Why Does Everyone Hate Musical Theater? — Page 2

I agree that many people probably don't care for musical theater because they aren't exposed to it.

How can you appreciate something if you never see it?

Also, for some clear-as-mud reason, theatrical communities have decided to reinforce the cultural stereotype that musicals are only for certain people. Straight males are not only not needed at the party, but not wanted. And even though this is frequently stated as a joke, it's still done.

This has not always been the case. During the heyday of movie musicals, there was nothing unusual about straight men seeing musicals on stage or screen. But somewhere along the way, being straight and liking musicals became incompatible.

Do professional sports leagues constantly tell gay males that they aren't supposed to like their sports product? Who cuts themselves off like that economically?

...because people are stupid, uncultured, and unwilling to try anything new.

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"..because people are stupid, uncultured, and unwilling to try anything new."


Well, that kind of attitude is bound to get 'em into the theater.

It's a cultural thing. Back in the day, pop music came from musical theater, and musical theater really wasn't much more than a revue with half dressed girls running around the stage. Also, they didn't have television, and movies were much more stagey (so seeing a movie was like seeing a play). It all kind of happened at once (or over a period of twenty years :P). All of the sudden everybody had a television, movies were becoming more "high tech" and naturalistic, rock music became the new thing with kids and their kids in turn would grow up on different kinds of rock music, and musicals became artsy and started reaching farther (so your brain had to be engaged).

The effect the television has had on the world is enormous, but one of the side effects is that it essentially placed theater in a pocket as a minor entertainment. Also, the theater got more high tech. Prices go up. The theater audience gets older, and even the theater scene changes as it tries to adapt to the new popular culture. There's a funny story about a guy who stepped into West Side Story, probably some tired businessman on his way home from work, who left during the first five minutes when he realized what he was in for. Well, that's what happened. Suddenly the theater wasn't what it used to be, suddenly it either took itself rather seriously or was playing a different kind of music, and unfortunately the only mass audience was one from an older time (which to me explains the immense popularity of shows like Fiddler and Hello, Dolly). Plus, you have to drive to theater. Why drive to the theater when you can sit inside your house and watch your old friend Jennifer Aniston get into some wacky situations? Note that movie theaters are losing a lot of money lately because nobody really goes to the movies anymore.

So people came to regard musical theater as an expensive cultural thing. Maybe you go to NY and you see a Broadway show to say you've seen a Broadway show. To us, Mamma Mia isn't exactly the most intelligent thing we've ever seen, but to the average Joe, hey, that's Broadway, it's high culture. Occasionally a show comes along that for some reason strikes just the right chord with youth culture (HAIR, RENT, Wicked, etc.) or adults (The Producers). But even rock music has evolved through the years. Nostalgia and trends aside, kids don't listen to Elvis en masse. Like anything, Musicals had their day. It's possible that some day they will become a major part of popular culture again, albeit in a dramatically altered form. You know, how the musical is an off shoot of operetta which is from opera... etc. Hopefully the next stage of evolution is NOT the jukebox musical!!

PS: A stage show can never have even a significant percentage of the audience possible for a television show or a movie. Thus why an art flick can still have a bigger audience than a musical (although not nearly as devoted or affected, I would wager). My Fair Lady gave Julie Andrews clout with producers and a small percentage of the population, but Cinderella and Mary Poppins made her a household name. Although My Fair Lady is an anomaly for its time as it was one of the best selling records of the year. Which is weird.

PPS: If a person says they don't understand how people can just randomly break out into song, it's because they are either stupid or unimaginative. I'm not being mean. If you can suspend your disbelief for a music video, you can suspend your disbelief for a musical. It's not exactly a surprise that people on stage are singing. You know that people are going to sing on the stage, they are on a stage, and there is usually a lead up to the song, such as an orchestra lightly playing an introduction underneath. It's just a dumb thing to say.

Again, yet another case of television destroying our imaginations. Television ruined movies, it ruined books, it ruined the theater, it ruins everything~_~

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It's all about what's popular.

