By skyforbes 
By Tor Ingar Jakobsen
Introduction
The musical is one of the most dynamic forms of the performing arts. At all times it has possessed a unique ability to fuse music, lyrics, dance, and drama into a unified expression that both reflects and challenges its era. This is precisely why the musical is especially interesting to study from a media perspective. While many art forms have traditionally depended on institutions or specialized audiences, the musical has always had a strong relationship with mass media – from newspaper reviews to film, radio, television, and today’s social media.
In other words, the musical has never just been theatre: it is a genre in continuous dialogue with the media that surround it. From the first newspaper ads and colorful posters on 19th-century Broadway and the West End to today’s viral TikTok clips, the life of the musical beyond the theatre has been crucial to its success. The musical is therefore not only a stage product but also a cultural expression shaped by distribution channels, technologies, and media habits.
This article investigates the question: How have changes in media and distribution influenced the form, content, and reception of musicals? Which mechanisms have transformed musicals from local experiences into global brands and digital phenomena?
The analysis takes a historical and media-studies perspective, focusing on how each major media revolution – from the printing press and radio to LPs, TV, film, the internet, and social media – has shaped the aesthetics of the musical and its relationship with audiences. Concrete examples, from Show Boat and Oklahoma! to Les Misérables, Hamilton, and Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical, demonstrate how both content and distribution have been adapted to their time’s media.
This draws a line from the analog media landscape, where a review in The New York Times could decide a show’s fate, to today’s digital reality, where a single clip can go viral and generate global attention overnight.
The article is structured chronologically in seven parts, from the 19th-century printing press and newspaper reviews to TikTok and contemporary social media. Each section shows how new media have shaped the musical’s aesthetics, distribution, and audience practices, before the conclusion ties the threads together and points to the genre’s future opportunities and challenges.
1 Printing Press, Posters, and Newspaper Reviews (1800s – early 1900s)
When Broadway in New York and the West End in London emerged as the two principal centers of the commercial musical stage in the late 19th century, something decisive was happening on the media side as well. Printing became more accessible, the distribution of newspapers and printed matter faster, and the result was a new relationship between theatre and audience. Musicals were no longer discovered merely by strolling past a theatre; they were communicated, sold, and debated in the public sphere through text and image.
Posters and Playbills – Early Branding
Posters became the first tools of visual branding in the history of the musical. Large, colorful typography, lavish illustrations, and promises of stars and atmosphere lured audiences in. Passersby in New York’s theatre district or London’s Shaftesbury Avenue could identify a show at a distance simply by its distinctive poster. Playbills extended the experience: they were souvenirs to take home but also advertisements for future productions.
The Power of the Critics
In an era without radio and television, newspaper columns were the filter between stage and public. A review in The New York Times or The Daily Telegraph could send a production soaring – or shut it down after only a few nights. Critics thus became as important as the artists themselves, creating a public conversation about what was worth seeing.
Examples of Media Strategies
George M. Cohan, often called “the father of the American musical,” understood the power of the press early on. He used posters and slogans deliberately to make his songs common currency. “Give My Regards to Broadway” was not just a theatre number; it became a phrase that lived on in newspaper columns and advertisements.
At the other end of the spectrum stood Florenz Ziegfeld, who perfected the art of generating attention with his famous Ziegfeld Follies. The opulent posters, often featuring glamorous showgirls, became more than ads: they were symbols of luxury, entertainment, and escapism.
Ziegfeld Follies and the Media Revolution
Ziegfeld understood better than most how new media could expand the show itself. Posters of glamorous showgirls were mass-produced, making “The American Girl” a national symbol – beautiful, modern, glamorous. At the same time, songs from the Follies were recorded on gramophone records, allowing people to experience the music at home. Irving Berlin’s “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody” became a signature song of the Follies, known far beyond the theatre.
