~ Unit 11 essay ~

Should musical theatre be more valued as a genre of theatre?

There is a lot of stigma around musical theatre within the theatre industry, with it often being viewed as a subgenre of theatre and met with critical disdain. Many people seem to believe that musical theatre is simply singing and dancing when it is so much more. Of course, like plays, musicals are a source of entertainment, although they can feature complex storylines and tackle serious issues while raising questions about society. In fact, musical theatre is incredibly demanding. The singing and dancing may be viewed as a joke, but these are challenging skills that some actors train or years to learn. Musicals also require a different style of acting and skill set, like how films and tv shows require different techniques of an actor. To reiterate, musical theatre is a variation of theatre but is seen as an inferior sub-genre of “straight” acting. This essay will argue that musical theatre should be its own genre of theatre that is considered equal to plays.

Within the theatre industry prejudice can be found against musical theatre and its actors. For example, even Equity, the union for creative practitioners in the UK, split theatre and musical theatre in a survey for its members, with separate categories for actors in plays and performers in musicals as stated by Mark Shenton (2018). This shook many musical theatre actors who felt that their hard work was being disdained. This attitude is, unfortunately, corroborated by other industry professionals. In an article by Jon Dryden Taylor (2018) actor Jenny Talbot (who has worked in musical theatre for nearly 20 years) states ‘“Sometimes within musicals themselves, there can be snobbery towards MT performers. I’ve heard of recent musicals at places renowned for plays that actively seek straight actors who can sing, and close the door to casting actors with a CV full of musical theatre.”’ Many casting agents would rather select an actor who had acting training, as musical theatre courses neither teaches in-depth acting techniques nor are they taken seriously. As argued by Agent John Rochford points out in an article by Susan Elkin (2017) the prejudice he has witnessed amongst casting directors, saying that ‘“they tend not to call musical theatre actors in for straight roles unless they’ve seen their work for themselves.”’ He also notes that the casting directors would ask why an actor would ‘“train in musical theatre for if she wants to work in straight theatre?”’ This attitude is surprising from a casting director, especially as actors are taught that having a range of skills and capabilities to bring to a role are very important and help with employability. Notably a triple threat (acting, singing, and dancing). Many actors in musical theatre find it difficult to get jobs, between the prejudiced casting and the lack of decent training in all areas.

Musical theatre is a rather unique art form with different styles of acting, as it includes singing and dancing in their performances. Although, it appears to be that these extra skills, in fact, hinder the actors, as it is difficult to receive training in all the areas of a triple threat (acting, singing, and dancing). For example, it seems to be that musical theatre actors who have trained in their chosen area, seem to be at a disadvantage when it comes to acting in other fields. This is because musical theatre courses focus on singing and dancing, with little training in acting itself. Actor Sam Lupton, quoted in an article by Susan Elkin (April 2017) states that, from his experience, musical theatre courses ‘seem to regard acting as the extra – the least important – skill of the three’. The same article goes on to say that musical theatre actors have little to no understanding of Stanislavski’s methods, and struggle with acting for camera. This is most likely due to the difference in technique between musicals and plays, with musicals being more technically challenging. Nevertheless, the lack of in-depth acting training leads makes the transition from musicals to plays difficult and leads many musical theatre actors to feel trapped in their genre.