People aren't exposed very much to musicals. So every time a good one comes out or shows up on TV, you have a giant hurdle to jump over with the public. It's always perceived as "different" and usually a bit strange. People aren't open to the idea, they have to warm up to it. (Too much work for them, sometimes.)

The most popular film genre of the '30s and '40s was the musical, in fact. They made MGM and the other studios a fortune back then. But they went out of style, as tastes changed and people looked for more realistic entertainment... with the odd movie (Sound of Music, Grease, Chicago, etc.) turning up as a blockbuster, once in a while.

But those are exceptions to the rule. Not the rule. The glory days when America and even Hollywood looked to Broadway for its inspiration are gone now. Broadway is mostly commercial and designed for the masses to enjoy themselves. But don't cry too hard about that. It was the same at the turn of the last century. Hopefully, history will repeat itself. It usually does. I just hope I don't have to wait until 2045 for that to happen.

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I don't think people hate musicals so much as they're just not completely devoted to and obsessed with them. I know many, many people have seen 1 or 2 Broadway shows, really enjoyed them, but simply haven't pursued it any further.

Secondly, quality live theater is hard to come by and can be expensive if you don't know about rush and/or discount codes. If someone only ever sees a crappy high school production of Oklahoma!, he/she might feel as though they "hate" musicals.

That being said, some people just don't like certain things, and that's okay. For example: I don't like mustard. There's no reason; I just don't. Nobody cares and it's fine.

Anyway- I'm okay with the fact that not so many people absolutely love plays and musicals. I feel like they belong to me, and I'm not sure I really wanna share.

Updated On: 11/26/05 at 04:51 PM

That was pretty snobby of me. Oops! I'm really not, but if people don't care, I don't have a desire to force-feed musical theater to them. That's what I really meant.

"A music teacher in my school talked about a good reason for the "hatred" recently. He said it had to do with the "dumbing down" of teenagers, and society as a whole. A lot of people don't care to listen to or watch something that makes them really think. They don't want to search for a meaning, or any type of undertone. They'd much rather listen to rap stars singing about their humps, or punk bands singing about how horrible their life is because they were given a bad haircut."

That is a very smart music teacher! Many more recent musicals actually touch on subjects that makes people think (TTB, Rent, Wicked, heck even Spelling Bee) and I know a lot of people who dont want to be forced to think about some of the issuesthat are brought up in musicals...they would rather ignore them,

And the whole being into musicals makes you gay, I haeve noticed that the straight guys in theater (yes they are actually quite a few!) are the ones that are comfortable with their sexuality don't care what other people think. Too bad most people don't focus on that one!

And they are unrealistic with the breaking into songs...My friend and I do it all the time. And not just songs from musicals but any songs, sometimes even songs that we are completely improvising about the situation. The reason songs exist in musicals is because that feeling/emotion/idea cannot be expressed in words.

The theory about not liking musicals because bursting into song is unrealistic, is so lame. There's no way that James Bond should have realistically survived all the action sequences he goes through. Yet Bond is forever popular.

It just depends on which type of situation you are willing to suspend belief.

And I don't think the lack of interest in musical theater is because all people refuse to think. After all, not all rap or rock is brainless.

People are simply reluctant to embrace the unfamiliar.

I agree with you that the "reality" of it is not the issue, it's the conditioning. People aren't very used to seeing actors burst into song anymore. But they're used to seeing action stars shoot 700 bullets out of a gun and drop 100 feet from the top of a building and land behind the wheel of a car. That's also conditioning.

...But if you ask THEM, they'll tell you that people just don't sing like that in real life.

The reality is that people are more likely to burst into song than they are drop from a building into a car and drive off in it.

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Updated On: 11/26/05 at 05:55 PM

It sure beats going postal.

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It's sad. I know very few people who would appreciate an evening at the theater almost to the point where I'm a little embarrassed to admit I am obsessed with Broadway music, lol. I guess a lot of people our age just don't "get it" and are into rich and famous celebrities...

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