You can hardly throw a stone on the subway platform without hitting a Zaddy right before someone yells at you, “Hey, why are you throwing stones at that Zaddy?”

It is truly the Zaddy Renaissance. A New Zawn, if you will.

Of course, Theatre People have venerated Zaddies for decades. For the uninformed, a Zaddy is an older, attractive, sexy man who looks like he probably has a cedar chest devoted exclusively to shawl collar sweaters and also probably wouldn’t shy away from throwing you around a bit.

My dudes, that’s always been Musical Theatre’s thing. We just called them Baritones. Or Anti-heroes. Or Brian Stokes Mitchell.

As a Theatre Person, I have compiled a definitive ranking of the Zaddies of Musical Theatre. Sources: science, a B.A. and my Dream Journal.