TikTok Broadway

This week’s review explores the relationship between TikTok and Broadway, analyzing how fans use the app to expand upon popular musicals.

Posted on December 16, 2024 in Reviews of the Month

TikTok Broadway: Musical Theatre Fandom in the Digital Age

Boffone, Trevor. Oxford, 2024
232p bibl index, 9780197743676 $34.95, 9780197743683

This book by is a success on multiple levels. For people who are not very familiar with TikTok culture or Broadway musicals, the engaging examples and compelling prose are sure to make the reader walk away having learned a great deal. For students and scholars already engaged with one (or both) of those topics, the scholarly analysis illuminates a fascinating intersection of technology, fan culture, and popular theatrical works that will surely be regularly cited in the future. The four main chapters are detailed case studies with short interlude chapters in between. The book explores Beetlejuice and its viral marketing; how lines of dialogue from Heathers expands far beyond the musical and becomes the lingua franca for Gen Z audiences, who have never watched the show; how fan-created videos brought a DIY Ratatouille musical to life, and much more. Smart and intriguing discussions of Wicked, Legally Blonde, and Encanto round out an excellent book that is sure to far outlive any viral TikTok trend of the year.

Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.
Reviewer: S. Pepper, Northeastern Illinois University
Subject: Humanities – Performing Arts – Theater & Dance
Choice Issue: Feb 2025

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