The digital-age musical: Sighting/siting musicals defined by high-tech content, themes, and memes

The dawn of the digital age provided groundbreaking subject matter ripe for treatment on the musical theatre stage; but given the overall lack of contemporary mainstream musicals that predominantly deal with the high-tech revolution, one might question whether Broadway has dropped the cyber ball. Are there other venues taking up the cause and content? This chapter examines a handful of digital-centric productions that have been workshopped in the Broadway vicinity, while others have premiered on regional stages across America and abroad. And although most musical librettos on the live stage are rooted more in the past than the iPresent, online musicals (or YouTubsicals) on the Internet are taking up the cyber banner in terms of content and themes. Yet, these popular and highly reflexive works further complicate the traditional definition of a “musical.”