I’ve been a theater nerd for as long as I can remember, I live for Tony performances and my favorite part of going to Disney World as a child was watching ‘The Festival of the Lion King’, often awestruck to the point of speechlessness. But no Broadway shows have impacted me, and the country, as much as the ones that have been brought to life over the past two years. The ‘Great White Way’ is changing, for good.
It’s common knowledge that Hamilton has changed theater. The story of the founding fathers, told with people of color, gives people who lack representation a place to see themselves front and center, telling a story they often feel left out of.
Hamilton has paved the way for racial representation in theater and will continue doing so for as long as it runs.
(Which will undoubtedly be a long time). Fun Home is another example of a show giving a group of marginalized people the spotlight. Fun Home tells the story of lesbian cartoonist Allison Bechdel, through her childhood, college days, and mid-40s. The show follows her through not conforming to gender roles as a child, her first girlfriend, and realizing what she has in common with her father. It was the first and only Broadway show with a lesbian protagonist and took home the 2015 Tony for Best Musical. Now on tour across the country, Fun Home continues to change minds and hearts.
Even shows that have yet to open are changing the face of Broadway. One show in particular, Dear Evan Hansen, shines a light on a mental illness often placed at the butt of jokes. The main character, Evan, has social anxiety, and the musical follows the events of what happens when his therapist tells him to write a letter to himself, from the viewpoint of someone else. Evans struggles with his social anxiety are put into words in the song ‘Waving through a Window’. The song hits the social anxiety nail on the head, in that it often feels like you’re invisible to those around you, waving through a window and hoping that they see you. This point is driven home with the lyrics “When you’ve fallen in a forest, and there’s nobody around do you ever really crash or even make a sound?” The forest metaphor describes feeling like your inner struggles are invisible, a feeling people with anxiety often have. Seeing anxiety used as something more than a comedic element is rare, and important.
Perhaps the most innovative show to hit Broadway, was the Deaf West production of Spring Awakening. Spring Awakening is different in its self, the show following a group of 18th century teenagers as they try to navigate their newfound sexual feelings. But the Deaf West production brought something to the table that was unheard of on Broadway, deaf actors who played their part by using ASL in place of spoken lines. Hearing counterparts accompanied them to sing, but it was the deaf actors who took center stage to tell the story. During scenes when there was little signing, subtitles were projected onto walls and props on the stage (Source). The show also featured Broadway’s first wheelchair bound actress, Ali Stroker. This production ran for a short amount of time, but left a legacy that will last for eternity.
The theater industry is changing for the better, brilliant minds bringing more diversity and inclusion to the stage than ever before.
