What exactly makes a musical "underrated"? Perhaps the show, despite reflecting genuine craft, somehow got lost in the dust of another musical that garnered all the attention that season. For instance, Ragtime had the misfortune of premiering shortly before that entertainment monolith, The Lion King. The Full Monty got a bit lost in the dust of The Producers. Other shows, while possessing moments of genius, don't quite add up to a satisfying whole.


Rags and My Favorite Year would clearly fall into this category. 

Some underrated shows are such big blockbusters that the theater insiders dismiss or disdain them, simply because they're popular. I would consider Wicked in this category, although I left it off this list because I felt there were other more obscure shows that deserved to be highlighted. Then there are the shows that were commercial and critical successes in their day, but that have since disappeared, such as Fiorello! and Fanny. 

When I say "attention" or "disappeared," I'm generally referring to regional productions and Broadway revivals. Very few of the musicals listed here make the regular rounds in community, high school, and summer stock theaters, except perhaps for the more adventurous and well-heeled theater companies. I'm also referring to "mind share," as it were. When I talk to my students, young people who have chosen to dedicate their lives to the craft of musical theater, it's rare for any of the shows listed here to come up in our discussions, unless of course I introduce them into the proceedings.

 

Nonetheless, each of the musicals on this list has a tremendous amount going for it. In some cases, the shows themselves are nearly perfect, as is the case with She Loves Me and Nine. In other cases, the shows are severely flawed, but nonetheless contain a great deal of fascinating material: to wit, High Fidelity, The Rink, and Smile. 

No matter what the reason may be that these shows haven't received the attention they deserve, they nonetheless hold many joys for the uninitiated, and even for the cognoscenti. 

1. She Loves Me
2. 110 in the Shade
3. Violet
4. The Secret Garden
5. Adding Machine 
6. Lady in the Dark
7. Nine
8. Falsettos
9. Ragtime 
10. On the Twentieth Century
11. Baby 
12. A Man of No Importance
13. Once on This Island
14. Far From Heaven 
15. Anyone Can Whistle
16. The Baker's Wife
17. Tintypes
18. The Bridges of Madison County 
19. The Cradle Will Rock
20. Bring It On 
21. A Catered Affair
22. Romance/Romance
23. City of Angels
24. A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine
25. Flora the Red Menace
26. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
27. The Full Monty
28. Grey Gardens 
29. A Minister's Wife 
30. High Fidelity
31. Carnival
32. Lost in the Stars
33. Mack and Mabel
34. A New Brain
35. Dessa Rose
36. The Story of My Life
37. Sunset Boulevard
38. tick, tick...BOOM!
39. Fanny
40. My Favorite Year
41. Fiorello!
42. Titanic
43. Smile
44. Is There Life After High School?
45. Coco
46. The Wedding Singer
47. 13
48. Working
49. Xanadu
50. Barnum

Honorable mention (shows that would have made the list if I had expanded it to more than 50): Caroline or Change, The Golden Apple, Assassins, Cry-Baby, A Class Act, The Grand Tour, Dear World, High Spirits, I Love My Wife, The Life, Little Me, Romantic Poetry, Steel Pier, Sugar, Woman of the Year, Triumph of Love, The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, Rags, The Rink, The Kid, Plain and Fancy, Whoop-Up, Murder Ballad, The Memory Show, Nobody Loves You, One Touch of Venus?, The Glorious Ones, Happiness, The Grass Harp