Ziegfeld also cast his showgirls as celebrities through interviews, portrait photography, and publicity stunts. He used both luxury and small scandals to ensure attention. The press thus became an extension of the stage – glamour lived as strongly in print as in the auditorium.
A Forerunner of 360-Branding
Ziegfeld’s strategy can today be described as an early form of 360-branding. The Follies existed not only on stage but in posters, records, magazines, and the rumor mill. Audiences encountered the brand before they entered the theatre and took it home afterward. “The American Girl” became both product and advertisement.
This also shaped the content of the productions. The shows were designed around glamorous staging and grand tableaux that could be reproduced in the media. Numbers like “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody” were not only musical highlights on stage; they functioned as the very soundtrack of Ziegfeld’s brand. The shows thus stretched beyond the theatre and into everyday life – a hybrid of entertainment and marketing long before the term existed.
2. Radio and Film: Musicals for the Masses (1920s – 30s)
The 1920s and 30s represented a technological revolution that transformed the musical’s parameters. With radio’s rapid spread and the breakthrough of sound film, musical songs could now reach audiences far beyond the halls of New York and London. Broadway and the West End remained the creative engines, but the material now had distribution channels that gave it entirely new reach.
From Stage to Screen
Film adaptations were early examples of how the musical’s language could be adapted to a new medium. Show Boat (1927) was a milestone on stage, but when the story was filmed in 1936, both the music and the narrative reached a global audience. Equally important was 42nd Street (1933), where Busby Berkeley developed a film language of geometric dance patterns and spectacular tableaux – images designed for the camera rather than the stalls.
Radio’s New Clout
Radio gave musical numbers a power they had never had before. Songs could become nationwide hits long before people ever saw the stage production. Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” is an early example: the Broadway show Betsy (1926) flopped, but the song got new life when Al Jolson performed it in The Jazz Singer (1927). Similarly, Harold Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz (1939) became Judy Garland’s signature and a radio staple.
This new situation created a double reality: a musical could stumble on Broadway yet still yield songs that endure as classics of popular music.
Hits Before Plot
This strongly affected how composers wrote for the stage. They prioritized songs that could work on radio and in record sales, not just in context. The result was that many shows took on a revue-like character: they were built around standalone numbers and showstoppers, while the overarching dramatic arc was often downplayed.
In other words, crafting a “hit song” that could live independently became more important than ensuring each number was organically rooted in the plot. That is why so many melodies from the 1920s and 30s now seem almost detached from their original shows – the works functioned more as frames for the songs than as cohesive narratives. An important exception is Show Boat (1927), which combined popular melodies with a more ambitious narrative and has therefore retained its place in the repertoire.
The Newspapers’ Power Endured
Even in this new media reality, a production’s fate could still be decided by the critics. A review in The New York Times or Variety could determine whether a show survived on Broadway. Thus musicals existed in a tension between theatre’s traditional power structures and the new channels that gave songs independent lives.
3. Television, LPs, and Film (1940s – 70s)
The Complete Cast Album and the LP
When Oklahoma! premiered in 1943, something entirely new was released alongside it: the first complete cast album. Previously, audiences had received only highlights – a few singles or excerpts. With Oklahoma! one could, for the first time, hear the entire score in the order it was written for the stage. This opened a new space for understanding. Listeners gained insight into the work’s totality – musical motifs, thematic arcs, and how songs wove into the story – at home in their living rooms.
For composers, this meant a new way of thinking. The musical was no longer merely a bundle of popular numbers but a work that could be appreciated and preserved as a whole. There was now incentive to construct longer musical lines in which the songs were interdependent, building a larger dramatic unity.
When the LP arrived a few years later, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the possibilities were greater still. The LP format accommodated up to about 45 minutes of music across two sides – enough to present an entire score with minimal cuts. Complete cast recordings became the norm. Musicals gained a second life on records: composers could think more holistically, works were preserved through sales, and owning a Broadway LP became a marker of cultural capital for a broader public.
