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This book argues that the digital revolution has fundamentally altered the way musicals are produced, followed, admired, marketed, reviewed, researched, taught, and even cast. In the first hundred years of its existence, commercial musical theatre functioned on one basic model. However, with the advent of digital and network technologies, every musical theatre artist and professional has had to adjust to swift and unanticipated change. Due to the historically commercial nature of the musical theatre form, it offers a more potent test case to reveal the implications of this digital shift than other theatrical art forms. Rather than merely reflecting technological change, musical theatre scholarship and practice is at the forefront of the conversation about art in the digital age. This book is essential reading for musical theatre fans and scholars alike.
List of contents
1. Musical Theatre in the Digital Age; Jessica Hillman-McCord.- 2. Connection in an Isolating Age: Looking Back on Twenty Years of Engaging Audiences and Marketing Musical Theatre Online; Laura McDonald.- 3. The Digital-Age Musical: Sighting/Siting Musicals Defined by High-Tech Content, Themes, and Memes; Pamyla Stiehl.- 4. Ghosts in the Machine: Digital Technology and Screen-to-Stage Musicals; Amy S. Osatinski.- 5. Let's Misbehave?: Cell Phone Technology and Audience Behaviors Kathryn Edney.- 6. Digital Fandom: Hamilton and the Participatory Spectator; Jessica Hillman-McCord.- 7. No-Object Fandom: 'Smash'-ing Kickstarter and Bringing Bombshell to the Stage; Kirsty Sedgman..- 8. "You Can't Stop the Tweet:" Social Media and Networks of Participation in the Live Television Musical; Ryan Bunch.- 9. Musical Theatre Casting in the Digital Age: Social Media, Online Branding, and Micro-Celebrity; Nathan Stith.- 10. Keeping the Celebrity Flame Flickering: Reality Television Celebrities on Broadway and Fan Interaction Through Digital Media; Emily Clark.- 11. The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea: Digital Musical Theatre Research; Doug Reside.- 12. Recanonizing "American" Sound and Reinventing the Broadway Song Machine: Digital Musicology Futures of Broadway Musicals; Sissi Liu.- 13. Rise Again Digitally: Musical Revivals and Digital Dramaturgy on Broadway; Bryan Vandevender.- 14. The Ever Evolving World of 21st Century Theatre Criticism; Bud Coleman.- 15. Looking Backward, Looking Forward: An Afterword; Elizabeth Wollman.-
About the author
Jessica Hillman-McCord is Associate Professor at SUNY Fredonia, USA. Her articles have appeared in
TDR: The Drama Review,
Studies in Musical Theatre and
Theatre Topics, among others. Her book,
Echoes of the Holocaust on the American Musical Stage, was published in 2012.
Summary
This book argues that the digital revolution has fundamentally altered the way musicals are produced, followed, admired, marketed, reviewed, researched, taught, and even cast. In the first hundred years of its existence, commercial musical theatre functioned on one basic model. However, with the advent of digital and network technologies, every musical theatre artist and professional has had to adjust to swift and unanticipated change. Due to the historically commercial nature of the musical theatre form, it offers a more potent test case to reveal the implications of this digital shift than other theatrical art forms. Rather than merely reflecting technological change, musical theatre scholarship and practice is at the forefront of the conversation about art in the digital age. This book is essential reading for musical theatre fans and scholars alike.
