Vox on Jukebox Musicals

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 1/5/24 at 8:45am

https://www.vox.com/culture/24010951/sondheim-broadway-musical-theatre-future-jukebox-musicals-mean-girls-hamilton-rent

There's no paywall so you're free to read or skim it. I was entertaining the argument that there are still new musicals and the shows that the shows recouping post-pandemic "represented a range of ideas." And while I think it skimmed over the difficulty of a new composer become the next Sondheim without significant institutional support, sure, theoretically someone could be toiling away and persevering even if they don't always get to stage their work very frequently. But it lost me at the end when the most anticipated shows it could shout out were Hell's Kitchen, Tammy Faye, Cabaret, and The Wiz. 

https://www.broadwaynews.com/the-broadway-league-releases-2022-2023-audience-demographics-report/

Also, actually digging into the statistics complicates the assertions about a younger, more diverse audience returning. "There were 12.3 million admissions to Broadway in the 2022-2023 season, down from the industry’s record-high 14.8 million in 2018-2019." And the average audience age was younger because of a slight increase in the 18-24 range and a significant decrease in admissions for people 65+

The diversity increases seem negligible without seeing the actual numbers. The percentages have barely shifted. "While a direct correlation cannot be attributed, theatergoers who identify as Black made up 5.3% of the audience, a jump from 3.9% in 2018-2019. Asian theatergoers represented 8.9% of the audience, up from 8.6%, while Hispanic/Latin-identifying patrons made up 8.8% of the audience, compared to 8% in 2018-2019. Percentages of audience members who identified as Middle Eastern, mixed race or other remained steady at 1.1%, 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively."

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 1/5/24 at 9:50am

Interesting articles. Jukebox musicals are fine IMO, but I think myself and others think there are too many of them. I have often joked that every pop/rock star seems to either had their own musical or is about to have one about their life.  I may be wrong but the only jukebox musical to win Tony award for Best Musical was "Jersey Boys". There is still decent amount of shows on Broadway with original story and music but their road to success is more difficult without built in audience. 

As for the audience demographic stats, I think the decrease in people over 65 makes sense. They are on fixed income and with inflation everything costs a bunch more. This leaves less money to go out and spend a few hundred dollars seeing a Broadway show. I am not sure why there is slight uptick in non-white theatergoers now, would love to see deeper dive into the reason for it. Do they like Broadway theater more in general or is it just a few more shows appeal to them. In the end any increase is a good thing even if it is slight. 

[George in DC]

Posted: 1/5/24 at 10:50am

Zeppie2022 said: " may be wrong but the only jukebox musical to win Tony award for Best Musical was "Jersey Boys". ."

"Moulin Rouge" though it was for the abbreviated season and I doubt it would have won had all the shows scheduled to open had done so.

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 1/5/24 at 1:19pm

""Moulin Rouge" though it was for the abbreviated season and I doubt it would have won had all the shows scheduled to open had done so"

You are right but my thought was jukebox musical about famous pop/rock star when I was thinking about musicals that won Tony award.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/5/24 at 2:14pm

There's a term for that: bio- musical. (Trying to be helpful, not snarky.)

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 1/5/24 at 2:48pm

George in DC said: "Zeppie2022 said: " may be wrong but the only jukebox musical to win Tony award for Best Musical was "Jersey Boys". ."

"Moulin Rouge" though it was for the abbreviated season and I doubt it would have won had all the shows scheduled to open had done so."

Moulin Rouge won but Jagged Little Pill and Tina were the only other shows nominated that year. There was literally no way around giving the award to a jukebox musical.  

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 1/6/24 at 10:32pm

"There's a term for that: bio- musical. (Trying to be helpful, not snarky.)"

Thanks, appreciate the information.