Fake Theatre Kids

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 8:50pm

I hate to call people fake to mean they're lying or disingenuous 

Usually if somebody's fake they are actually entirely confident that they're real 

Here are some of my favorite/least favorite kinds of "fake" or "surface level" theatre kids

1: The kind who don't like musicals

2: The kind who only like Disney musicals

3: The kind who think that the talented people aren't that much better than them and that they'll surely get a lead by singing in a Beetlejuice voice

4: The kind who don't know who Stephen Sondheim is 

5: The kind who literally say that they don't want to ever watch any musical 

6: The kind who only like three of the following shows and no other musicals: Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Heathers, Beetlejuice, Ride the Cyclone, Mean Girls, and Be More Chill (and some of those are great shows but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) 

And, yes, when I was in high school, even in my very small drama department, I met a lot of people who were all of those. I think that a majority of "theatre kids" fall into the sixth one. I wish all theatre kids were like the ones from the new Theatre Camp movie with Ben Platt. 

What are some of your favorite fake theatre kids or stories about them? 

Note to autocorrect: Theatre is not just the British spelling of theater. Ask the American Theatre Wing and they'll tell you: It refers in American English to the art form of live stage performance

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 9:35pm

#1) You can train your autocorrect to not correct "Theatre"

#2) Are you a child or middle aged? Either way, this is embarrassing. I suggest you grow up and let people enjoy things how they like to enjoy things. 

Updated On: 12/5/23 at 09:35 PM

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 9:41pm

I don't have any issue with people enjoying things differently from me, I just find it pretty funny how they call themselves theatre kids mostly

Although you are correct that I am very petty and immature 

It's a consequence of being highly opinionated and unsuccessful, I think

Y'know posting stupid things on the internet

I do apologize if I made you upset, though

I will say though-- I was friends with every kind of person I listed and at some point or another fulfilled most of those things 

I don't like to make fun of things unless I myself have been through them

I actually am neither a child or middle aged, though I will say those are both very good guesses

[QueenTwinnied]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 10:04pm

Truly one of the most unhinged posts I’ve ever seen here. You should really get a journal 

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 10:14pm

QueenTwinnied said: "Truly one of the most unhinged posts I’ve ever seen here. You should really get a journal"

I get that a lot. The really shocking thing is that I do have a journal. ... And there's no real reason not to write these things in a journal instead. I'm certain you've seen more unhinged though. I do get called unhinged very often, though. 

Edit: I'm looking at all of this now and realizing I'm pretty crazy

Updated On: 12/5/23 at 10:14 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 10:24pm

High schoolers are annoying. Glad you’ve realized that. Time to move onto the myriad of problems you will face as an adult. 

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 10:31pm

Kad said: "High schoolers are annoying. Glad you’ve realized that. Time to move onto the myriad of problems you will face as an adult."

Thank you, Kad, for changing my entire way of life

Now, instead of dwelling on high school because of some vague thing I will actually always think about how to be an adult and not fall into the stupidest dumbest habits imaginable 

By which I mean I actually should think about doing that

...

Wow on any other forum people definitely wouldn't say something like "time to move onto the myriad of problems you will face as an adult." It is time, though. Thanks for saying that, it's equally sassy and somehow more concise when compared to what I think most people would tell me 

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 1:34am

For the first time since joining these boards in 2016, I actually don't know what to say.

[tacotheatrelover]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 1:51am

Kad said: "High schoolers are annoying. Glad you’ve realized that. Time to move onto the myriad of problems you will face as an adult."

As a high schooler, you're right. I saw a kid beat the **** out of another kid because for nagging for three dollars yesterday at my school. This is why i don't talk and see musicals, watch anime, play video games, and stalk the Broadway world message boards. (Yes, I'm a nerd, i am well aware.)

[baritonewithtenortendencies]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 8:02am

tacotheatrelover said: "Kad said: "High schoolers are annoying. Glad you’ve realized that. Time to move onto the myriad of problems you will face as an adult."

As a high schooler, you're right. I saw a kid beat the **** out of another kid because for nagging for three dollars yesterday at my school. This is why i don't talk and see musicals, watch anime, play video games, and stalk the Broadway world message boards. (Yes, I'm a nerd, i am well aware.)"

I was also like that, for better or worse

Sometimes I was that kid getting beaten up 

This kind of dumb thing is all that I had in high school and I don't have my school email anymore so recently I made a new account and have been trying to forget about adulthood

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 9:39am

You aren't talking about fake theatre kids; you are talking about inexperienced theatre kids. They are young. They have not yet seen, heard, nor read enough to be at the level that you think these kids should be. Either they will grow and change, or they will lose interest and move on entirely. Rather than complaining, take the time to NICELY educate.

