Please Tell Me That Not All Younger Musical Theatre Fans...- Page 3

[Marianne2]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 8:56pm

I don't know where I fit in being 26. But, before I started going to the city frequently to see shows, I really was only exposed to older musicals. My high school did really good productions, and if my mom knew of a movie that me and my sisters should see.

I guess that made me less picky. If a show sounds interesting to me, I'll want to see it, whether it is new or old. I also would not consider myself an expert on any show though.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 8:57pm

I've been tempted to poll BWW boarders on this topic at some point. I may do a survey at some point gauging interest in musical theater history and preservation throughout different age ranges. (And measuring interest in unreleased cast recordings in the same survey)

I think there are two important things to consider:

1. How much of an advocate are you, as an "older" musical theater fan, of musical theater history to the next generation? A big problem of a lot of established organizations is they don't know how, or don't deal with, cultivating a new generation of advocates. Think about what you can do to share your collection or your knowledge with youngsters. They may surprise you by how receptive they are.

2. It takes time to cultivate a cast album collection and develop and discern personal tastes in musicals. I remember having a crazy obsessed Sondheim phase, than a flop phase, than a megahit phase--then a new musical/workshop phase.... now it is all evened out purdy much.

That being said our culture scares me with the way we toss out the old, and don't remain diligent in archiving and preserving the work or our forebears. Do some research! Read a book! Write a book! Write a musical while you're at it! And don't adapt it from a movie from the last decade, please.

Someone said the Golden Age is termed so because it was the era in which the landmark shows were produced and the major talent was working. That's it in part, but I think the 40's through the 60's saw musical theater as a leader in mainstream popular culture. As the counterculture of the 60's took its grip and pop/rock music became the accepted mainstream norm, musicals were forced follow mainstream culture to find audiences well into the 70's and has been that way since.

It still blows my mind that theater music was THE popular music of the time during the Golden Era. With the elimination of televised variety shows and various musical movie bombs a generation was deprived of regular exposure to musicals and that has caused its drop in popularity--in part. Economics don't help neither.

*scurries off to listen to Regina*

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 9:02pm

TheKandyLife -- If you don't care about what we think, or the way we perceive you, then WHY would you want to post anything here?

[eponine88]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 9:26pm

As a 21 year old, I have experienced first hand that most of my peers really do not have an appreciation for musicals written before they were born. This has been the cause of a perpetual state of frustration for me, as most of my favorite musicals (with a few exceptions) were written before I was born. I think many people have already made important points as to why this is, but I just figured I would add my 2 cents to the discussion.

The biggest difference I have seen between young theatre fans who appreciate "old" musicals versus those who only appreciate more recently produced musicals is definitely what they have been exposed to. However, I wouldn't say that this exposure comes merely from what is being produced on Broadway/being converted into a movie musical at the time. I would say that most of what they are exposed to is a result of what the adults who introduce them to theatre- whether it be family members, friends, teachers, etc- push them to try. For example, the teens in the community theatre company that I participated in are much more open to (and even excited about) pre-1980s musicals than members of my theatre group in high school and even people I took theatre classes with at Fordham. In my community theatre, the vast majority of the shows that are produced are older musicals, as the shows tend to bring in an "older" audience. In addition, the adults we worked with always encouraged us to have a well-rounded book with songs from a variety of different periods, forcing us to explore shows we might not otherwise have come across.

On the other hand, most of the musicals I've seen done in my high school and in college have been written much more recently. I don't claim to know what the primary cause for this is, but I have seen several factors at work. Those in charge have always tried to select shows that a high school/college audience would have heard of or would be intrigued by. In turn, the actors involved know that they can get into a modern show using an audition piece from- you guessed it- another modern show. Eventually has eventually reached the point where most of the students in the two specific school groups I worked with have NO real knowledge of shows from earlier periods and just give a stock answer when asked why they don't want to put them on as they have no clue what they are talking about. I'll admit that on a college level there are some "Golden Era" shows that may not seem particularly challenging to the cast or relevant to the audience, but there are plenty more shows which have been dismissed from consideration simply because the board wasn't familiar with them. And with so many modern shows requiring more pop/rock belts than legit/operatic sounds, most theatre students I know have never even thought about working on these different sounds. While I understand that you need to do something that will bring in an audience, I do feel that the fear of not appealing to enough people is creating limitations for students going into theatre (NB I'm sure many high school and college programs are not this way- just speaking to my own experience) In trying to appeal to young theatre lovers, do their mentors limit the expansion of both their knowledge and appreciation for shows that might not initially catch their attention? Is it better to take a risk and challenge youn theatre lovers even though it may turn some people away?

