At first glance, the three-hour, Oscar-winning “Titanic” and the 93-minute, Emmy-winning Disney Channel Original Movie “High School Musical” look like they have nothing in common. Besides, of course, hot male leads (Leonardo DiCaprio and newcomer Zac Efron, respectively) causing a mad rush among 13-year-old girls to find magazines with tear-out posters of their pretty faces.
But the sound track to “High School Musical” was the first sound track since “Titanic” in 1998 to become the top-selling album of the year.
From January to December 2006, “High School Musical,” featuring aptly titled hit songs such as “Bop to the Top,” beat out albums from Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood and Beyoncé. This was the first time that a sound track from a cable TV show or a made-for-TV movie finished a year on the top of the charts.
“It caught a lot of people by surprise,” said Geoff Mayfield, director of charts and senior analyst for Billboard magazine. “In the beginning, I don’t even think Disney knew what they had on their hands.”
The unexpected commercial success of the made-for-TV movie echoes the same message being repeated across the entertainment industry, from theater to film to music to television: Musicals are back.
This year saw the critical success of the film “Dreamgirls,” which lead to eight Oscar nominations, including a nod for Jennifer Hudson in a role that earned her the most attention because of her astounding singing. And according the New York Post, there are talks to bring “Dreamgirls” back to the stage, perhaps even with Hudson reprising her role.
On television, NBC’s “Grease: You’re the One that I Want” is an “American Idol”-style reality show in which contestants audition for the lead of an upcoming stage revival of the beloved musical “Grease.” This show is crossing media boundaries, merging television, film and theater ““ a move that is becoming more and more important in finding an audience.
Jeremy Mann, associate director of the UCLA Ray Bolger Musical Theater Program and head of the singing curriculum, explained that marketing for the Broadway revival of “Grease” is pretty much included in the TV show.
“”˜Grease’ has a built-in audience because there are millions of people watching it on TV. … Most musicals never (get that exposure),” Mann said. “In order for something to be successful commercially, it’s got to have its finger in a bunch of different media pies.”
For musicals to become successful in today’s world, not only should they cross mediums, but they should try to appeal to a young audience: the Disney-watching “High School Musical” crowd.
“It’s not college kids or even high school kids, it’s their little brothers and sisters,” Mayfield said.
One reason this age group is so lucrative is that 10 to 13-year-olds may lack the sophistication to illegally pirate music.
“With high school-aged kids and college kids, they clearly don’t buy as much music as (before),” Mayfield said.
Music geared toward a 10-year-old also tends to be clean and wholesome, which makes parents more inclined to buy the album for their child.
“(Parents are) swaying to the demand of the kids, and thinking, “˜Here’s something the kids can listen to and I won’t worry about it,'” Mayfield said.
The success of “High School Musical” bodes well for upcoming musical projects that are each taking care to cater to this preteen audience.
A movie remake of “Hairspray,” for example, will feature Zac Efron, the dreamy star of “High School Musical,” as well as former Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes, pairing the teen idols with established musical costars such as John Travolta (“Grease”) and Queen Latifah (“Chicago”).
The approval of the preteen crowd sometimes outweighs traditional critics.
The show “Wicked,” which reveals the backstory of the witches from “The Wizard of Oz,” opened on Broadway to mixed reviews. In 2003, the New York Times said, “”˜Wicked’ does not, alas, speak hopefully for the future of the Broadway musical.”
Currently, however, “Wicked” is without a doubt the biggest musical on Broadway, largely thanks to its popularity with young girls. Last week, “Wicked” raked in over $1.3 million, continuing its run as the highest-grossing show on Broadway, according to Broadwayworld.com.
“For the last 40 years or so, the New York Times review really could make or break the success of the show. And that’s not always the case now,” Mann said. “Now with the “˜High School Musical’ phenomenon, it’s coming from a completely different place than the usual Mecca.”
The strong themes of friendship and individualism in “Wicked” speak to girls in their teens and younger. The story follows Elphaba, a green-skinned outcast who will one day turn into the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda, sweet but ditsy, who becomes Glinda the Good.
“You’ve got these two girls that used to be best friends and they become enemies. … It’s a coming-of-age story,” said Benny Aguayo, a UCLA alumnus and marketing associate for Broadway L.A., which is owned by the same company that operates the Pantages Theater. “With girls ages 13 to 17, that theme is really strong.”
“Wicked” opens at the Pantages Theater on Feb. 21 for what Aguayo explains will be an open-ended run; they don’t know when it will close.
“It could be there anywhere from nine months to two years. We follow the frenzy of the market,” Aguayo said. “I personally could see the show running for more than two years at the Pantages. … Anything is possible.”
The rising popularity of musicals means more opportunities for graduating musical theater students such as Taylor Sternberg, a 2006 graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Sternberg signed with an agent who was in the audience of his final performance at UCLA. Soon after, he landed a role in the national tour of “Jersey Boys,” currently playing in San Francisco.
“”˜Jersey Boys’ was my first professional audition, and I got it,” Sternberg said. “I’m very, very lucky.”
Sternberg explained that with more shows trying to become the next “Wicked” or the next “Jersey Boys,” the second-highest-grossing show on Broadway, there is bound to be a greater demand for actors.
“I think the opportunities (now) are definitely greater than when there was a lull,” Sternberg said.
“Wicked” and “Jersey Boys” are also so popular in part because their songs are catchy and fun. Their pop-music style will not only appeal to a young crowd, but it is a trend that Mann says harkens back to the early days of American musicals when the songs from plays were the popular music of the day.
“Musical theater and popular music were the same thing,” Mann said. “I think it has the potential to happen more and more ““ “˜High School Musical’ is just huge phenomenon.”
Popular songs and shows bring in more audiences, and hopefully these theater newcomers will come again.
“All you really need is one element of the show to capture your attention, and you will take the nontraditional theater audience member in and hook them on the musicals,” Aguayo said. “Once you get a taste of (musical theater), you’re addicted.”
But whether or not ticket sales soar in the future, “High School Musical” and its peers have sparked an interest in musicals among a new generation.
“Disney is at the front of helping attract younger and younger audiences to the performing arts, which is great,” Aguayo said. “You’re going to want to grab them while they’re young.”