There is nothing like seeing yourself reflected on stage. Some of the most formative experiences for me came from watching West End productions of shows like Grease and wishing I could perform the role of Sandy. With new productions starring casts full of young people – in some cases with actual children performing (Matilda the Musical) – surely a new wave of inspired young people will follow? Brewing on this possibility, I spoke to some students, teachers and the creators behind these musicals to find out what this could mean for the future of student engagement with music and drama.
From the professionals
American composer, lyricist and playwright Joe Iconis, aside from having a great name, is best known for writing the music and lyrics to Broadway musical Be More Chill. Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini, the production follows the story of a ‘loser’ high-school student named Jeremy Heere who swallows a pill-sized Japanese computer, named Squip, that proceeds to live inside him, telling its host how to be ‘more chill’, in real-time.
The show is fun and unpredictable, touching on issues such as anxiety, depression and dependency on medication through the lens of young people, while remaining lighthearted and fun. The message at the end of the show emphasises that mental illness is not something you must miraculously overcome; instead, it normalises working towards managing this throughout our lives. The didactic nature of the show is poignant, but what hooked young people in the first place was the music.
Ironically, for a production about resisting the pressures of technology, the thing that made this show blow up was social media. The song ‘Michael in the Bathroom’ was widely shared on TikTok and was a huge gateway drug into the musical for many of those sharing it online. Depicting Jeremy's best friend, Michael, hiding in the bathroom at a party after being left alone, the song struck a chord with so many young people online who could relate to this. From there, the production grew, ending up on Broadway despite not following the usual path that musicals take to end up there. Now, schools can even licence Be More Chill for productions with students.
© MATT CROCKETT
Noah Thomas as Jamie New in the West End production of Everybody's Talking About Jamie
You only have to search the musical on TikTok to see a barrage of young people singing along to the track, filming themselves acting as Michael, and harmonising with other recordings on the app. ‘Perhaps when you see yourself very explicitly reflected in a show, it is easier to make the jump to seeing yourself on stage,’ Iconis tells me.
A caveat
Iconis makes the point that although seeing yourself on stage adds a new layer of excitement for the audience, it also means that we tend to be harsher critics of the work. Young people can see when things are out of touch; they can tell when a story has been written without consulting any teenagers.
‘When it comes to young people’, says Iconis, ‘we need to remember that they are just growing human beings. I think they can smell out when they are being lied to, and when shows or movies are not genuine or if they are trying to imitate how they act or speak. They can see when things have no grounding or genuine experience behind them, and they can see when someone is putting on a mask.’ He warns me that although making stories about young people is an amazing way to connect with them, we have to be careful to create good stories or we could completely lose this audience.
From the teachers
Other extremely popular school-based musicals include Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Heathers, Matilda the Musical and School of Rock the Musical – all stories about celebrating individuality and finding your own place in the world and expressing this through music. It could be argued that school-based productions have always been a hit, with classics like Grease and High School Musical taking the limelight for many years. But there is something about the recent wave and its new selection of tracks that seem to hit a nerve with students online and in musical theatre clubs.
One music teacher at a Buckinghamshire-based school tells me she has seen a big shift in her students in recent years. When auditioning singers for an upcoming production of Shrek the Musical, she noticed that a large majority of the songs chosen came from newer musicals such as Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Six, rather than the tried-and tested Wicked or The Phantom of the Opera. Not only that, but she claims there has been an increase in interest in performing in the musical following an A Level school trip to see Dear Evan Hansen at the Noel Coward Theatre in London, with the leading song ‘You Will Be Found’ connecting both music and drama students who had become closer during the experience. Many of these students now wanted to audition together with their friends, inspired by the sentiment of the production. The teacher now uses ‘You Will Be Found’ as part of the vocal warm-up for the production.
From the students
I spoke to two Year 8 students from a school in Hertfordshire who told me that they joined the school's choir after watching Matilda on a school trip. ‘Before I watched Matilda, I didn't think that I liked musicals, but I loved the songs “Revolting Children” and “When I Grow Up”. The performers were a similar age to me and their voices were amazing’, one of the students told me. ‘Seeing them on stage gave me the confidence to sing, too. That is why we joined the choir and now we are performing at the school Speech Day’, she continued.
There is something magical about being able to tell a story through music. It is crucial that at such formative ages, throughout secondary education, that students are shown stories that they are inspired by and characters they connect with. Les Misérables might be an amazing show (and believe me, I am a fan of the score), but is it the best option for engaging students? It might be that students feel connected to music as a medium, but don't feel that they are inherently ‘musical’ or that they are traditionally ‘singers’; but a school trip to the West End could broaden the possibilities for them.
It is amazing that we have the chance to show students a variety of new coming-of-age musicals that are sprouting up, with hopefully more to come. The benefit of newer shows is that they often tackle big issues surrounding mental health in a way that modern students are open to, while also increasing engagement with both music and drama. You might find that your drama students start joining the choir, and your music students audition for the school play. Either way, while it can be easy to stick to your guns with old-school musical numbers, the tracks in newer musicals are well worth a try. You never know, you might find a new musical theatre star in your classroom.
Below is a list of musical theatre songs to consider with your students. Show YouTube videos of performances at the start of lessons or use tracks as vocal warm-ups to inspire the class:
- Matilda the Musical – ‘When I Grow Up’
- Everybody's Talking About Jamie – ‘Don't Even Know It’
- Be More Chill – ‘Michael in the Bathroom’
- Heathers – ‘Candy Store’
- Six – ‘Ex-Wives’
- Dear Evan Hansen – ‘Anybody Have a Map?’
- School of Rock the Musical – ‘Variation 7 : Children of Rock’
- Back to the Future the Musical – ‘Put Your Mind to It’