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 9:42pm

I'm 19, and I grew up listening to the classics (Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Bock & Harnick, etc.) because my parents love theater too. I've also been exposed to some great older shows through revivals and things like Encores...I saw the recent revival of Finian's Rainbow 3 times and I loved the Encores productions of Fanny and Anyone Can Whistle, plus one of my first Broadway shows was the revival of The King and I. I love many of the newer shows like Next to Normal and Spring Awakening, but I'll always have a deep love for the things I grew up on like The Sound of Music, The King and I, West Side Story, Fiddler, A Chorus Line, etc. I think a lot of it is just what people are exposed to...a lot of younger people got into Hair because of the revival, just as many younger people love Rent/Spring Awakening/American Idiot/Next to Normal/insert rock musical of choice here.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 9:51pm

I think the thing is that a few more vocal posters who do only seem to like contemporary shows are casting a shadow on the group as a whole.

But I also want to know what you view as "young"? Under 30? Under 21? What?

[boylikethat]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 9:59pm

Like Marianne2, I'm also 26 and therefore don't qualify as quite "young" anymore and also don't know where I quite fit in.

My favorite musical of all time is also a musical that was written before I was born, 'West Side Story'. And as has been said, I think it has a lot to do with the amount of exposure I've had to it. The first time I ever saw the film version was in seventh grade when my math teacher didn't feel like teaching for a couple of days. I immediately fell in love with the film and bought my own copy. This was my entry into the musical world. I promised myself around that same time that if the show was ever revived on Broadway I would do everything in my power to see it. Last year when the revival opened on Broadway, I made my first trip to New York to see it. In the years in between, I did much research regarding the musical and now own the original cast album, the film soundtrack and the revival cast recording. Also in that time I discovered shows like Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed, and composers like Sondheim. This is because these were the shows that were staged at the local high schools here in my community in Washington state, and again, what I was exposed to. This acted as a springboard for me to do further research into musical theater history as a fan and nothing more. I'm actually an English major who works in accounting. Go figure. Yet all of my friends (very few who like or are even familiar with theater) know me as the theater guy. I in turn drag many to their very first shows and constantly hope to convert others into becoming life-long theater goers.

I think the biggest reason many younger fans do not discuss "golden age" musicals is because of their lack of exposure to them and lack of seeing them performed just as part of the reason I don't comment on many threads here is because I myself haven't seen many of the shows being discussed. Even though at fourteen I loved 'West Side Story', it wasn't till after further exposure to other musicals that I really began my own research, and with it, a deeper appreciation of theater history.
Updated On: 7/26/10 at 09:59 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 10:01pm

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in the Showtune Showdown on Seth Rudetsky's Live On Broadway program (Seth was out that week) from Times Square. Anyway, I was up against a musical theater major, so I thought it would be a long day. Long story short, he knew virtually nothing, and I won in a runaway.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 10:07pm

I agree with exposure. If it wasn't for the movie "Oklahoma!" and "State Fair," I probably would have never knew who Rodgers and Hammerstein were since I never saw a play of theirs. I think it's funny when people say "Golden Age," they automatically throw out Sondheim's name. When I hear "Golden Age," I automatically think of R&H, Cole Porter, Lesser, etc. with Sondheim towards the back of the list, since I see him more post-Golden Age since he came into his own at that point. Anywhoo......exposure is key!

[BellatrixxLestrangee]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 10:10pm

I'm 17 and I just got interested in Broadway this winter when I went to go see Wicked. Now, I'm kinda obsessed with it. Although I love shows like Wicked and the Lion King, I agree that they are not the best shows ever. I love anything by Rogers and Hammerstein!

[mybigsplash]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 10:11pm

n/m

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 10:38pm

This has been a fascinating thread and I'm glad it has been mostly civil, too. I was very careful about wording. I have been thinking about this a lot lately but almost lost it the other day when I was looking for Broadway stuff on video and someone had made a "Best Musicals of All-Time" video that featured Wicked, Wedding Singer, and the like. Favorite, sure, but best of all time? I almost cried.

And by younger I mean teens/early 20's, I guess.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 10:44pm

I'm 22. My favorite musicals span a number of years, from Carousel and She Loves Me to The Light in the Piazza.

As for why, I think it's also the style of music. A lot of the new musicals have scores with styles similar to what's popular right now. It may take a while to get into shows with more "legit" scores.

Plus a lot of people just go with what they know. For instance, a lot of Wicked fans love The Last Five Years because of Norbert Leo Butz, but they've never even heard of Parade. despite both being by the same composer.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 11:27pm

Really fascinating thread. Though, to the people who reference "exposure": there are plentiful resources to learn about musicals. Why doesn't it occur to do research older musicals, and read older librettos? Purchase vintage cast albums? Why does one need to be "exposed"?

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 12:12am

I'm eighteen, and I've loved musicals from the time I was basically in the womb. When I was in elementary school, my favorites were Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady, Annie, Brigadoon, and 1776. In fifth grade, my friend showed me the DVD of CATS, and we both became completely obsessed and performed it on the playground every single day, but I still stuck to mostly classic musicals.

While I still love all of those (yes, even CATS, I'm afraid to admit), and Fiddler on the Roof will always be my ultimate idea of a great musical, my favorite musicals nowadays are Les Miserables, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, The Secret Garden, and yes, Beauty and the Beast Phantom of the Opera, and Spamalot.