The Musical Enters the Home via TV
While the LP changed listening habits, television was becoming a household fixture. In the 1950s and 60s, TV became a powerful promotional channel for musicals. Talk shows and variety programs were central platforms for spreading musical numbers, and shows like The Ed Sullivan Show had enormous influence over what people discussed – and bought tickets to.
Producers quickly understood the value of engaging performers who could command both the stage and the TV studio. Julie Andrews (My Fair Lady) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl) are prime examples of artists who excelled in both media and could carry a musical far beyond the theatre.
This TV revolution also had consequences for the content itself. More composers wrote with specific headliners in mind – knowing these faces also had to read well on screen. Casting decisions directly influenced style and dramaturgy. The musical was no longer designed solely for Broadway or the West End but adapted to a media environment in which TV appearances were crucial to success.
The Dominance of the Film Musical
It also became common to produce film versions of popular stage musicals. These films turned the musical into a global phenomenon. West Side Story (1961) won Oscars and redefined the genre’s status as both art and popular culture. The Sound of Music (1965) became a global cultural icon and one of the highest-grossing films of its time.
Content was often adjusted to fit the film format. Cabaret (1972) is a prime example, introducing new dramaturgical devices and giving us “Maybe This Time” – written specifically for the film. When the stage musical was subsequently revived, many productions chose to include the new material. The song had become a standard, and audiences expected to hear it in the theatre as well.
Film adaptations gave musicals “endless life.” Whereas the stage production vanished when the curtain fell, the film lived on in cinemas, on television, and eventually on home video – ready to be discovered by new generations.
When the Voice Doesn’t Match the Face
One of the most fascinating – and at times controversial – practices of the era was the use of so-called ghost singers. Studios recognized the immense commercial potential of big musicals but often prioritized star power over vocal prowess. Famous actors were given the leads while professional singers provided the vocals behind the scenes.
This was a calculated strategy: audiences would be drawn to cinemas by the charisma of Natalie Wood or Audrey Hepburn, while the soundtrack was perfected by voices like Marni Nixon’s. Viewers received a polished, “perfect” film experience – often without knowing who was actually singing.
There are many examples. In West Side Story (1961), Natalie Wood’s vocals were largely replaced by Marni Nixon. The same happened when Deborah Kerr starred in The King and I (1956). Audrey Hepburn’s performance in My Fair Lady (1964) was largely dubbed by – yes – Marni Nixon, who eventually earned the nickname “The Voice of Hollywood.” Even Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music (1965) was partially dubbed, in that case by Bill Lee.
That this practice was widespread yet rarely communicated to the public created a peculiar split: the visual charisma of film stars on the one hand, and the craft of anonymous professional singers on the other.
4. The Era of the Megamusical and Branding (1980s – 2000s)
Cameron Mackintosh had an idea that would change the landscape of musicals forever: Why not run theatre the way one runs an international brand? Where earlier producers saw shows as unique artworks tied to a specific time and place, Mackintosh saw an opportunity to build a global product. A musical could be wrapped in a recognizable logo, marketed through aggressive campaigns, and reproduced to the same standard no matter where in the world the audience was.
This was the core concept behind what soon became known as the megamusical.
Musical as Franchise
During the 1980s and 90s, Mackintosh developed a model reminiscent of the franchise approach familiar from restaurants and retail. Cats (1981), Les Misérables (1985), The Phantom of the Opera (1986), and later Miss Saigon (1989) were exported worldwide with the same scenography, the same music, and rigorous quality control. Local casting adapted language and accents, but the brand remained the same.
A theatregoer in London, New York, or Tokyo could thus rely on an almost identical experience. The musical was no longer a one-off event in time but a standardized product that could be sold globally.
Radio and TV as Marketing Machines
To achieve this, marketing had to scale up. Previously, theatre had been dependent on reviews, posters, and word of mouth. Mackintosh broke with tradition by leveraging mass media on a large scale: radio and TV advertising became central weapons in his arsenal.
