I’ve always loved Musical Theatre. Ever since the first time I stepped onstage and felt the bright stage lights hitting my face, experienced the first time with a microphone on, and got my first ever final bow, I knew the theatre life was for me. I spent many sleepless nights listening to cast albums or watching “slime tutorials” on YouTube due to hours and hours at rehearsal that day. By consuming this media from all different time periods, I came to a startling realization about the art form I love: Theatre has changed since its “golden age” in the 1930s, and not for the better. Contemporary Musical Theatre, which panders to popularity charts and social media, often lacks originality, causes vocal and mental harm to actors, and spoils the genre’s artistic integrity.

Modern musicals accommodate the pop charts rather than produce authentic Musical Theatre. Theatre is meant to tell a cohesive story onstage; however, to achieve better-selling tracks in the age of digital music, writers often favor catchy melodies over powerful storytelling. Take Six: The Musical. Six retells the story of King Henry VIII’s six ex-wives with a modern twist. Each queen is modeled after a pop singer, and so are their respective solo numbers. The musical is presented as a “concert,” with each queen using their song to compete for who “had it worse” when married to the king. Combined with the lack of sophistication and storyline in each song, this premise makes for a loosely connected arrangement of songs rather than a musical. Songs from Six have blown up on social media but at the cost of a powerful story that resonates with its audience. Thus, its indulgence in the popularity charts has hindered its impact and story.

Musical pandering capitalizes off the sensation of strained and unhealthy vocals, causing harm to actors. High notes have become idealized and impressive on the pop charts, and consequently, they also have in theater, but with one major caveat: actors must perform these strained notes eight times a week, live, for thousands of audience members. Andrew Barth Feldman, the actor of Evan Hansen in the hit Broadway show Dear Evan Hansen, says he would never sing his character’s main song again due to its strained notes—when he couldn’t hit it one day onstage, it got into his head the whole week and caused mental strain. This exemplifies the anxiety and harm—both physically and vocally—that musical commercialization has caused.

In addition to harm for actors and commercialization, modern Broadway lacks originality. Most contemporary musicals are adaptations of existing novels or films, such as hit shows like Mean Girls, The Outsiders, and Heathers. According to reputable producer Ken Davenport, 82% of musicals in the last thirty years have been adaptations. This phenomenon makes Broadway not a space for musical originality and authenticity, but rather a replica of Hollywood filled with shallow music and writing. 

One central issue causes every issue on Broadway, from originality to pandering: the inadequate compensation for Broadway creatives. An actor on Broadway is typically paid $1000 to $2000, according to Backstage, and writers are given money to begin the writing process but later must live off royalties and commissions. Neither of these options is enough to live comfortably in New York City, where the weekly cost of living is very high; creatives struggle to make it from paycheck to paycheck doing what they love. Thus, writers opt for adaptations because they are more likely to sell, and consequently, get paid living wages. Writers are, understandably, willing to risk authenticity for sufficient payment. Moreover, writers are more likely to be paid fairly if they make a chart-topping song they can capitalize off. Due to these factors, writers are not at fault for Broadway’s decadence—exploitative systems that force them to prioritize money are. 

Commercialization, vocal harm, and a lack of originality have plagued modern Broadway and caused a lack of artistic integrity. Broadway is doomed to a fate of repetition and boredom unless creatives are paid better, thus being allowed to reach beyond mediocrity and represent what musical theater is truly made for: dynamic and powerful storytelling.