 |
|
The play survey
Dramatics magazine
October 2006 |
|
There is something to be said for consistency. Perhaps that is the moral the 2005-06 International Thespian Society survey of most frequently produced plays by member schools, which looks remarkably like the 2004-05 survey.
The list of the most popular non-musical full-lengths, in fact, includes nine of the eleven plays that appeared on the last survey (which had an extra title because of ties). The Laramie Project and The Importance of Being Earnest have slipped out of the top ten, and The Miracle Worker has returned after a one-year absence, but otherwise only the order is shuffled, and that not very much. The top titles in both the full-length category -- Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream -- and the short play list -- Jonathan Rand's Check, Please -- are unchanged from last year.
The musical list is a little bit more volatile. The Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, which made its debut on the play survey last year at number five, edged out Grease for the top slot this year. Footloose, the Broadway hit based on the 1984 Kevin Bacon dance fest, climbed the charts for the first time ever and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Fiddler on the Roof returned after a brief absence.
Jonathan Rand continues as the big dog in the short play category with three of his pieces in the top ten, including the first two finishers. Competition Piece by John S. Wells and Cut by Ed Monk found their way back into the mix, while Alan Haehnel's 15 Reasons Not to Be in a Play made its top ten debut.
The Thespian Society received responses from 850 of its 3,800 affiliated schools, roughly 200 more than last year. Also worth noting -- student-written and other unpublished plays accounted for nearly 350 of the roughly 1,342 titles recorded.
The top ten full-length plays
1. A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare (PD)
2. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller (Dramatists Play Service)
3. You Can't Take It With You, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (Dramatists Play Service)
4. Fools, by Neil Simon (Samuel French)
5. Rumors, by Neil Simon (Samuel French)
6 (tie). Arsenic and Old Lace, by Joseph Kesselring (Dramatists Play Service)
6 (tie). The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (Dramatists Play Service)
8 (tie). The Miracle Worker, by William Gibson (Samuel French)
8 (tie). Noises Off, by Michael Frayn (Samuel French)
10. Our Town, by Thornton Wilder (Samuel French)
The top ten musicals
1. Disney's Beauty and the Beast, by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Linda Woolverton (MTI)
2. Grease, by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey (Samuel French)
3. Once Upon a Mattress, by Mary Rodgers, Marshall Barer, Jay Thompson, and Dean Fuller (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
4 (tie). Anything Goes, by Cole Porter, Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse (Tams-Witmark)
4 (tie). Seussical, the Musical, by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (MTI)
6. Little Shop of Horrors, by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (MTI)
7. Into the Woods, by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine (MTI)
8 (tie). The Music Man by Meredith Willson (MTI)
8 (tie). Oklahoma!, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
10 (tie). Fiddler on the Roof, by Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock, and Sheldon Harnick (MTI)
10 (tie). Footloose, by Dean Pitchford, Walter Bobbie, and Tom Snow (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
10 (tie). You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, by Clark Gesner and Charles Schulz (Tams-Witmark)
The top ten short plays
1. Check Please, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts, Inc.)
2. Hard Candy, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts, Inc.)
3 (tie). The Actor's Nightmare, by Christopher Durang (Dramatists Play Service)
3 (tie). This Is a Test, by Stephen Gregg (Dramatic Publishing)
5 (tie). All in the Timing, by David Ives (Dramatists Play Service)
5 (tie). Competition Piece, by John S. Wells (Samuel French)
7. Bang, Bang, You're Dead, by William Mastrosimone (bangbangyourdead.com)
8. 15 Reasons Not to Be in a Play, by Alan Haehnel (Playscripts, Inc.)
9. The Least Offensive Play in the Whole Darn World, by Jonathan Rand (Playscripts, Inc.)
10 (tie). Cut, by Ed Monk (Playscripts, Inc.)
10 (tie). Sure Thing, by David Ives (Dramatists Play Service)
Compiled by Jhon Marshall
|
|
|
|
|
