“Trash Talk and Virtual Protests”

This chapter explores the personalization and politicization of the musical in the era of Web 2.0 through an exploration of the online distribution of and response to politicized Internet musicals and the act of musical-related hate-watching and live-tweeting. Although the genre has historically been somewhat interactive, contemporary technologies have opened spaces for increased political and personal interaction with the musical, and practitioners and fans have embraced these new possibilities. For much of the genre’s history, stage and film musicals have been discursively framed as cultural unifiers. From Oklahoma! to Grease and Hairspray, decades of tuners united bickering couples, battling factions, and divided communities, creating fictional utopic worlds of communal potential. The twenty-first century brings the notion of the musical-as-body genre into a new context. It goes beyond emotional affects evidenced on the viewers’ bodies alone. It surpasses purchasing or sharing the cast recording. It transcends mere mimicry and adds a level of engagement via the click, share, or comment.