Sara Wick

Legally Blonde, the musical? What ever happened to Fiddler on the Roof? The musicals coming out on Broadway these days are becoming less and less traditional. The upcoming stories are hip, and the music is rocky. The change has not resulted from the new interests of writers and producers, but rather from the target audience itself.

“Broadway, as a whole, is skewing toward a younger audience,” said Jessica Karlsen, Marketing Coordinator of the Rochester Broadway Theater League (RBTL). “We’ve noticed that the most popular Tony winning shows are more for a college crowd.” Younger audiences are making up a larger percentage of Broadway performance attendees than ever before. They pack into theaters to see shows like In the Heights, a musical about a closely-knit Latino community in Manhattan, and Spring Awakening, a tale of an adolescent experience of sexual awakening set in 1981 Germany. Broadway marketers are acutely aware of this new tendency, and eager to cash in. Traditionally, Broadway shows targeted women of ages 45 and above, but those days are all gone now. Times are changing, and so are the audiences. And like any other business, Broadway’s future is in its potential buyers.

Every year, studies are conducted to discern what interests the younger generation. Do they use text messaging? How often? What percentage of their day is spent on Facebook? These are the types of questions that marketing heads are trying to answer in order to better sell their products. Broadway is looking to reach the youth through any means possible, be it via YouTube, MySpace or television advertisements. Therefore, people our age are becoming more exposed to what is happening on the stage.

You may have noticed the musical Wicked being advertised on Facebook. That little flickering rectangle located to the left of your wall posts costs about a thousand bucks a week. It would not be there unless it was paying off. On the television end of the spectrum, MTV recently aired a performance of Legally Blonde, gaining huge exposure for the show. Teens want to see these musicals, and teasing them with television publicity only piques their interest.

Apple is another company trying to get in on the action. Albert Nocciolino, President of the NAC Enterprises, Ltd. advertising agency and Producer of Broadway’s Legally Blonde, claims, “iTunes is not only where we want to be, [iTunes] would like us to be there as well... They’re looking to work very closely with the theater industry.” Discussions of increasing the number of Broadway tracks available for download are currently being negotiated.

Hollywood also plays a huge role in the effort. With more than half of the musicals on Broadway based on or adapted into Hollywood productions, it is hard to miss. Movies are often successful on stage while musicals have been popular on the big screen. The classic 1978 film, Grease was once the 1972 Broadway musical. The musical, Wicked, gives a new, unique look on the classic tale of The Wizard of Oz. We have heard the names and we know the stories. Now we want to see them come alive! It is no wonder that The Lion King has been on Broadway for over a decade.

The line between Hollywood and Broadway is blurring. With big name stars and musicians such as Julia Roberts and Ashley Parker Angel popping up on stage, the incentive for younger audiences is only getting stronger. Movie stars and trailers are already plastered all over entertainment news and magazines. It seems Broadway may not be too far behind.

The only problem with this new audience is this: more often than not, their wallets are hardly big enough to accommodate a Broadway junkie’s lifestyle. Tickets for the hottest show in town can cost $120, but some musicals have addressed this by offering cheaper tickets. The musical Rent started a new trend by selling “lottery tickets” two hours before show time, priced at $25. Today, many other shows have followed suit.

For Rochester Broadway Theater productions, this trend has caught on. Students are offered special priced, rush deal tickets. “Come the day of the show, all the remaining tickets are available to college students with a valid ID,” said Aimee Frank, Marketing Manager of RBTL. “So instead of paying $55, students can see a Broadway show for $20.”

With all these young people pouring in, it is no surprise that atmosphere of these shows has changed as well. “It’s a buzz,” described Frank. “It’s just a really great night out.” The theater that was once packed with dresses, ties and golf claps will now have you thinking that you have stepped into a My Chemical Romance concert. “If you go to Wicked and Legally Blonde you will see more mothers and daughters than you have ever seen in your life,” said Nocciolino.

The audiences attending shows are getting younger and more shows are being produced in order to appeal to them. It is both Broadway’s interest in a youthful audience and the younger audience’s discovery of Broadway that escalates this new trend. “The content of the shows is much easier for the younger audience to have an affinity for,” stated Nocciolino. “If we don’t develop these new audiences, we’ll be running out of people.”

The Rochester Broadway Theatre League will be performing Wicked starting May 28th at the Aud Rochester. Next season, there will be a production of Legally Blonde.