Obviously, I would never claim to have high-brow tastes at all (though I've loved all Sondheim music I've heard, especially Sweeney, Night Music, Assassins, and Into the Woods), but I like the grand, 'sweeping' sort of scores, which does include many older scores, but in many of those cases, older shows are GREAT fun to watch and act in, but for me, the songs aren't as interesting for me to listen to, and I think it might be because in most older musicals, the songs are often less emotion-based-- there's more dialogue to carry the emotion, and I tend to like musicals that have more music and less dialogue in terms of LISTENING. I prefer to watch older shows like Oklahoma and My Fair Lady, but they don't have a powerful emotional pull over me like, say, Into the Woods, which I couldn't stop thinking of for months afterward.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 12:48am

Schmerg's choice of the word sweeping reminded me of something I love about older musicals that doesn't seem as commonplace anymore: the overture. There have been many many days when all I want to do is listen to overtures. The overtures that were written for shows like Gypsy or South Pacific just don't exist anymore. When a friend and I went to see Finian's Rainbow, she actually turned to me during the overture and said "Oh, there's an overture for this show?"

[chewy5000]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 4:22am

I'm 18 next week. I'd say my main interests lie between the sixties and nineties. Some great things happened then, particularly in the nineties (despite what others think)

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 6:47am

My daughters are 23, 19, and 15, and if asked to name their favorite shows, the combined list would include 1776, Sweeney Todd, Chess, Les Miserables, Fiddler On The Roof, Into The Woods, and A Chorus Line. I feel that qualifies me as a good parent.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:29am

I know that from my drama students that they fall into all sorts of categories: the ones that only know what they've seen, or been in and those that go looking for information...about current happenings, about older stuff, about the composers and book writers, etc. Both sides are just as active in our club and in their commitment, etc.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 8:35am

Well, twinbelters, I actually think it's exactly that...it doesn't occur to people to look into the older musicals. I think there's a misconception that the classics are all hokey or silly (which, granted, some of them are), and I think a lot of people aren't interested in that. Many of my friends who are devoted theater fans don't take it upon themselves to research things they haven't seen, or make it a priority to see the revivals of the classics. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing...there's room for all types of theater fans.

I think that my experience has just been different because my parents and my grandma love theater and they took me to see a wide variety of things when I was young, from Wicked and Beauty and the Beast to Wonderful Town and Annie Get Your Gun, so it was just part of the theatergoing experience for me and I developed a deep love for the older shows when I was very young. Like I said before, I love many of the more contemporary shows just as much as the classics, and I think that both types of shows serve a purpose and be just as engaging and wonderful.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 9:12am

"I feel that qualifies me as a good parent."

And you would be right!

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 9:14am

I was listening to PASSION when I was 15, lol.

[keatyjoe]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 9:48am

I think those that truly love musical theatre will search for classical/golden age shows and indulge in those cast recordings. You can say, to some extent, that the 'newer generation' (including myself, I am seventeen) do not have the exposure to some of the classical shows, but if they truly have a passion or love for musical theatre they WILL seek out other shows. I think it is fair to say that the majority of the newer age musical theatre fans have a 'gateway' musical and more often than not it's Wicked, RENT, or Spring Awakening, however, some of them branch off and find more musicals to love.

I'm rambling, but my overall point: Exposure may play a role in newer generations, however, that is not a valid answer on its own because anyone can easily research shows and still fall in love with one, despite their lack of seeing it.

Also, in the city I live in there is about a handful (maybe about 3 or 4) teenagers still in high school that actually know A LOT about musical theatre and various shows. Not only do we know many classical shows, we are also the first to know about a revival or show coming to Broadway (through BWW or Playbill); and once the show actually opens EVERYONE else is 'in love' with the show and the three or four of us lose interest in the show and move on. I'm not mentioning this to be annoying, I was just curious if any of you feel the same way. I know a few mentioned that you are a part of a small group that actually appreciates musical theatre in your area. Do you experience this type of thing?

Updated On: 7/27/10 at 09:48 AM

[Jewtopia]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 11:10am

I'm 17 and I grew up listening to Showboat, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and Guys and Dolls. Hell, when I was seven I dressed up as the Phantom for Halloween. Hooray for supportive parents!

[claude hooper2]

Posted: 7/27/10 at 11:27am

I just turned 17, and i love shows like Follies, Anyone Can Whistle, Cabaret, Candide, Into the Woods, Flora, and Mack and Mable. I own all the OBCRs, and think the scores are incredible. However, as familiar as i am with the recordings, having never seen a production of these shows makes it difficult to talk about the actual show. i know the music, and I pick up on the plot through the recordings, but I'm still missing that personal element of having seen the show. LIVE theatre requires you to actually see a performance before really knowing all of the aspects of it. Yes, revivals make it easier o become familiar with these shows, but its still hard to participate in threads about shows I've never actually seen.