What happened to Broadway's teenagers?

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 7:49pm

Don't get me wrong, I love the adults on the Broadway stage, and even the kids. But what's happened to the teenage parts on Broadway? Regardless of whether it's a teenager playing it or an older actor playing down, they seem to be a rarity, as they always seem to have been.

I think of Bye Bye Birdie especially, as well as The Music Man, Annie, and others. Teenagers were a gigantic part of Birdie, and even if they weren't playing their own age, the parts were meant for that age group.

I don't refer to the children -- i.e. the little ones in Chitty, Mary Poppins, Lestat, Tarzan, Lion King, or Beauty -- but to the good ol' teenage kid.

What's going on?
Updated On: 6/2/06 at 07:49 PM

[Over the Moon]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 7:51pm

I agree!!!! MAKE MORE MUSICALS WITH TEENAGERS!!!!

[mijofly19]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 8:19pm

I didn't see Lestat, but wasn't Allison Fischer around 17? She was playing a young part, but she's still a teenager.

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 8:24pm

Yes, Allison is seventeen. I don't know what the original poster was referring to; maybe the fact that she was PLAYING at 10 year old?

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 8:31pm

Teenage Parts?
Hairspray has a lot of them.

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 8:36pm

I think that part of the reason for so many 20's-ish actors playing teenage roles is that it would just be too hard for everyone involved to have an ensemble full of teens. Juggling an eight-show week with school and just trying to be a normal person would be hell. Also, isn't there some kind of law about this?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 8:38pm

Actually, there are only a handful of Broadway musicals that feature large teenage roles: The ones you mention: BYE BYE BIRDIE, HAIRSPRAY, THE MUSIC MAN, etc. Also, INTO THE WOODS, WEST SIDE STORY and I'm sure a few others that other people will mention.

It's arguable that shows like ANNIE and PETER PAN and THE SOUND OF MUSIC feature childrens roles that are cast older (occassionally by teenagers).

Some shows like GREASE are about teenagers, but cast much older actors as part of the style of the show.

So basically, I'm not sure what your arguement is. Its not like in the 50s and 60s, people were writing lots of Broadway musicals starring teenagers and now they've stopped.

[WiiCKED x3]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 8:43pm

I was just thinking about this before.

Make more teenage parts!

[west end artist1]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:28pm

erm broadway doesnt seem to like them

fame ,footloose,good vibrations,sat night fever etc

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:30pm

Who were the teenagers in GOOD VIBRATIONS, SAT NIGHT FEVER, etc?

Most of the time, even when a role is a teenager, it's played by an adult.

I agree with Michael Bennett...I'm not sure what the complaint is - it's not like there were hundreds of teenage roles, now nothing...

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:30pm

Eponine and Cosette are technically teenagers, although whenever they seemed to cast actual teens, they didn't last too long...

[west end artist1]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 11:05pm

ok well from been in footloose ,fame and having freinds in fever i can tell you right now they are lots of teenagers in them.
i was 18,19 when i did fame(granted i did it at 23 as well)
and yes now im 26 and doing footloose but they are at least 6 members of the company under 20

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 11:10pm

Are you really in the West End? Because that would actually illustrate a good difference between Broadway and UK theatre. I believe UK students graduate "high school" at 16, and its not at all unusual to see 17-19 year olds in the ensemble of West End shows.

American labor laws have strict rules about people under 18 performing on Broadway - it's almost unheard of to see a teenager on a New York stage unless they are playing a child. In fact its very rare to see anyone under 21 on Broadway.

[west end artist1]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 11:22pm

yes ive been doing musicals since 18 and im 26 now.
Wow i diddnt know that about the laws over there ive never ran in to anything like that here x

[tmz814]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 12:11am

They usually cast older actors anyway for teenage parts, so I guess it doesn't really matter. I have a good friend who got lots of parts when he was little, but once his voice changed everything stopped. They still tell him he is really good, but they cast someone who is 20 or older to play the part. He is just waiting it out right now (he's 16) till he is "old" enough to play some of the "teenage" parts.

[CenterStage3]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 12:31am

The Woman in White had a 13 year old girl playing the Corn Dolly Girl part but when it transferred to Broadway they cast an adult. The West End shows seem to stay true to the actual ages when casting children.

[GClef2]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 1:24am

I am still confused as to why Allison Fisher played a ten year-old. I mean she is talented, but does not look/act/sing like a ten year old. Her understudy, however, was quite convincing as a child.

[flirtandflounce]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 1:50am

Did Allison's standby ever even go on while the show was on Broadway?

[BluCat500]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 1:52am

Feeling Electric has two killer teen roles, although the workshop was cast with early twenty somethings.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 1:59am

flirtandflounce, yes, she did.
http://forum.lestatmusical.com/index.php?gettopic=543

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 2:50am

See, though, this is my problem. There are all these 'teen' roles mentioned, but there are hardly teenagers playing them. I understand school and all, but I'm just quite surprised that I haven't seen too many on in the past years.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 8:49am

ok well from been in footloose ,fame and having freinds in fever i can tell you right now they are lots of teenagers in them.
i was 18,19 when i did fame(granted i did it at 23 as well)
and yes now im 26 and doing footloose but they are at least 6 members of the company under 20

So how much school did you miss exactly?

Updated On: 6/3/06 at 08:49 AM

[tmz814]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 10:44am

"I am still confused as to why Allison Fisher played a ten year-old. I mean she is talented, but does not look/act/sing like a ten year old. Her understudy, however, was quite convincing as a child."

Allison had been involved in all the workshops of Lestat. I think they stayed with her since she had been involved from the beginning and could still technically play the part (she didn't look too old). Also, I think they were concerned with having a younger actress not be able to portray the idea of being a 40 year old woman trapped in a child's body.

Her understudy was 12, I think, and was taller than Allison. I heard she did a good job, but I am not sure how much she looked like a ten year old either.

[west end artist1]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 7:29pm

well how much school did you miss exactly

erm none we finish school at 16 and i was at a stage school

[gustof777]

Posted: 6/3/06 at 7:49pm

There are lots of shows that have teens as characters...JRB has his new show "13" about Teen girls...Brian Lowdermilk had a peice about a teenage girl and Michael Arden's Easter Rising has a teenage sidekick. Speaking of Michael Arden...BARE was almost all teens