i do love that broadway has caught up with the times, but i guess i just dont understand why this is such a big deal as to why the show gets so much hype. I mean i get the fact that they are portraying historical white figures in the play but arent white, but i guess im just the "debbie downer" as to why that is such a hyped thing.
Fun Home deserved infinite times more recognition than it got. IMO it was just as ground breaking as Hamilton and could've surpassed Hamilton in the ground breaking-ness if they received just as much coverage. And I will be as pissed as I want to be about it until the day I die.
Yeah, I'm just disappointed. If the media had created a message around the diversity of Broadway and not just Hamilton, then Broadway and what people think about it could've really changed a lot. Broadway's audience has always been affluent, white people, and the stories shown on broadway have catered to them regarding the types of shows that are put on. You don't put on shows that don't target your audience and when the overwhelming majority of your audience is all one specific thing, then all the plays will be shows that cater to that one thing.
In 2014-2015, the audience census reported that black audience members are up to 6.0% of audience members (3.6 in 1998-1999 for reference) which isn't a lot but it's a start. They didn't report numbers for other groups (hispanic, asian, lgbt, etc) in the article I read. No doubt that number will be a tad, tad higher in the new reports because of Hamilton, but Hamilton tickets STILL were priced so high that only the affluent could afford it aka a majority white audience. If the media reported "Hey guys, if you want Hamilton tickets and aren't royalty, then sucks to be you, but here are some other great shows that offer just as much diversity for you guys to check out", then they could've made a huge difference in the audience make up and in turn, the stories that ended up on stage.
Eclipsed was barely promoted despite the creator being the actress who plays Michonne in The Walking Dead and one of the actresses being Lupita Nyong'o. Although not sure if that was just a limited run gig. The Color Purple and Shuffle Along are still playing but the media could've made an attempt to spotlight those if they wanted to - if they were truly interested in diversity and not just following the hype of a group of people (the fandom) and trying to capitalize on it. The media could've really helped shift the audience demographics and help continue to diversify stories/lead roles. They could've helped push people who aren't affluent to off-broadway shows that are cheaper. And could've pushed people who were a little more affluent, who can't get Hamilton tickets, to other shows. But I feel like most people just know Broadway as "stereotypical broadway plus Hamilton".
Obviously the results haven't come out yet and this is only speculation but I don't think Hamilton changed the audience demographics as much as it could've and I put part of that blame on the media, who pushed the "diversity" thing in a way they could profit from it, not in a way to help literally anyone else. There have been strides because of Hamilton but there could've been a lot more.
And that's my thesis of the week
Side note: The Glinda thing gets me every time. Wicked is a story, first and foremost, about discrimination based on the character's skin color. Yet they rarely take on non-white actresses for the lead roles. Astounding. Also, I'm not sure about Valjean, I believe Kyle was being touted as the first black Valjean on Broadway specifically. No clue about tours or West End Valjean's! What ever the opposite of a miracle is though, that's Kyle's story.
I felt the same way. Until I started listening to the soundtrack and fell in love with it, and now I kick myself all the time that I missed the boat on seeing it with the original cast. But I love musicals and this was the first one since Rent that really got me excited. The cool thing about this soundtrack is that with the exception of I think 2 smaller scenes you really get almost the entire play through the soundtrack. I'm thinking you saw the scene they performed at the Tonys. And the African American History Museum looks amazing and it high on my list (unlike Kanye, although my oldest did see him at her college a month or so ago).
My kids love it all for different reasons. Each has a different favorite song - my oldest loves Dear Theodosia and Burn, my middle Satisfied (she's a romantic at heart) and my youngest loves the Cabinet Battles. My middle is taking HOTA (History of the Americas) right now and is writing a paper on how most of Hamilton's financial proposals were unconstitutional. My youngest can at least tell you who the first few presidents were, and quite a lot about the American Revolution. He said he really likes the music because even though it is a play it tells the story through music he can relate to. I just think LMM is so unbelievably talented, and to have taken Chernow's book and translated into living, breathing history in such a clever way blows my mind. And I love his style - I listen to In The Heights all the time as well and recently saw it in London.
I have tix for April :cheering: and the kids are going in May.
