As another school year wraps up, the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) has released the results of its annual Play Survey! The survey includes the top 10 most-produced musicals and plays (both full-length and short) in U.S. high schools for the 2022-2023 academic year. Over 2.3k responses were recorded.

This school year, MTI shone brightly. We are thrilled to license 7 of the top 10 full-length musicals (two tied for 5^th) , 10 of the 11 (two tied for 7 ^th and 10 ^th respectively) short musicals, and one play ranked among the most-produced full-length plays. All of these shows are nurturing new generations of theatre artists and bringing joy to their communities.

“MTI congratulates the authors and creative teams involved in each of the shows listed on the Most-Performed lists," said MTI President and CEO Drew Cohen. "We especially want to thank the authors and rightsholders of the 18 MTI-represented shows on these list. Along with the many other titles just beyond the top 10 lists, these shows allow MTI to bring to joy of musical theater to more schools around the world than any other licensing company.”

MTI Titles in the Top 10 Full-Length Musicals:

• #2 Mamma Mia! (by Catherine Johnson, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus)
• #3 Into the Woods (by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine)
• #4 Little Shop of Horrors( by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman)
• #5 (tie) Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Linda Woolverton)
• #5 (tie) Disney’s The Little Mermaid (by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Glenn Slater, and Doug Wright)
• #9 Legally Blonde: The Musical (by Heather Hach, Laurence O’Keefe, and Nell Benjamin)
• #10 Mean Girls: High School Version (by Tina Fey, Jeff Richmond, and Nell Benjamin)

MTI Titles in the Top 10 Short Musicals:

• #1 Disney’s Frozen JR. (by Kristin Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, and Jennifer Lee)
• #2 Roald Dahl’s Matilda: The Musical JR. (by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin)
• #3 Disney’s Newsies JR. (by Harvey Fierstein, Alan Menken, and Jack Feldman)
• #4 Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka JR. (by Leslie Bricusse, Timothy Allen McDonald, and Anthony Newley)
• #5 Annie JR. (by Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin, and Thomas Meehan)
• #6 Disney’s High School Musical JR. (by David Simpatico and various composers)
• #7 (tie) Disney’s The Little Mermaid JR. (by Howard Ashman, Glenn Slater, Alan Menken, and Doug Wright)
• #7 (tie) Shrek: The Musical JR. (by David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori)
• #10 (tie) Disney’s The Lion King JR. (by Elton John, Tim Rice, Will Van Dyke, Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Roger Allers, and Irene Mecchi )
• #10 (tie) Seussical JR. (by Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Eric Idle)

We are also delighted that Peter and the Starcatcher (by Rick Elice and Wayne Barker) ranked #7 among the Top 10 Full-Length Plays!

See the full lists and learn more about the Play Survey results.

Do you want to do an MTI show next year? Learn how to get started here and browse our shows or collections to see which one is right for you and your community!