Not so much gut as regular observation of regional and local productions around the country. As an actor and director I am regularly seeing casting breakdowns around America, and reading theater "news", and as a fan I am also fairly aware. By no means scientific, and I'm not basing it off numbers.
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But I do think those 5 shows are his most produced currently and for several years now. While Forum is a popular crowd pleaser... it is not nearly as popular to produce now or in the last 10 years if my observation is accurate. It's not an easy show to pull off and it has a LOT of men, and while the men are broad stroke comedic types, so are the women and there are only really 2 of them so that comes off much worse to today's audiences. I know it's still popular, but I don't think it's nearly as much as it was, and the 5 I listed are now staples of schools, community and regional theaters.
But it's very possible I'm mistaken on 1 or two of them. But of course Into the Woods must be number 1 regardless of whether or not Assassins or Merrily are in the top 5 as I think they are.
I miss the Sondheim Review. I am so lucky it was actively in print (when print was a thing) and curious 13 or 14 year old me could find it on the stand at Barnes and Noble to help fan the flame of my Sondheim obsession. |
