Is it Necessary to Study Women in Musical Theatre? My students react…

At the beginning of this semester, I posed two questions for the students to engage in after the first unit. In Unit 1, we looked at the actual numbers of gender disparity on Broadway. Once you see the numbers, you realize that this gender gap is much much bigger than you think specifically on creative teams.

And when you look even closer, you realize this gap is even wider for People of Color and other underrepresented groups.

Below you will read the reactions from the students. What is your reaction? What do you believe? You can respond in the comments to join the conversation if you would like.

1st students reaction:

Why do you believe as a young female musical theatre performer is it important to learn about women in the industry?

I’ve always been drawn to other Broadway performers that are women. In every show I’ve seen or listened to, there’s always at least one female character that I’ve felt a strong connection with. When I first started listening to cast albums and diving into shows, I had no idea how little women were appreciated and featured in the industry. I knew that as a woman in the western American society, I would have to work much harder than a man to get to the same level of success as him. But still, I had this idea that women in the arts were able to get much farther than women in any other profession, possibly because the only successful and popular female performers I knew of were white, cis, and straight. And even for me, it’ll be easier to get to a “higher” level because I’m a white, cis, upper-middle class young woman. 

When I was exposed to articles and stories upon stories of women being discriminated against in pretty much every job there is, I understood how severe this problem was. Once I was educated about these issues, the stereotypes of a “classic” lighting and sound designer were not women. If stories and experiences aren’t shared about women in Broadway, there’s a small chance that young girls will understand that they can become a technician or a company manager. I think it’s important to share womens’ stories about how they’ve been discriminated against so that future women know how to handle similar situations and so that they’re aware of the challenges women face in this industry. As a performer, I become inspired and empowered when I hear about women in Broadway. There are people I look up to, and even in female-centered stories I feel like I’m able to connect with the story better than a show that’s written by a man. And Broadway’s biggest audience is women! For so long, our country has revolved around men and their success, so I think it’s time that women really get a chance to shine. 

2nd student’s reaction:

Why is it important to study women in musical theatre (use statistics from the article in Unit 1 to prove your point)?

Why do you believe as a young female musical theatre performer is it important to learn about women in the industry?

The musical theater industry is largely dominated by men whether it's within the creative team or they chose themselves. Even in this day and age theater continues to be male-centered and many shows don't give women the right voice.  I believe that as a young female musical theater performer it is important to learn about women in history because it can teach me to bring light to this ongoing situation. By going back and learning about old Broadway and what women have to do to get on stage we can understand women in theater now with a different perspective. This conversation, that men dominate this field, is not expressed enough by big names in the theater industry, men,  who can help make the necessary change. It is because of this that I believe that studying Women Within the musical theater industry now and in the past allows us to have a better understanding of the future and shows the strong women that broke barriers to make it possible for women now. 

It is important to study because women make up a small group of those on Creative teams and are heard on stage. When you see women on stage there is usually a partner or behind a male counterpart to help guide but not to lead. This needs to change both on and off stage because we see over the years that there is still a lack of feminine presence behind the scenes whether that be a director, choreographer, assistant director, lights, sound, makeup, costuming. This needs to change drastically, it needed to change yesterday, but for these statistics to even out we need to educate people on the matter.

3rd student’s reaction:

Why is it important to study women in musical theatre (use statistics from the articles in Unit 1 to prove your point)?

Studying women in musical theatre is essential to understanding the scale of gender disparity on Broadway. This is the first step in addressing the issue. Knowing that there are more men than women on Broadway is different from seeing the statistics saying that men take up 61% of titled characters. (2018-2019) It is often jarring to see just how much men dominate the theatre industry and how long it has gone on. In this feminism era, one could assume that gender equality is on the brink of possibility. Many do. This assumption is a major cause of complacency within the feminist movement. “It’s 2021, people aren’t sexist anymore!” But, when only 13% of Broadway directors are women, it would seem that the issue hasn’t been eliminated, only masked.

What we see on stage should mirror what we see in real life. Women in the theatre industry are so often overlooked simply because many people believe that men write better stories. But when a large percentage of theatre audiences are women, shouldn’t the characters they see reflect their authentic experiences? Oftentimes, largely male-dominated shows will gender-bend and cast female actresses in male roles. Although this would seem helpful statistics wise, that is often all it improves. Casting a woman in a male role is not accurately telling the story from the female perspective, and often the choice to gender-bend a show seems like a desperate attempt at increasing diversity to save face, not to advance a feminist agenda. Much too often, female characters are forced to experience major pain like that of domestic abuse in order for their stories to even be considered for awards. In order for them to triumph, they must first be victimized.

Why can’t female heroes be portrayed on stage without the need for anguish?

This harmful trope, like many others, is masked under the veil of representation and empowerment. Studying women in theatre is critical to knowing the difference between actual representation and meager attempts at female storytelling.