Toxic Fans and Gatekeeping in the Musical Theatre Community

I am an unapologetic fan of Legally Blonde and Shrek The Musical. You might hear me singing the lyrics to “I Know It’s Today” in the shower, or see me working out to “Whipped Into Shape” (on the very, very rare occasions when I work out). I am also decisively not a fan of The Phantom of the Opera and Next to Normal. They just aren’t my thing. Trust me, I’ve heard it all. I know these are unpopular opinions.  

But here’s the dirty little secret about being a fan of musical theatre. No one fan is better than another fan simply because of the shows that they choose to enjoy. Seriously! You don’t have to love Hamilton or Hadestown in order to be the right kind of Broadway fan. And you don’t have to know any of the obscure shows that musical hipsters brag about in order to be a part of this community. I hope that others won’t judge me for adoring the silliness of Shrek and I will never look down on someone for getting lost in the world of Phantom.

Today I am here to talk about a problem in the musical theatre fan community: gatekeeping. What does that mean? Well, the musical theatre community is a big one, especially on the internet. There are Tumblr fan blogs, TikTok accounts, Twitter fan accounts, and Facebook groups. Fans listen to the cast recordings, anxiously await the Tony’s, wait at the stage door to meet their favorite performers, and see their favorite shows over and over again before they close. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that.

What is wrong with the theatre fandom is the belief that objectively, some musicals are better than others, and that if you like a certain show, you aren’t the right kind of theatre fan. Gatekeeping is the practice of musical theatre fans who feel that they have the authority to determine who belongs and who doesn’t belong based on whether or not someone is a “true fan.”

And I get it. There’s a feeling of superiority in the idea that you’ve seen all the best shows and that you know what’s good and what isn’t. It’s nice to know all of the right trivia and to be able to rattle off the names of every Tony-award winner of the last five years. I can understand loving something so much that you don’t want to share it with others unless you deem them worthy.

But here’s the issue: When someone brags to me about all of the shows they’ve been able to see on Broadway or condescendingly name drops performers I haven’t yet heard of in order to prove that they know more about theatre than anyone else in the room, I don’t feel impressed. I feel unwelcome. When a young theatre fan expresses their love for Wicked and others reject them claiming that it’s too mainstream or not good enough, it doesn’t come off as superior intelligence, it comes off as cruel. 

The beautiful thing about musical theatre is that there are so many different genres to choose from. Let’s be real, you can’t compare a show like Hamilton to Guys and Dolls. And if someone has discovered a musical that they like or experiences a love for musical theatre for the first time in their twenties instead of in their childhood, they are not any worse than someone who has been a fan since they first heard show tunes. 

Let’s be more welcoming as a community. All musical theatre fans have the right to exist and the right to love the shows that they love without shame. And let’s be honest with ourselves: Aren’t there more important things to get angry about? Why waste energy on policing the musical theatre community when you can simply enjoy the shows and share your joy with others? 

Listen to the shows that you love and allow others to do the same. Respect the fans who see every show and memorize the playbills that they obsessively collect right alongside those who just want to jam to the Mamma Mia! recording. Let’s all just get along.

But I will say I have one exception to this rule. I will absolutely judge people who genuinely enjoyed the movie version of Cats, and I think that’s okay.