“Does Anybody Have A Map?”: The Impact of “Virtual Broadway” on Musical Theater Composition

Abstract

N THEIR 2015 TEDX TALK, MUSICAL THEATER WRITERS BENJAMINPasek and Justin Paul identify a growing online culture within musical theater, terming this space "Virtual Broadway." This term refers to the virtual arena within which musical theater composers and audiences directly interact, necessitating explorations of how this democratization of the mediation process has impacted musical theater composition and consumption. In popular culture, "There are no longer subjective gatekeepers controlling who gets let 'in,' promoted and exposed. The choice is ours. Now, anyone can be famous" (Price). This transformation is evident in musical theater, where an upsurge in "YouTube musical theater composers" (Pasek and Paul) and social media engagement challenges the dominance of the book musical. Opportunities for self-promotion on the Internet are vast and allow composers to reach a more diverse audience. These emerging opportunities subsequently influence the form of produced works. With humans online having an average attention span of eight seconds (Microsoft Canada 6), this article considers how musical theater is evolving to meet the requirements of millennials and Gen Z.