Do young people have a place in musical theatre?

Musical theatre:

Musical theatre has long been a place for creative minds to express themselves.

The art form has been around for thousands of years from tragedies and comedies in Ancient Greece where music and dance were during the 5th century BC to today in shows like Hamilton which earns an average of $500,000 in profit every week.

One of these musical theatre lovers is Katie Tew, 19, Publicity Officer at Bangor University’s Students' Operatic and Dramatic Association (SODA).

Tew said, ‘I think it’s just so much fun, It’s that opportunity to be someone else on stage. You’re with all of your friends and just doing what you enjoy.’

(A slideshow of images of different SODA cast's and performances).

On top of this, Tew also points out the personal benefits of performing in a show, saying, ‘people can come to rehearsals, and they can be really quiet, and after they’ve done a show they can gain so much confidence.’

When talking about a recent production of Cinderella Tew said, ‘ There were so many kids in the audience that got engaged with the show.’

With SODA’s recent success it may surprise many to find out the musical theatre audiences are getting older.

Changing Audiences:

Recent statistics from The Audience Agency estimate that the demographics of theatergoers are likely to increase over the coming years.

The data found that the largest age group for theatre audiences was people between the ages of 65 and 74, with the average age of an audience member is 52.

As well as this, Audience Agency chief executive Anne Torreggiani said that while the average age of theatergoers was increasing, audiences were not being replenished with young people, who over the next decade could instead look to other art forms.

This hypothesis was confirmed by the Survey of Public Participation in The Arts (SPPA) which recorded musical theatre audiences going down by a factor of 9% from 2002 to 2012.

(Image: statistics of live theatre or arts attendee demographic profile from the U.S. LIVE EVENT ATTENDANCE STUDY JUNE 2014.https://www.slideshare.net/LiveAnalytics/us-live-event-attendance-study).

(Image: Illus. 1.2. Percent of U.S. Adults Who Attended a Musical and/or Non-Musical Play: 2002, 2008, and 2012. http://arts.gov/sites/default/files/highlights-from-2012-SPPA.pdf. p. 16.).

‘Some people don’t see it as a proper art.’ Tew said. ‘There’s more availability and bigger groups for older people.’

Indeed, older people may attend more musical theatre more now because of the ticket prices.

According to the BBC, the average ticket price for a West End musical in 2016 was £49.28

‘The prices on the West End and Broadway are still expensive, but there are schemes now in place to make them cheaper.’

These schemes include ones like Hamilton’s ticket lottery which offers participants the chance only to pay £10 for the tickets.

(Image: Hamilton at the Victoria Palace, London, in December 2017 taken by No Swan So Fine CC BY-SA 4.0).

As well as lotteries such as this there are many other attempts to get younger people involved.

‘There are more amateur groups putting on performances for less,’ Tew said, referring to groups like SODA.

‘there will be more shows aimed at older people, but I think carrying a young audience is something special.’

However, with this increased focus on young people attending may we also experience a change in the etiquette of theatre going.

The report also throws up interesting attitudes towards behavior in the theatre, with 13% thinking it acceptable to whisper.

8% of people also admitted to thinking it’s acceptable to check their phones during performances

‘Phones, as a performer, are my pet hate,’ Tew said

Facts about musical theatre:

• The term Off-Broadway isn't geographical. Broadway theatres have 500 seats, off-Broadway have 100-499 seats, off-off-Broadway have less than 100 seats.
• The Intimate Review holds the record for the shortest run in West End history, closing before the end of its first performance.
• Two seats are permanently bolted open at the Palace Theatre for the theatre ghosts to sit in.
• Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic The Phantom of the Opera is the longest-running Broadway show of all time. It has surpassed an incredible 10,000 performances.

What can we do?

Of course, lotteries and amateur performers all help towards getting young people into the theatre but how do we get them more interested in these shows in the first place.

In school ‘It is really important we keep that focus on the arts …We shouldn’t be suggesting that the only thing that’s important is academic,’ Tew said.

Another way theatres have been trying to get younger people engaged is by casting famous people who would be recognizable to a younger audience.

A recent example of this would be the casting of Carrie Hope Fletcher in the role of Veronica in a West End adaptation of Heathers.

(Image: Heathers' Poster)

Her casting has however brought along the question of whether or not it is right to cast based on following rather than skill.

In a recent blog post, Fletcher addressed this issue. She said, ‘Sure, my name is on the poster because I have a large online following and the marketing team are very clever! They thought maybe it’d help sell some tickets and they're very much in the ticket selling business!’

Although she also points out that, ‘What really helps them out, though, is that once those tickets are sold, I can actually deliver the performance.’

You can read the full blog post here: http://www.carriehopefletcher.com/2018/09/does-social-media-have-place-in-theatre.html.

Tew agrees to say, ‘Carrie Hope Fletcher became famous in Les Mis. She is a talented singer and yes having more famous names does increase the viewership of the theatre but … as somebody who genuinely enjoys musical theatre … it doesn’t affect me.’

Her opinion is also supported by critic's reviews of the shows and headlines such as ‘Carrie Hope Fletcher dazzles.’

(Image: Heathers' sign).

With talent like Carrie’s then it’s no surprise that some musical directors are turning to social media to find their leading men and women.

Video sharing sites also open the opportunity for people with a younger fan base to cover the songs.

‘With Youtube’ there’s a lot more performers uploading videos of themselves. People are going off different platforms now,’ Tew said.

Channels like annapansu, adisaurus, Caleb Hyles and even Carrie Hope Fletcher regularly upload content of themselves covering songs from musical theatre shows.

Although the future is uncertain for musical theatre, there is indeed a lot being done to encourage younger people, for better or worse.

Matthew Gurteen