Modern Musicals are Muddied by Millennialism
Two seasons in a row my mom and I got season tickets to the local theatre. It was fantastic! But I noticed a trend with the younger shows... I don't think they'll age well.
It was the end of January in 1929 when St. Louis’ Fox Theatre opened for the first time. It is one of many treasures in the historic area, but a portion of the shows that pass through share more in common with the cultural rubble and daily carnage of the surrounding downtown than they do with the majesty of the theatre itself.
Shows like My Fair Lady, Cats, and even Disney’s The Lion King are classics. They have a richness to them that involves not only cultural touchstones, but a past that crafted them into the wonders that they are. Each is different — the former is quite traditional in a sense, the middle is an experience best for those open-minded or high on some sort of substance, and the latter is a type of show Disney can only dream of replicating these days — but they each stick to a similar set of rules. There are songs as well as exposition. The story is told not only through dialogue and music, but also by the scenes set and the manner in which the actors move about the stage.
In shows of such quality there are moments of silence, purposely placed to build emotions among those attending. The goal is to keep the audience immersed and to not break the believability in the story before them. While I never “got into” theatre myself (outside of considering playing for the pit orchestra), surely knowledge of such tactics was once commonplace and taught to those among the business. Maybe my generation ruined their lessons the same way that ours has ruined other beautiful heirlooms passed on to us: we tried to reinvent the wheel.
Who needs a show with scripted conversations between the characters? Why not just put on a playlist with actors moving about and singing along instead? This seems a trend primarily among the newer shows, as well as breaking the routines for interaction with the viewers in the fourth wall breaking style millennials adore. Examples of such shows would be Hadestown and Six the Musical. I have heard similarly of other more recent shows, including the formerly inescapable Hamilton. I did enjoy Six despite that it is an obvious product of its time; granted, I had been listening to the songs for months in advance and genuinely enjoy most of them. Six the Musical was fun and I found the overlay of modernity to not take too much away from the enjoyment. As with my friends around me and online at the time, I was also rabid for Hamilton and still am a fan of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s work in general. My first two attempts to see the show were to no avail and when I finally had tickets come the third time it was in town, I was too sick to leave bed that day. At another show that season, my mom and I were told by a lady seated in the row in front of us that she was shocked it was nonstop rapping with barely any breathing room. From that and what else I know about it (for example, the diversity among the cast’s appearances) I do not doubt that it is also colored by matters of modern day. Will I eventually watch it via DisneyPlus? Yes, and I still look forward to it too! And then there is the show I mentioned in position of “former” but left til last to touch upon: Hadestown. At some point I will have to hunt it down online and rewatch this show, as much as I still get heated thinking about the terrible time I had throughout it, but now is not the time. Having been the tumblr-ite that I still semi-am, I had heard nothing but fantastic things about this show but it was a massive disappointment and the reasons all tie back into the very present day presentation of it.
Hadestown should have been a good show and very easily could have been. The talent on stage were obviously more than capable of delivering a fantastic show, but I am convinced that it was written so poorly that they simply could not. The musical pieces were, overall, awkward at best and jarring at worst. The inability for the characters on stage to just breathe as it all happened, even in the painfully slow moments, was another symptom of the millennial fill-every-second mentality. Emphasis on emotions was played up in the wrong places, and the lines were poorly structured regardless what setting one wants to cite (be it modernity, the anient Greek source material, or the turn-of-the-century styilstic influence) as it was clunky and incompatible with how real people interact. I so desperately wanted to enjoy this show! It genuinely has potential to be a wonderful experience with the settings and influences and so on!
For a moment, let’s move to another modern show that suffers similarly but not to the same extent: Beetlejuice. A very fun time that included fourth wall breaks — though arguably incorporated them quite well — as well as a revised take on the story and nods to current cultural commentary, it is undoubtedly a child of millennials. The story finds itself retold in a way that is new while retaining the original’s integrity. It still feels like Beetlejuice and is recognizable as such! Almost immediately are social punches which I was willing to forgive at first, as I thought that they would be going for all parties. I found that to overall not be accurate, but it is from the arts scene, so one cannot get too strict on such matters. And then there were moments within the show that reeked of millennial madness. I was rolling my eyes into the back of my head during the bridal scene: Yes, we know that child brides are a bad thing; stop making asides about the arrangement being purely for practical purposes!!! And I was unsure how I felt about the redemption arc that it seemed Beetlejuice was going to get at the end of the show. There is something to be said about the need for a proper villain, a bad guy, and an evil that should be defeated….
Overall it was still fun, although I don’t intend to seek it out again. I felt the same upon leaving the theatre after Tootsie, which was also a reinvigorated form of an older tale. It was not bad, but it suffered from the cosmetics of the current era. Gender politics overran the show, as one can easily imagine it would within a premise based around a man pretending to be a woman. The language — and this is accurate for Beetlejuice as well — was littered with cursing and phrases not as appropriate for younger audience members. While guardians ought determine what is too mature for their children and what is not, I hold that in more regular-type shows there should be some semblance of decency still. Is asking for a little bit of old-fashioned manners too much? For most millennials it is, and that is why I am convinced my generation is the problem with these shows and those of the sort.
Granted, not all newer shows are like this. For example, Disney’s Frozen was exceptional! I enjoyed it so much and maybe a bit more than the movie! What was different about it compared to the other newer shows? Frozen was set and played as a traditional musical. I found Anastasia (which debuted 2016) to be of the same cirucmstance. They may as well have been as classic as the above-mentioned My Fair Lady. Would I rank them as highly as my all time favorite, Beauty and the Beast? Despite the fact I attended showings multiple times throughout my childhood and still treasure it deeply (and Belle, the best princess), I would rather renew myself with a viewing before coming to a conclusion. Of course, I would have to find a classic version of the show to watch rather than another modernized mishandling.
Before I let this topic go for the time being, I do want to touch on one last aspect. I said it at the start: these shows will not age well. The current thing-ism will be out of style as quickly, if not more quickly than, it came into style. The overuse of certain tropes will overall end up boring and annoying to future audiences with exceptions only existing for the rare cases who managed to retain tact in their application of such. I suspect that the use of degenerate linguistics will also lose popularity as folks return to desiring classiness to appreciate and aspire toward. The gender, race, and otherwise “critical” theology? It very well might destroy most of those that genuflect to them. It will not only date the shows but will also create a larger rift for the attendees. Musical theatre is already rather niche in terms of peoples’ interests, but musical theatre from this particular time period will be a nearly nonexistent pool of individuals who could harbor any interest at all. Some could be saved by patrons who wish to resurrect them into something worthwhile, putting them first through show writing purgatory to cleanse of the ideology and habits so clearly of our now.
I do not like the trends that I have been seeing, but like the culture war in its entirety, I also do not believe that it will persist. The trash fire of the culture war is already beginning to run out of fuel, and more and more continue to wake to it and begin beating it away like the alternative firefighters have been doing at larger scale for some time now. The biggest question will be which shows will survive the purge when it comes.
Regardless, take many of the more modern shows with a pinch of salt, but do try to find enjoyment in them when possible. They are merely poor products of their time. The Classics have already stood the test of time and will continue to do so, unable to be outshone for more than a mere moment.