#7. Grease
by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
In a year when most of Broadway's big musicals were either transfers from off-Broadway (see Grey Gardens and Spring Awakening, from last year's list) or campy recylings of old movies (see, if you must, Young Frankenstein and Xanadu), let's give a cheer for this underappreciated revival. Sure, it starred two marginally talented kids (Max Crumm and Laura Osnes) chosen by a TV reality show. But director-choreographer Kathleen Marshall's stylish and happy production demonstrated that, after hundreds of crasser imitations, the original 1950s send-up looks better than ever.