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 9:54am

No one gets to call someone else a "fake" theater fan. That's stupid, I'm sorry, but it is. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 12:54pm

I know engaging with this is absolutely pointless, but I'd point out that point number 1 absolutely invalidates anything else. I know many people who've been working in the industry for ages who don't like musicals. Not liking musicals does not make someone a "fake theatre kid" in any way whatsoever. 

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 1:42pm

FAKE THEATER KIDS!!!

[emlo99]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 2:00pm

As a recent high school grad, I was definitely number 6. And even the popular kids quoted Hamilton. Although, I befriended this kid who thought Lestat was the pinnacle of theatre and scoffed at those who only like DEH and Hamilton, so, pros and cons.

Updated On: 12/6/23 at 02:00 PM

[schubox]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 2:14pm

I'm glad I aged out of caring about other people and what thy like or pretend to like. Who cares?

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 4:07pm

OP I think I'm a little confused about what you're hoping to get out of this thread?  Are you trying to commiserate with other people who feel the same way or just point out a trend you're seeing?

I do agree that a lot of these points ring true for many people in the high school age or who are just getting into theater (whom we should embrace because we need more younger people in the theater), and it frustrates me slightly when they write off R&H or other Golden Age shows as "just for old people", but hey, they're still learning, and it's nice to see high profile revivals like Falsettos and Music Man and Merrily bringing more of them into the fold.

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 4:24pm

The Broadway show that got me into theatre was Hairspray; I first saw it as a teenager in 2006. I was told my musical tastes were poor and I should “learn about Sondheim”. Well - my first Sondheim show was SITPWG in 2008 at Studio 54. I hated it because at the time, I was into FUN musicals (Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Spring Awakening, Wicked). Now, as an adult, I have been exposed to all types of shows (I’ve seen close to 200 different shows) and I still prefer and love big, flashy, fun musicals over Sondheim. With that said, I do appreciate all he has done for musical theatre and I greatly enjoy a majority of his work (this year alone I have seen Sweeney Todd, ITW on tour, Merrily, and Company on tour). But no one should be thought of as lesser than based on their theatre likes and dislikes. 

Updated On: 12/6/23 at 04:24 PM

[baritonewithtenortendencies]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 5:29pm

chrishuyen said: "OP I think I'm a little confused about what you're hoping to get out of this thread? Are you trying to commiserate with other people who feel the same way or just point out a trend you're seeing?

I do agree that a lot of these points ring true for many people in the high school age or who are just getting into theater (whom we should embrace because we need more younger people in the theater), and it frustrates me slightly when they write off R&H or other Golden Age shows as "just for old people", but hey, they're still learning, and it's nice to see high profile revivals like Falsettos and Music Man and Merrily bringing more of them into the fold."

I think that the original poster probably clings to some kind of experience of feeling like they were too much of a nerd for even the theatre kids

And therefore is using this platform in adulthood to seek some kind of community of people who actually know about things they know 

And is doing it in quite possibly the least effective way

[pmensky]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 6:05pm

This made me miss Vanessa Bayer’s recurring portrayal of Jacob, the Bar Mitzvah boy, who would visit SNL’s Weekend Update to share lists of holiday related traditions and his experiences and opinions related to them. I think we need an angry theatre kid character to do a dramatic reading of the OP. Where is Jesse Tyler Ferguson when you need him? 

[baritonewithtenortendencies]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 6:58pm

pmensky said: "This made me miss Vanessa Bayer’s recurring portrayal of Jacob, the Bar Mitzvah boy, who would visit SNL’s Weekend Update to share lists of holiday related traditions and his experiences and opinions related to them. I think we need an angry theatre kid character to do a dramatic reading of the OP. Where is Jesse Tyler Ferguson when you need him?"

I'm ammending my theory:

The original poster is actually posting rejecting SNL concepts 

That or they're playing a character of exactly what you just described and this is like some elaborate ploy 

[dearalanaaaa]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 7:39pm

Okay, now that you've identified the "issue," what can you do to solve it? Nothing? Become a teacher? This is so mean-spirited, new theater people are in their prime to be exposed to "high art" shows like Sondheim, recent Tony winners (Band's Visit, Akimbo), and in general we need to foster and nurture their love for theater instead of shame it. Hell, I started as a person who only knew Wicked, Hansen, and Be More Chill. Then I listened to Bare, Falsettos, and Come From Away and realized how much I was missing. 

