why are some people just unwilling to try out musicals?

I have a lot of friends who don't like musicals, and whenever I'm listening to a cast recording (in my car or my dorm room or whatever) people ALWAYS say "Can we listen to something else?" or "Can we listen to regular music?"

So basically what I'm asking is, why are people unwilling to give Broadway a chance? I get a lot of people who say that they just don't like the style of music, but I think that's kind of bogus because different musicals feature SO MANY different styles of music.

It hasn't always been this way.

Did it change because of the rise of rock music?

And the way musicals are marketed and spoken about in popular culture, practically screams, " If you aren't a middle aged female or a gay male, you aren't supposed to be interested."

It's really weird how Broadway has changed in pop culture. In the 50's, music from Broadway shows were popular music, and almost everything on stage had a movie adaptation. Ever since the movie msuical died out, Broadway seemed to become less popular. Maybe because Broadway was so popular then, people still equate it with that. Many people's idea of Broadway is a character on stage belting out "There's No Business Like Show Business". They don't realize that musical theater has evolved beyond that style of music.

Also I find that a lot of people these days don't really buy the whole breaking into song out of nowhere. When we watched 1776 in A.P. U.S. History, there were a dozen groans everytime another song started.

Updated On: 8/28/06 at 06:43 PM

It is their loss

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"Queendork, that's interesting. What musicals do you like? "

Yeah, I would like to know as well. I don't know what musical's you have seen but, acting in musical's can be just as great as plays.

Honestly I have had a much harder time trying to turn people on to plays. The general public seems to be much more apt to see a musical than sit through a 2 hour Shepard.


And I'm sorry, I am an actor, and I love musicals but I'm definitly in the camp that can't just sit around and listen to them when I'm chilling out all the time. And I certainly cannot work out to showtunes. They have a time and a place and too much will turn anyone off to them. I lived in a theatre dorm and if I had to listen to RENT one more time back then I would have shot someone.

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I know that one of the major reasons that people say they don't like musicals is because it's unrealistic for people to burst into song.

Maybe so. But it didn't suddenly become unrealistic. It was ALWAYS unrealistic, even during the days when both stage and screen musicals were wildly popular.

And when people say bursting into song is fake, I can't help but think that it's no more fake than those death defying escapes made by male protagonists in most action films.

People are simply selective in what types of unrealistic things they'll tolerate.

So why DID audiences turn against musicals anyway?

This writer thinks the times call for MORE movie musicals.

http://film.guardian.co.uk/patterson/story/0,,1852390,00.html

It's sad that people won't give Broadway a chance- they're really missing out.
I do have friends that will ask for different music if I'm grooving to showtunes. I took one of them to see the Rent tour when it came to Boston, free of charge (so if they didn't like it, they wouldn't feel bad about spending the money). Sure enough, I got a call from her a few days later asking about the show. She had looked it up, and had also read about other broadway shows. She now knows the difference between Sondheim, Schwartz, and Webber.

I think that people nowadays just need to be exposed to what is GOOD musical theater, and the many genres of music it contains. There are still a lot of people with the mentality that they hate musicals because they "can't stand that minutes song from the musical about AIDS." So they may not like Rent, but they may like something darker, like Sweeney Todd, etc.. They may not say "WOW, that's really awesome," but they might say "hey, that's not as bad as I thought it would be."

But don't you agree it's never REALLY that style of music. It's a broadway version of it?

The real problem is not people disliking showtunes, it is people refusing to even listen to showtunes. Many non-theater people refuse to listen to any musical theater song because "it is from a musical." However, I am sure there are an equal number of people who change the radio as soon as a rap or country song comes on because they "do not like rap" or "do not like country."

"The real problem is not people disliking showtunes, it is people refusing to even listen to showtunes. Many non-theater people refuse to listen to any musical theater song because 'it is from a musical.' However, I am sure there are an equal number of people who change the radio as soon as a rap or country song comes on because they 'do not like rap' or 'do not like country.'"

But they love it when Gwen Stefani and Jay-Z sample from showtunes. Heh.

Usually in the car I always listen to my iPod. And my friends ALWAYS ask me to change the song if i'm listening to broadway.
Only 1 of my friends actually likes Broadway. So she listens.