Short TV spots showed the Phantom’s mask, Cosette’s face from Les Misérables, or the feline eyes from Cats, accompanied by a bar from the big anthems. “Memory” or “I Dreamed a Dream” were not just songs in a show; they were signature tunes in marketing campaigns. On radio, the songs rolled as standalone pop hits; on television, iconic images were repeated until they were etched into public consciousness.
This was new for musical theatre. For the first time, theatre was sold using the same methods as films, pop records, and consumer brands – evidence that the musical had moved out of a niche and into the global culture market.
When the Show Is the Star
A key consequence of this development was that the star performer mattered less. Broadway had for decades leaned on marquee names – the classic star-power strategy. With megamusicals, it was no longer the name on the poster that sold tickets but the show itself.
The spectacular stage pictures became the new stars: the helicopter landing on stage in Miss Saigon, the crashing chandelier in Phantom, the revolving stage in Les Misérables. Audiences came for the iconic moments they had seen on posters and TV spots, not for a specific actor.
Aesthetics and Universal Themes
Megamusicals also relied on aesthetic and dramaturgical principles that translated easily across cultures. The stories were simple yet emotionally charged – love, freedom, sacrifice, struggle against oppression. Themes that required little local context and could be understood in Paris as well as in Seoul.
Musically, these shows were carried by big, instantly recognizable ballads. “Memory” from Cats, “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables, and “The Music of the Night” from Phantom became anthems that worked equally well in the theatre, on cast albums, and in ad snippets.
Standardization and Globalization
Megamusicals thus represented a new kind of global theatre industry. Mackintosh’s model entailed strict control over logos, scenography, and music – much like a commercial brand ensures a cola tastes the same everywhere.
Audiences felt they were part of a global phenomenon. Seeing Les Misérables was not just a theatre outing; it was an entry into a universe shared by millions.
A New Epoch
In hindsight, it is clear that the period from 1980 to 2000 marked a shift: the musical moved from being an art form shaped by local particularities to becoming a global brand industry. Standardization and franchise thinking gave the genre enormous reach, but also meant that originality and local flavor were often overshadowed by unified branding.
The megamusical was no longer just a production – it was a product, sold on radio and TV, carried by logos, merchandise, and iconic stage images. Like pop music and Hollywood film, it became part of the global entertainment economy.
5. YouTube and Streaming: The Hamilton Effect (2000 – 2015)
When YouTube launched in 2005, few foresaw the platform’s impact on musical theatre. The internet had already begun to transform the music industry, but now the relationship between stage, audience, and distribution was turned on its head. A song, a clip – or even a bootleg – could reach a global audience in seconds. Where one previously had to wait for a national tour or an official cast album, productions now became accessible through videos, discussions, and fan-made content online. The digital age made the musical both more accessible and more unpredictable.
Bootlegs and New Fan Cultures
A central part of this development was the bootleg phenomenon. With handheld cameras and early smartphones, fans began recording performances and posting them online. Legally, this was problematic, but the result was a new kind of fan culture. Communities sprang up around illicit clips, and shows without big marketing budgets suddenly acquired global followings.
For the first time, producers did not control the flow – audiences did. This “underground distribution” became a parallel economy where passion and sharing mattered more than ticket revenue.
Producers’ Counter-Strategies
Industry responses were twofold. On one hand, there was active resistance to bootlegs: warnings, bans on filming, legal actions. On the other hand, producers began to see the potential in digital distribution. Increasingly, shows released short, professional “pro-shot” clips on YouTube as marketing. What had previously been illegal sharing became a calculated strategy: release small teasers to spark global interest.
New Demands on Form and Content
This also affected the shows themselves. As songs circulated digitally, they had to function both as parts of a coherent story and as standalone pop tracks. Catchy hooks, rhythmic drive, and quote-ready lyrics grew in importance. The musical started living a double life: as live performing art and as digital content with viral potential.
