI)1
2. Little Shop of Horrors, by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (MTI)
3. Seussical, by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (MTI)1
4. Thoroughly Modern Millie, by Jeanine Tesori, Dick Scanlan, and Richard Morris (MTI)
5. (tie) The Wizard of Oz (Royal Shakespeare Company version), adapted by John Kane from the film by Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, and Frank Baum (Tams-Witmark)
5. (tie) Hairspray, by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Mark O’Donnell, and Thomas Meehan (MTI)
7. Guys and Dolls, by Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows, and Jo Swerling (MTI)
8. (tie) The Music Man, by Meredith Willson (MTI)
8. (tie) Bye Bye Birdie, by Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, and Michael Stewart (Tams-Witmark)
8. (tie) You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, by Clark Gesner (Tams-Witmark)
Full-length plays
1. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare (public domain)
2. Our Town, by Thornton Wilder (Samuel French)
3. Almost, Maine, by John Cariani (Dramatists Play Service)
4. Alice in Wonderland, various adaptations
5. You Can’t Take It With You, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (Dramatists Play Service)
6. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller (Dramatists Play Service)
7. Twelve Angry Jurors, by Reginald Rose (Dramatic Publishing Co.)2
8. (tie) Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare (public domain)
8. (tie) Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare (public domain
8. (tie) Arsenic and Old Lace, by Joseph Kesselring (Dramatists Play Service)
Short plays
1. Check Please, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts Inc.)
2. How to Succeed in High School Without Really Trying, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts Inc.)
3. 13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview, by Ian McWethy (Playscripts Inc.)
4. (tie) This Is a Test, by Stephen Gregg (Dramatic Publishing Co.)
4. (tie) I Never Saw Another Butterfly, by Celeste Raspanti (Dramatic Publishing Co.)3
6. (tie) The Actor’s Nightmare, by Christopher Durang (Dramatists Play Service)
6. (tie) Check Please: Take 2, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts Inc.)
6. (tie) Check Please: Take 3, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts Inc.)
6. (tie) Drugs Are Bad, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts Inc.)
10. (tie) The Audition, by Don Zolidis (Playscripts Inc.)
10. (tie) Sure Thing, by David Ives (Dramatists Play Service)
Notes
1. Includes productions of MTI Junior versions of this title.
2. Includes productions of Twelve Angry Men, Twelve Angry Women, and Twelve Angry Jurors.
3. Does not include productions of the full-length version of this title.
