Poll Results: Voters Think MATILDA's 'Miss Trunchbull' Is the Absolute Worst

For a story to really crackle, it needs opposing forces: the hero and the villain. Broadway gets a rap as the purveyor of sunshine and rainbows, a place where people burst into song and dance on a whim. But where you have light, you also have shadows. And it's that darkness that keeps an audience cheering for the protagonist -- and maybe even occasionally rooting for the bad guy.

Think of Into the Woods, The Little Mermaid and Annie's witchy ringleaders, Matilda's one-of-a-kind, shot-putting terror, The Lion King's power-hungry but cowardly killer, and the thieves and the beggars of Les Mis and Oliver. The many scoundrels of Broadway come in all guises but often with a similar goal: to come out on top.