Hamilton as Paradigm Shift
No production illustrates this better than Hamilton. Lin-Manuel Miranda began the project as a mixtape around 2009 – 2010, and when he performed the opening number at the White House in 2010, the clip went viral on YouTube. Even before the show was fully written, it had international attention.
When the musical finally opened on Broadway in 2015, the producers released the cast album digitally almost simultaneously with the premiere. This was unusual – traditionally the album followed after a show had proven itself. Here, the album was used to power hype. Audiences worldwide could learn the lyrics without ever setting foot in the theatre.
The result was that Hamilton became a streaming sensation, not just a souvenir. The tracks spread like pop hits, and fans formed communities under the hashtag #HamFam. Memes, fan art, and cover versions circulated online, creating a global fan culture that far exceeded the capacity of a Broadway house.
Staged for Screen
But Hamilton was not only a phenomenon because of its music – the staging itself seemed conceived with cameras in mind. Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler developed geometric, rhythmic precision that read clearly from the stalls and worked beautifully in filmic framing. The revolving stage created momentum, and many scenes resolved into iconic tableaux – frozen moments designed to look like ready-made shots.
Costume and lighting supported this: historical yet stylized costumes in clear contrasts, and lighting that yielded crisp, filmic images. It was as if the production had been built from the outset with a future filmed version in mind.
When the pandemic closed theatres in 2020, the producers released a professional film capture of the original cast on Disney+. It was a strategic move that ensured both revenue and continued global reach – confirming that the musical’s future lay as much on screen as on stage.
A More Democratic Musical
This period can thus be read as the beginning of a more democratic musical culture. Where Broadway had once been a geographic and economic privilege, digital platforms made it possible for anyone with internet access to participate. Fans assumed an active role as a distribution force, and producers learned to collaborate with audiences rather than fight them.
TikTok and the Social-Media Revolution (2015 – present)
Around 2015, the musical’s relationship to media shifted again. Where YouTube and Spotify had enabled audiences to discover and share entire works, attention now turned to short-form content. With TikTok, Instagram Reels, and similar platforms, the focus moved from consuming a whole production or album to engaging with single moments of 15 to 60 seconds. What had once been a souvenir of the live experience became a gateway to an entire digital ecosystem.
Suddenly it was not only composers and producers who held the key to reaching audiences. Algorithm-driven platforms decided which clips appeared in feeds, which refrains trended, and which dance moves were copied thousands of times.
From Joke to Broadway-Grade Production
One of the most striking examples is Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical (2020). It began as a joke when a fan posted a short song inspired by the Disney film. Other users followed up with set designs, choreography, and new numbers. Within weeks it had grown into a global phenomenon. The result was a professional digital production with Broadway actors, streamed live to an international audience – with proceeds donated to charity.
The project showed that audiences are no longer mere consumers but active co-creators. The musical took shape in an interplay between fans and professionals, blurring the traditional boundary between stage and stalls.
“Clip-Worthy” Moments as Strategy
This logic has since become part of producers’ toolkits. Productions are staged with shareability in mind – how a stage picture, refrain, or dance sequence can be captured on a phone and live independently on social media. Lighting, saturated colors, and visual tableaux are designed to freeze for 20 seconds and look as good on a phone as in the theatre.
Dramaturgy in TikTok Time
TikTok is as much about content as distribution. When attention is captured in 15 – 60-second bursts, dramaturgy changes too. Newer works are increasingly built as a series of “clip-worthy” moments rather than long musical arcs. Songs are written shorter, with prominent hooks and refrains that function in isolation, and choreography often contains segments designed to be repeated or remixed in vertical video.
The result is that musicals today balance being cohesive narratives and collections of viral moments. Audiences expect not only a narrative curve but also a stream of segments they can recognize, quote, and reuse in their own videos.
Six – A Musical Built for TikTok
No production illustrates this better than Six. The musical, which tells the story of Henry VIII’s six wives, is structured as a pop concert with six solo numbers. Each number stands alone and functions perfectly as a shareable clip.