With everything argued thus far, it would seem logical to conclude that musicals are incredibly unpopular. However, Statista (2017) states that in 2017, musicals had a box office revenue of £436,611 while plays only had revenue of £176,436 in the same year. This shows that, despite the attitudes of the industry, musical theatre proves to be incredibly popular with audiences, and implies that the general public does not share the industry’s negative views. Additionally, Mark Shenton (2018) states that in 2016, over '8.1 million people saw a musical in the West End (as against 4.1 million seeing plays), spending more than £400 million to do so (as against £152 million for plays)'. So, if musicals are so popular with the general public, why is there a stigma within the industry? While there is no single reason, it is easy to see that musical theatre is stereotyped to be performers just singing and dancing for simple-minded audiences. However, musicals are incredibly physically demanding, although some may make a joke out of the song and dance elements. This is because many musical numbers require a high level of breath control with actors having to belt usually very high notes at the climax of big numbers. On top of this, singing and dancing simultaneously is incredibly difficult and an underrated ability. Much like how there are roles in plays that challenge an actor’s abilities (such as Hamlet and many other Shakespeare characters), there are also many challenging musical theatre roles. For example, Glinda from Wicked is a difficult role because of her vocal range with her highest note a high C, and her comedic timing. Another example of a tough role is Elle Woods, the lead of Legally Blonde. This is not only due to her vocal range, but also her near-constant presence onstage and performing in high energy dance sequences. With other roles, the actor is required to perform characters and situations that challenge their abilities. For example, Veronica Sawyer and Jason Dean (JD) from Heathers. JD is a psychopath who falls for the lead, Veronica, and in order to protect her, kills anyone who hurts her. His character spirals throughout the show and would be difficult to play convincingly. Similarly, Veronica unwillingly contributes to the deaths of some of her classmates and goes through a harrowing emotional journey which would be difficult and emotionally draining to perform every night. With other characters dealing with similar emotional or mental issues, this shows that musical theatre is not all light-hearted fun and games.

Furthermore, musical theatre has many genres and styles of its own, making it just as diverse as "straight" theatre in terms of acting range and capability. While some styles may only appear to be examples of the stereotype; such as the most commonly recognized genre known as the book musical, which is the traditional style of musical theatre and features songs integrated into the story to drive the plot and characters. Another genre is jukebox musicals, which are shows featuring a collection of pre-existing songs, usually from the same artist (examples include Mama Mia with Abba songs, Come Fly Away with songs by Frank Sinatra, and Jersey Boys which includes not only songs but the lives of The Four Seasons). There are also concept musicals, where the theme or metaphor of the show is just as, if not more, important than the plot. Moreover, some musicals deal with serious topics, even commenting on society. For example, the title character of “Dear Evan Hansen” tackles social anxiety making it difficult for him to socialise and build relationships. This is a prominent theme throughout the show, as well as different forms of grief after a student commits suicide. “Hairspray” deals with segregation in the 1960s, though the story of white protagonist Tracy Turnblad who becomes a star on a local TV dance show and uses her position to integrate the show. The aforementioned musical “Heathers” also deals with teen suicide, as the murders are set up to look like suicides, which along with how the social hierarchy is taken apart leads to two characters attempting suicide. This offers a stark contrast to the typically expected light-hearted fluff.

In conclusion, musical theatre is often disregarded and underappreciated within theatre. With even industry professionals ignoring the variety of musical theatre and underestimating the talents of the actors. Musical theatre actress Jenny Talbot in Jon Dryden Taylor’s article (2018), states ‘“It’s not generally known that a lot of musicals are intellectually demanding too.”’ Despite having some demanding roles (as previously mentioned, including many more), musical theatre courses are still not covering enough acting techniques. However, this seems to be changing, as The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama’s website says that on their BA (Hons) Acting (Musical Theatre) course, they cover Musical theatre training ‘with emphasis on acting’. Covering techniques on Shakespeare, as well as ‘modern American realists’. While this will hopefully take steps to improve musical theatre actors’ training, and thus their employability in other areas of theatre, there is still a stigma surrounding musical theatre and its value as part of the theatre industry. 

[1,536]

References

Statista (2017) The Statistics Portal [Online] Available at

https://www.statista.com/statistics/502120/united-kingdom-uk-london-theater-box-office-revenue-by-genre/   (Accessed 14 January)

Elkin, S. The Stage [Online] Available at https://www.thestage.co.uk/advice/2017/musical-theatre-actors-shut-plays/ (Accessed 14 January)

Shenton, M. The Stage [Online] Available at  https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2018/mark-shenton-dont-dismiss-musical-theatre-just-popular/   (Accessed 14 January)

Dryden Taylor, J. The Stage [Online] Available at https://www.thestage.co.uk/advice/the-green-room/2018/the-green-room-is-there-snobbery-in-the-business-towards-musical-theatre/  (Accessed 14 January)