Something Ben Brantly help me realize

I was reading the review by Brantly for Legally Blonde. He made a good point when he spoke about how this show shows that if you have good looks you can do anything and that looks are all that matter. He then compared it to wicked and how all the tween fans of that show were unhappy that the beautiful girl didn't get the guy like in every typical fary tale and how Blonde is the opposite of that.

There was also an article in the current time Time that spoke about how they are making a lot of musiclas that have a fanbase of tweeen girls and that because of shows like wicked, hairspray and now Blonde it has been a favorite actiivity of young girls to go to the theatre when it once wasn't before.

I was wondering something. Do you think that if they made more shows that were male orented that teen guys would start going to the theatre more often. Keep in mind that there were a few articles when Spamalot opend about how it is the first show to have its ticket buyers to be mostly male whereas for other shows it is the other way around.

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When did going to the theatre become a popular hobby for tween girls? Just because Wicked, Hairspray, etc. have a large tween girl fanbase doesn't mean going to the theatre is a popular activity.


And I agree with Cats. Unless Green Day writes a musical (HA!) theatre won't be a popular activity with teen boys.

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Unfortunately, I don't think ANYTHING can get some teen boys into a musical- they think they're too "dorky", "corny", and "gay".

Maybe if they stopped writing shows that were dorky and corny it would attract a larger teen male audience.

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I've actually seen a fair amount of teenage boys at the theater. In RENT there was a whole row behind me, and at Wicked a father and his sons sat in front of me. But, it's just not what a teenage boy is into. I remember when my parents took me, I was like "ugh." But now I beg them to come to shows with me.

There was also an article in the current time Time that spoke about how they are making a lot of musiclas that have a fanbase of tweeen girls and that because of shows like wicked, hairspray and now Blonde it has been a favorite actiivity of young girls to go to the theatre when it once wasn't before.

Well this does explain the general "dumbing down" of nusical theatre! It also explains why highly prised "adult" musicals (COMPANY, GREY GARDENS) are playing to half-empty houses.

Movies have been targeting teen-boys for years..ever since STAR WARS pointed the way to getting them to see it repeatedly. So more and more movies are basically elaborate video games. If they want teen boys to go to Broadway musicals they will have to write a "video game" show with a lot of vioence, hard rock music, explosions and special effects. And who would want THAT???


I think it's great that teen girls (and boys) get exposed to theatre and learn about different ways of telling stories. But why do they just go back and see the same shows over and over? With 30+ shows running on Broadway (and plenty more off-Broadway) why would they just go see WICKED for the 20th time??
And, how to they get the money to support their habit?

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I've loved musical theatre since I was 12. And I'm straight...hard to believe huh? lol.

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I think the problem is that most teenage boys who are taken to musicals are probably taken to something like "Wicked" which likely won't change their perception of what musical theatre is like.

Instead, if you want to make a musical theatre fan out of a teen boy, start with something like Avenue Q or Evil Dead. Maybe follow up with The Wedding Singer, Spring Awakening, We Will Rock You, or Rent. (Any other suggestions?)

Just make sure that the things that really matter in life are represented: Dick and fart jokes, rock music, liberal use of the f-word, sex, chainsaws, spurting blood, etc.

Save Wicked, Hairspray, Mamma Mia and the like for later on when they realize they actually love musicals.

It's fair enough to do this kind of generalising though. The gay male teens are already attending theatre, this thread's about attracting the kind of teen boys who would ordinarily go "oh hells no, theatre is gay!" without actually giving it a chance.

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There are quite a few teenage guys (who otherwise wouldn't watch theatre) who like a few musicals. A lot of guys I know like Avenue Q, Rent, Spamalot, and Chicago.

While none of these guys I know are theatre-loving gay guys, neither are they homophobic sports-loving beer drinking guys. When you think about it, the majority of teenage guys fit into neither category perfectly. I think the reason there doesn't seem to be many stereotypical teenage guys liking musicals is that we're taking the stereotype of the typical teenage boy to the extreme. The same goes for girls too. Maybe it's just where I live, but none of the Wicked and Rent fangirls I know are the stereotypical trendy make-up obsessed girls who have major crushes on Leonardo DiCaprio and want to be like Britney Spears.

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Updated On: 5/1/07 at 09:02 AM

Excuse me, Edmund. But where did I stereotype any male teens as gay? I said "Tons of gay male teens attend the theatre regularly." I didn't say "tons of teenage fairy freak boys attend the theatre reguarly."

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Updated On: 5/1/07 at 09:28 AM

Well, marketing is all about generalizations (that is, "targeting a demographic"). And it's painfully obvious that this particular demo is under-represented in theatre audiences.

Here are a few more generalizations about the teen boy demo:
1) They do not have the disposable income required to buy theatre tickets on a regular basis so they will only be going when taken by their family or as a big date with a girlfriend. (Yes, I'm generalizing that the non-musical-going teen is straight.)
2) They do not know enough about musicals to know which ones would appeal to them.
3) When their parent or girlfriend tells them that they are being taken to Wicked, their response will not be a squeal of delight.
4) They prefer R-rated over PG-13.
5) They think "musical" automatically means G-rated (i.e. they make generalizations of their own).
6) They will not tell their friends that they saw Mamma Mia. If their friends find out they saw Mamma Mia, they will say that they were forced to go and that it sucked even if they loved it.

I think if a parent/girlfriend wants their son/boyfriend to go to musicals with them, they should select their first show carefully. Pick something that will destroy his preconceptions of what musical theatre means.

Also, just about any time I see school groups at an evening show (probably not matinees), the girls look like they are going to their prom and have clearly spent hours during the day getting hair and makeup done. The guys generally look like they just threw on a clean shirt (more in keeping with the rest of the audience), but they stand around the lobby looking sullen as if they've been chastised for not putting in enough effort.

So another generalization: girls like dressing up; boys don't. But theatre-goers aren't expected to dress up to the extent that highschool girls seem to believe.

I think it would be easier to get guys out if they didn't have to dress up at all (and for some shows that's actually the case).