The score is packed with TikTok-friendly hooks: short refrains, contemporary beats, and choreographic motifs that invite lip-syncing and duets. Audiences pick up the songs, share their own versions, create costumes, and spread the choreography. The aesthetic is tuned to the algorithms: bold colors, clear lighting, and tableaux that read as crisply on a phone as in the house.
In short: Six is not only a musical but a continuous stream of shareable pop moments. Audiences are not passive recipients but co-creators of a universe that lives as much on TikTok as on stage.
A New Kind of Musical
The TikTok revolution has thus reshaped both the form and reception of musicals. Productions are increasingly designed as a series of segments that can live on digitally, while audiences help circulate and remix the material on their own terms.
The musical, long interwoven with the media of its time, has now found a new stage – in the pockets of millions of users worldwide.
Conclusion
Throughout history, the development of the musical has been inseparable from changes in the media landscape. From the printing press and posters to radio and film, from LPs and television to the global branding of the megamusical, and onward to digital distribution and the TikTok revolution – each media shift has altered the musical’s expression, distribution, and audience. The musical is not a static art form but a mirror of the technologies and media practices of its time.
This evolution nonetheless entails a tension between risk and opportunity. On the one hand, digitization and the social-media revolution risk fragmentation, superficiality, and commercialization. When productions are built around short, shareable moments, the whole can be subordinated. Musically and dramaturgically, this can foster a formulaic aesthetic in which hooks and viral “tricks” are prioritized over subtle storytelling or innovative experimentation.
On the other hand, media developments open new possibilities. Never before has access to musicals been so democratic, regardless of geography or economy. Through YouTube, Spotify, and TikTok, people around the world can discover, share, and participate in musical experiences. This creates a new form of audience closeness and participation, where fans not only consume but also shape and extend the material through remixes, duets, and creative interpretations.
In this tension, we can view the musical as a form of “media art” – a genre always in motion and always in dialogue with its contemporaneity. Where other performing arts may seek to preserve a fixed tradition, the musical has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to adapt to new technologies and audience habits. It is precisely this flexibility that has ensured its survival – from the newspaper columns of the 19th century to the viral TikTok trends of the 21st. The musical is therefore not only an expression of theatre history but also of media history – an art form that continually reinvents itself in step with the media of its age.
References (selection)
Everett, W. A., & Laird, P. R. (2002). The Cambridge Companion to the Musical. Cambridge University Press.
Feuer, J. (1993). The Hollywood Musical. Indiana University Press.
Henderson, A. (2022). “Musical Theatre in the Age of TikTok: Virality and the New Audience.” Theatre Journal, 74(3), 285 – 302.
Kenrick, J. (2010). Musical Theatre: A History. Bloomsbury.
Knapp, R. (2006). The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity. Princeton University Press.
McLamore, A. (2004). “Musical Theater on Television: Broadway Meets Ed Sullivan.” Journal of Popular Music Studies, 16(2), 123 – 139.
Miller, S. (2016). Hamilton: The Revolution. Grand Central Publishing.
Mordden, E. (2015). When Broadway Went to Hollywood. Oxford University Press.
Pine, J. (2016). “Bootlegs and Broadway: Fan Communities in the Digital Age.” Studies in Musical Theatre, 10(2), 135 – 151.
Savran, D. (2021). The Ratatouille Phenomenon: Digital Musicals and Participatory Culture. Routledge.
Stempel, L. (2010). Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. W. W. Norton.
Walsh, D. (2014). The Megamusical. Palgrave Macmillan.
Wolf, S. (2018). Hamilton and the Postmodern Stage. University of Michigan Press.
Tor Ingar Jakobsen is a Norwegian composer, pianist, and author. He has worked on musicals in both Norway and New York, and recently published Curtain Up: A Journey Through the Ages of Musical Theatre. He frequently lectures on musical theatre history and dramaturgy at universities and colleges.