Also, not every theater kid needs to like musicals? If anything, people who read plays are few and far between, and it's wonderful that they find joy in the art through words on a page and their imagination. People who think like you are why theater is having difficulty finding a wider audiences, it's art and it shouldn't be gatekept from anybody (unless they're poor audience members, but if they never were willing to get into the seat and support the art form, it's not a net loss)

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 8:18pm

I don't even know why I'm jumping into this thread because it's so bizarre. But most of us started our theatre fandom with pretty basic and mainstream tastes. You can't blame high school students for what they don't know. If Wicked or Disney musicals or Be More Chill is the gateway to a more diverse palette of tastes, there's nothing wrong with that.

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 12/6/23 at 10:59pm

dearalanaaaa said: "Okay, now that you've identified the "issue," what can you do to solve it? Nothing? Become a teacher? This is so mean-spirited, new theater people are in their prime to be exposed to "high art" shows like Sondheim, recent Tony winners (Band's Visit, Akimbo), and in general we need to foster and nurture their love for theater instead of shame it. Hell, I started as a person who only knew Wicked, Hansen, and Be More Chill. Then I listened to Bare, Falsettos, and Come From Away and realized how much I was missing.

Also, not every theater kid needs to like musicals? If anything, people who read plays are few and far between, and it's wonderful that they find joy in the art through words on a page and their imagination. People who think like you are why theater is having difficulty finding a wider audiences, it's art and it shouldn't be gatekept from anybody (unless they're poor audience members, but if they never were willing to get into the seat and support the art form, it's not a net loss)"

I am so sorry for coming across as mean spirited. I have no right to deny others their methods of enjoying things, even if they seem crazy to me. People think it seems crazy that I actually like opera and it makes me feel rotten. It's not any different. The only differences is that I'm posting anonymously as an adult in a spiteful and clearly unnecessary way. I do want to answer one of your rhetorical questions and say I do plan on becoming a drama teacher, though I'm not exactly of the age yet that I want to work a job like that. I also think maybe I need to let go more of my own high school experience before deciding to tackle a whole other, much more difficult one. And honestly I don't even think that I can fix the problem. My plan probably consists of showing them things I like that they don't get and scaring away half the kids. Assigning and teaching things that they've never seen before. Taking on more than I can handle. A huge vanity project. I think that, in order to actually pass on the love of theatre, I need to find a balance that I don't think I'm anywhere close to finding. I think that in venting my frustrations in the original post I've revealed a fundamental flaw I have: when I'm unable to make somebody agree with me, I somehow think it must be something wrong with their perspective that prevents them from seeing things that I think are just great. And you're correct that theatre kids who like plays are exceedingly rare, even I didn't get into plays until I found Harvey Fierstein, which I found him through La Cage Aux Folles, which is a musical, and a relatively mainstream one at that. And I honestly did start out with the usual suspects of Hamilton and Heathers. Of course, I heard Book of Mormon and then got obsessed with Andrew Rannells. And in a very roundabout way one of my friends guided me to Falsettos and I think now that twenty nine out of my top thirty musicals were written by Jews and twenty of those twenty nine were written by specifically gay Jews. I appreciate what you're saying and will take it into account in attempting to further myself and perhaps become a less mean spirited person. And most of all... I agree that we can use all the people filling seats we can get. Theatre is an art form that is unkillable but very rarely profitable, and even other theatre kids see people like me who would rather see a small community show than go to any concert of sports game as extreme and strange. I think the reality of my frustration with "fake" theatre kids is not that they're fake but rather that I'm just so convinced that I'm the grandmaster know-it-all of the theatre realm who understands every single lyric in Sunday in the Park with George and listens to weird stuff nobody's even heard of like Mail by Michael Rupert that people just enjoying something passively seems intimidating to the construct I've built around my obsessive passion for an art form that ultimately I find myself only deterring others from. If you read this, I apologize for writing something so long and so incredibly personal and not even appropriate for a forum. 

[Rainah]

Posted: 12/7/23 at 1:45am

As far as I'm concerned fake theatre kids don't exist, because pretending to be a theatre kid is the most theatre kid thing you can possibly do.

Being really into theatre is cringe. You're cringe, I'm cringe, we're all cringe, who cares? Who cares if your favourites are slightly less cringe to a disconcerting ear? To an outsider it's all equally embarrassing. Enjoy it anyway.