Studies in Musical Theatre - Volume 19, Issue 1, 2025

Vaudeville both shaped and was shaped by new ideas about childhood developing at the beginning of the twentieth century. The romanticization of children as icons of sentimentality or, even further, ‘angelic’ in their essential being and ethics (rooted in nineteenth-century attitudes about children and childhood) was challenged by the performances of child vaudevillians. These children often perfected acts that portrayed them as ‘knowing’ or more ‘adult’ than the more sentimental archetypes: the child mimic, who often impersonated adults from well-known acts, and the spectacles that were the virtuoso musician or dancer, for instance, were both desirable precisely because their acts broke free from traditional ideas about children and childhood. This article foregrounds vaudeville’s influence on how children were depicted in Broadway shows of the 1930s. By examining Babes in Arms (1937), a show that featured many former vaudeville and vaudeville-adjacent stars amongst its adolescent ranks (including Mitzi Green and the Nicholas Brothers), I hope to reveal the ways that this popular musical comedy reflected emerging ideas about childhood, informed particularly by class and race.

This article offers a summary report on discussions, approaches, findings and themes arising from the ‘Original Cast Recordings: Musical theatre and/as sonic heritage’ research network – an eighteen-month project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) (United Kingdom). After outlining the centrality of the musical theatre albums to the history of the form and popular culture at large, the article brings together two objectives of the network through three thematic discussions. First, it considers the complexity of definition – what do we mean by ‘original cast recording’ (OCR)? What are the ramifications of different taxonomic parameters? Second, it presents a synthesis of various approaches to the analysis of musical theatre on record, elucidating the complexities and potential in albums as fragments, a synecdoche for the live event, a pedagogic tool and an artefact in both media archaeology and the musicological analysis of historically informed practice. Further, it briefly outlines the state of play with respect to archival access to musical theatre archival recordings at several institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom, examining barriers and potentials for access to enable further and future study of their sonic heritage. It concludes by offering reflections on three future areas of research activity: a project designed to increase access to multiple musical theatre sonic archives and reduce duplication of materials; the need to study musical theatre fan communities and cast album collecting practices in more depth; and the rich potential for an oral history of artists, performers, music producers and engineers that are involved in creating the ‘sound souvenirs’ of OCRs.

In online forums, Hadestown’s Orpheus is often described as autistic by fans because of his mannerisms and consuming interest in his song. The depiction of Orpheus in Hadestown builds on more traditional representations, creating a unique addition to the Orpheus canon. Autistic fans, particularly on Reddit, describe feeling seen by the character, a rare experience in the theatre, where very few autistic characters – especially ones who are depicted as heroes – exist. Also rare, Hadestown’s Orpheus is depicted as a complete human with flaws and strengths, one of the main tenets of the popular neurodiversity paradigm. By analysing Orpheus through this paradigm, we can gain insight into how audience members are given a glimpse into the experiences of autistic people in a world not built for them. Hadestown’s Orpheus is an important step forward for sympathetic and heroic autistic representation in musical theatre.

Review of: Here for the Hearing: Analyzing the Music in Musical Theater, Michael Buchler and Gregory J. Decker (eds) (2023)

Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 310 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-47203-930-2, p/bk, $34.95

ISBN 978-0-47213-331-4, h/bk, $90.00

Review of: Sondheim: His Life, His Shows, His Legacy, Stephen M. Silverman (2023)

New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 304 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-76248-235-1, h/bk, $35.00

Review of: TikTok Broadway: Musical Theatre Fandom in the Digital Age, Trevor Boffone (2024)

New York: Oxford University Press, 210 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-19774-367-6, h/bk, $34.99

Review of: Social Media in Musical Theatre, Trevor Boffone (2024)

New York and London: Methuen Drama, 128 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-35035-857-7, p/bk, $14.95

Review of: Contemporary British Musicals: ‘Out of the Darkness’, Clare Chandler and Gus Gowland (eds) (2024)

New York and London: Methuen Drama, 224 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-35026-805-0, p/bk, $34.95

Review of: Music Theatre Now: Competition and Conference, 2024, MTNOW Network, chaired by Guy Coolen, Rotterdam, 16–18 May 2024