Over the past few weeks, followers of the Broken Legs Blog Instagram page have been voting for their favourite contemporary musical (defined as those first staged after the year 2000). In the opening round, a shortlist of 32 different musicals were randomly paired up to face-off against each other for a place in the final 16. These featured some well-known West End stalwarts, such as “Wicked”, “Hamilton” and “The Book of Mormon”, alongside lesser-known musicals that have premiered more recently, such as “Titanique” and “Two Strangers (carry a cake across New York)”.
The initial heats threw up some fierce competition, with some favourites being knocked out early, including “Matilda” (losing out to “Wicked” with 46% of the vote), “Back to the Future” (losing to “Dear Evan Hansen” with 42% of the vote) and “Kinky Boots” (knocked out after receiving 47% of the vote against “Shrek”). Some surprising results included “Operation Mincemeat” beating Disney behemoth “Frozen” with 59% of the vote, and “Two Strangers” knocking out “The Book of Mormon” with 67% of the vote.
It was battle of the high-rises as “In the Heights” saw off tough competition from “Standing at the Sky’s Edge” with 52% of the vote, whilst new musicals “Why am I so single?” and “Titanique” fared less well (the former receiving 38% of the vote against “& Juliet”, whilst the latter a measly 24% against “Heathers”). Further casualties came from “School of Rock” (36% against “Hadestown”) and “Waitress” (42% against “Hamilton”), two musicals that could have fared a lot better in the competition had they not received these unfortunate opening round pairings. The worst score of the opening round went to “Hairspray”, receiving just 21% against “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”.
The second round got off to a similarly competitive start, with “Wicked” being knocked out to “Come From Away” with only 32%. Six and Legally Blonde had easier routes to the final 8, with “Six” receiving 79% of the vote (against “The Addams Family”) and “Legally Blonde” receiving 75% of the vote (against “& Juliet”). Two newer musicals fought a close battle, with “Operation Mincemeat” knocking out “Two Strangers” with 59% of the vote. “Dear Evan Hansen”, despite being a divisive musical, was able to see off competition from Lin Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights”, taking 60% of the vote. Despite it being a lesser known musical, “Groundhog Day” won 61% of the vote, knocking out “Shrek” (which is probably more beloved as a film rather than as a musical). Perhaps the biggest shock of the second round was the fact that Lin Manuel Miranda’s other masterpiece, “Hamilton”, also bit the dust, losing out to “Hadestown” which took 58% of the vote.
In the quarter-finals, “Hadestown” had an easier route to the next round, facing “Groundhog Day”, which, whilst still an incredible musical written by Tim Minchin, played only a limited UK run and is perhaps not as well known compared to the other seven musicals still in at this point. The other three matches were much more interesting competitions, with “Legally Blonde” narrowly missing out to “Dear Evan Hansen” (who won with just 56% of the vote). “Heathers” beat relatively new-kid-on-the-block “Operation Mincemeat” with 62% of the vote (it would be interesting to see if “Operation Mincemeat” fairs even better in this type of competition after next year’s UK tour). “Come From Away” scored a potentially shocking victory over the much-loved musical “Six”, taking 63% of the vote.
The semi-finals were two tightly fought contests. Pasek and Paul’s “Dear Evan Hansen”, which explores the story of teenage Evan who finds himself wrapped in a web of lies after the suicide of schoolmate Connor, missed out to Come From Away, which took 59% of the vote. Based on the 80s film of the same name, and telling the story of a high school clique that takes a murderous turn, “Heathers” has a strong fanbase but was unable to conquer “Hadestown”, which took 56% of the vote.
Things could not be closer for the final, which remained neck and neck throughout the 24 hour voting period, before “Hadestown” took the win with 53% of the vote. “Come From Away” tells the story of those stranded in Newfoundland after the tragic events of 9/11 sees American airspace closed. This uplifting musical has toured the UK several times, and has recently become available for amateur productions. Our victor, “Hadestown”, written by Anais Mitchell, reimagines the Greek myths, telling two intertwined love stories, that of Hades and Persephone, and Orpheus and Eurydice. Each cast brings a freshness to the musical, as singers perform in their original accents, making every iteration feel new and exciting. The original Broadway cast recently reprised their roles in the West End for a pro-shot, with a cinema release expected later this year. “Hadestown” still feels relatively unknown to non-musical theatre fans, but expect to hear more and more from this musical – it’s a sad song, but they’ll keep singing it again and again and again.
The Results in full:
Heats:
Heat 1: Matilda (46%) vs. Wicked (54%)
Heat 2: Come From Away (70%) vs. Avenue Q (30%)
Heat 3: Mrs. Doubtfire (44%) vs. The Addams Family (56%)
Heat 4: Six (62%) vs. Mean Girls (38%)
Heat 5: Frozen (41%) vs. Operation Mincemeat (59%)
Heat 6: The Book of Mormon (33%) vs. Two Strangers (67%)
Heat 7: Hairspray (21%) vs. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (79%)
Heat 8: Heathers (76%) vs. Titanique (24%)
Heat 9: Back to the Future (42%) vs. Dear Evan Hansen (58%)
Heat 10: Standing at the Sky’s Edge (48%) vs. In the Heights (52%)
Heat 11: & Juliet (62%) vs. Why am I so single? (38%)
Heat 12: Be More Chill (33%) vs. Legally Blonde (67%)
Heat 13: Shrek the Musical (53%) vs. Kinky Boots (47%)
Heat 14: Something Rotten! (46%) vs. Groundhog Day (54%)
Heat 15: School of Rock (36%) vs. Hadestown (64%)
Heat 16: Waitress (42%) vs. Hamilton (58%)
Final 16:
Match 1: Wicked (32%) vs. Come From Away (68%)
Match 2: The Addams Family (21%) vs. Six (79%)
Match 3: Operation Mincemeat (59%) vs. Two Strangers (41%)
Match 4: Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (32%) vs. Heathers (68%)
Match 5: Dear Evan Hansen (60%) vs. In the Heights (40%)
Match 6: & Juliet (25%) vs. Legally Blonde (75%)
Match 7: Shrek the Musical (39%) vs. Groundhog Day (61%)
Match 8: Hadestown (58%) vs. Hamilton (42%)
Quarter Finals:
Quarter final 1: Come From Away (63%) vs. Six (37%)
Quarter final 2: Operation Mincemeat (38%) vs. Heathers (62%)
Quarter final 3: Dear Evan Hansen (56%) vs. Legally Blonde (44%)
Quarter final 4: Groundhog Day (20%) vs. Hadestown (80%)
Semi finals:
Semi final 1: Come From Away (59%) vs. Dear Evan Hansen (41%)
Semi final 2: Heathers (44%) vs. Hadestown (56%)
Final:
Come From Away (47%) vs. Hadestown (53%)
We will shortly be starting a competition to discover the Best Classic Musical (those that originally premiered pre-2000). Follow us @BrokenLegsBlog on Instagram to join in!
Tom Morley, June 2025
Broken Legs Blog 