THE 42 MOST IMPORTANT MUSICALS

WHICH MUSICALS MAKE THE LIST? HELP US DECIDE!

In honor of 42nd Street Moon’s 30th birthday, we’ll be spending 2023 sharing with you the 42 Most Important Musicals – and we’d love for you to be a part of this project!

Through February 2023, we’ll be collecting data from artists and audiences alike about which musicals they feel are most important and why. We’ll compile the data and announce the list weekly starting in March, along with nuggets of information about each show.

You can pick as few as 3 musicals or as many as 20 (or more!)! They don’t have to be in any order, but give a brief reason for each selection.

WHAT DOES “MOST IMPORTANT” MEAN?

First, let’s say what “most important” doesn’t mean: it does not mean the greatest or best; the most successful or longest-running; or the best-known or most popular.

An important musical is a show that moves the genre forward in some way: it might be a innovation in storytelling, stagecraft, or design; it might be the debut, the star-making turn, or the career pinnacle of an actor, director, choreographer, composer, or writer; it might be a show that, with the benefit of hindsight, signals “a new era” in the form; or it might be a show that represents the “peak” of an era. (Of course, many of the “important” shows will also be successful or popular or award-winning.)

Please submit your ballot by February 28, 2023. That will give us time to compile the list and start unveiling the week of March 12, 2023. We’ll share the list via TikTok, Facebook, in our e-newsletter, and on this page.

Have fun!