Everyone sure seems to have a favorite musical: Selena Gomez is into “Chicago,” after first seeing it when she was way too young. “Titanic” director James Cameron’s is more of a “Wizard of Oz.” “Les Misérables” is President Donald Trump’s show of choice. (He’s actually a big musical theater fan. But does he hear what the people sing?!) And New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani likes “Dear Evan Hanson” ― a very millennial pick.
But really, not everyone loves Broadway. For every person whose hiiiiills are alive with the sound of music, there’s another who’d prefer you turn that racket down!
Even some huge musical theater lovers aren’t thrilled with the more movie-centric direction the Great White Way has taken as of late. (Think: musicals that are based on movies like “Mean Girls” or the pop songs of Swedish pop songwriter Max Martin, like in “& Juliet.”)
Kurt Gänzl, the author of “The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre,” has made his life’s work writing about musicals of the 19th and 20th century, and even he feels that way.
“I’m not keen on the hugely over-amplified, often soggy-storied, rarely witty and merry shows of the last 20 years,” Gänzl told HuffPost. “Too much pretentiousness, too much campery and trendiness, too much aging pop-music, second-hand movie stories ― too much NOISE.”
Those very well might be some of your reasons, too, if you dislike musicals. But to dig a little deeper, we decided to ask some therapists who love musical theatre what it might say about someone if they hate the sound of music(als).
You don’t understand why people would just break out in song in the middle of a conversation.
Vernique Esther, a therapist in Georgia and Washington, D.C., loves musicals. “Hamilton” and “Once on This Island” are her favorites. Still, she knows they’re not for everybody.
“What I’ve heard most is that it seems unrealistic that a song would break out in the middle of a conversation,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s the ADHD, but any conversation with me is liable to have a song break mid-sentence.”
That said, Esther could see how it all could feel a bit childish, especially for people who enjoy more drama or action content. You might wonder, “Why don’t they just get to the point already?”
“Some people may prefer not to have to sit through a duet to get to the point of a dialogue in the storyline,” she said. “You may feel like the dancing and singing is a distraction from the main point of the story being told.”
However, she’d venture to say that any Marvel or DC storyline requires just as much suspension of belief as musical theater.
You find it all a little overstimulating.
“The dynamics onstage in musical theater can sometimes be overstimulating for people,” said Alaina O’Neill, a therapist and counselor in private practice in Philadelphia who likes musicals. (Her current favorite? “Maybe Happy Ending,” which is running on Broadway.)
Interestingly, a lot of people with ADHD or who are otherwise neurodivergent say they find something calming in music and musical theater: The way a production with so much high energy, noise and creative expression from a cast of say, 50, can be made to fit into a seamless structure that eventually makes sense.
You’d had some bad — or more likely, annoying — experiences with theater kids.
Maybe it’s less the musicals and more the people that annoy you, O’Neill said.
“I’m a theater kid at heart, but I do admit that sometimes the culture can be a bit much,” she said. “I think that is ultimately what can turn people off to musical theater. I think the culture is what makes it such a beautiful community, but just like every personal interest, some people don’t vibe with it. I know many people who would not enjoy sports culture or gaming culture.”
Theater is made for everyone, she said, just not enjoyed by everyone (kind of like improv and pineapple pizza), and that’s OK.
You may prefer things a little more literal.
Matthew Michael Brown, a psychotherapist with Angeles Psychology Group in Los Angeles, said you might have a slight distaste for musicals if you’re more literal-minded.
“For those of us who love them, musicals are an incredibly rich medium for psychologically minded story lovers because you get to experience traditional narrative structure while taking breaks into the hearts and minds of characters via song,” he said.
“Songs are effective and unique departures from the story presentation because they bring us into our feelings and bodies,” he said.
You don’t like joy. (Just kidding!)
Musical arts in general used to be seen as a valuable experience, one that was also reserved for higher socioeconomic status, Ester noted. In recent years, she thinks the medium has been greatly devalued. It could be because of the dip into more commercial works based on familiar, audience-tested IPs, as Gänzl noted. But Ester thinks it has more to do with audiences becoming more jaded as a whole.
“I really think that people are so jaded that anything that doesn’t reflect the reality they live in feels futile or childish,” she said, “in a time where the youngest of adults finds everything ‘cringe’ to the point that excitement and unabashedness is judged.”
Widespread nihilism and contrarianism are a product of the unprecedented, harsh times we live in, she wagered.
“Something as silly as a musical (although not all musicals are jovial, per se) feels like a waste of time,” she said.
Maybe you just don’t like them, though. Either way, Ester said it’s worth continuing to try them out when one does pique your interest. That’s all we aaaaaask of you.