I love going to see musicals. Musical theatre was a huge part of my upbringing, and I have endless respect for those in the profession. However, there are some musicals that I have either seen or heard so many times that I am just so sick of them now. Certain shows are over-performed to a nauseating degree, leaving no space to encourage room for newer, more exciting shows. As a creative person, I firmly believe that both community and academic environments should embrace new musicals as much as we have with older ones. Here are 11 musicals that should be performed more frequently.

1. Bat Boy

"Bat Boy" is a musical based on a National Enquirer story based on a Weekly World News story about a half-human, half-bat creature living in a West Virginia cave. The musical, written by Laurence O'Keefe (of "Legally Blonde" and "Heathers" success), premiered in Los Angeles in 1997, had an Off-Broadway production in 2001. The musical covers a wide range of genres, including opera, rock, rap, and gospel.

2. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," written by David Yazbek and Jeffrey Lane, is based on the 1988 film of the same name. This musical, which is about two con men who try to swindle an heiress out of $50,000, ran on Broadway between 2005 and 2006. The score is heavily influenced by jazz and big-band music, and is chock full of spectacular ensemble numbers.

3. Zombie Prom

This 50s-inspired musical tells of a girl whose boyfriend resurfaces as a zombie after committing suicide by jumping into a nuclear power plant. Chaos ensues when the press pursues the teenage zombie as the freak du jour. This show had an Off-Broadway run in 1996, and was made into a short film starring RuPaul.

4. Urinetown

"Urinetown" is a dark comedy that parodies corporations, bureaucracy, and capitalism. In this musical, a twenty-year drought has rendered a town's private toilets useless, and citizens must pay for public restroom use. The music is a tribute to musicals such as "The Threepenny Opera" and "Les Miserables," combining jazz with pop-opera elements from the 80s.

5. Songs for a New World

Although not a traditional musical, this musical revue has garnered a large following in the musical theater world. This abstract musical's story consists of four actors who play different characters with progressively evolving story arcs. The show's most famous number "Stars and the Moon" has been covered by six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald and YouTube star Colleen Ballinger.

6. Ruthless!

This off-Broadway show is about a girl who would kill (literally) to play the lead in her school's musical. The musical's original 1992 production marked the New York debuts of Laura Bell Bundy, who would later score a Tony nom for "Legally Blonde," and her understudy, future pop star Britney Spears. Loaded with a dysfunctional family of characters and an outrageous drag role, "Ruthless!" remains an underrated gem.

7. [title of show]

[title of show], a musical about writing a musical, premiered off-Broadway in 2006 and transferred to Broadway in 2008. The cast consists of a composer, an author, and their two actress friends trying to write a musical in three weeks for the New York Musical Theatre Festival.

8. Aspects of Love

"Aspects of Love" by Andrew Lloyd Weber premiered on West End in 1989 and transferred to Broadway the next year. The musical's story takes place over 17 years, and concerns love between couples, parents and their children, and alludes to same-sex relationships, too. The musical's most famous number is "Love Changes Everything."

9. The Wild Party

Andrew Lippa's version of "The Wild Party" premiered in New York in 1997, and ran off-Broadway in 2000. The story, adapted from Joseph Moncure March's narrative poem of the same name, is about a vaudeville performer who throws a party full of sex and booze. The Original Cast Recording featured Idina Menzel and Julia Murney, who would both eventually play Elphaba in "Wicked."

10. Altar Boyz

"Altar Boyz" premiered at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2004, and ran off-Broadway from 2005 to 2010. The musical is a parody of both the boy band explosion of the late 1990s and the perception of Christian music in the American mainstream.

11. The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown

"The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown" ran at the Godspeed Opera House in 2011. The musical is about a 12th grader, Samantha Brown, who is about to leave for college and come to terms with her last year of high school. The show's most famous number "Run Away With Me" has been covered by Aaron Tveit and Jeremy Jordan.