Essay

Introduction

In this specialist study I will aim to talk about how mental health issues are portrayed in musical theatre whether it’s through song, choreography or the characters behaviour. I will attempt to achieve this through articles, published musicals, YouTube videos etc. Mental health issues in young people for me means that mental health issues can affect anyone and some young people may severely suffer with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, conduct disorder etc. I also believe that in this day and age young people suffer with mental health more severely than before because of things like social media. Young people see these celebrities whether it’s on instagram, facebook or snapchat and they see their seemingly ‘perfect lives’ or their ‘perfect bodies’ and think they’re worthless and can never measure up to them. This can develop depression and low self esteem. Social media also is a massive platform for anonymous bullying. Sometimes it’s relentless and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it and then people who are a victim of online bullying begin to believe the things that bullies say about them and that can also lead to depression and social anxiety. These serious mental illnesses are cleverly portrayed in things like musicals such as the musical Be More Chill and Dear Evan Hansen. With these two musicals they portray social anxiety through their amazing scores. They’re also 2 of the musicals I’m going to be talking about. The other musicals I’m talking about focus on different mental illnesses such as next to normal, we have apples and lady in the dark which focuses on mental illnesses like bipolar, depression and psychoanalysis.

Section 1

The first musical I’m going to be talking about is next to normal where the main character is Diana , a mother of two struggling with Bipolar disorder. Bi Polar disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional heights. In the musical Diana is struggling with Bi Polar disorder is a disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional heights. This may be first conveyed to the audience when Diana is making a meal which is covering every surface of the kitchen. Another time that her mental illnesses is conveyed is when her daughter boyfriend is over for dinner and Diana makes a cake for her sons birthday but her husband reminds her that “Gabe died 16 years ago” even though she may be aware of this she still believes that he’s there this is conveyed in the songs “Just Another Day” , and “I Miss The Mountains”. In the song “I Miss The Mountains” she explains, “I miss the highs and lows, all the climbing, all the falling, and all the while the wild wind blows.” Diana wants to move forward with her life, but she is unable to do so because her past haunts her. In the song “Just Another Day ” Diana is speaking to her deceased son about missing his curfew and Dan (her husband) comes in the room and says “everything alright? I heard voices’ ‘ and Diana says “just me talking to myself”. For me this implies she still thinks her son is still here however she knows that her husband thinks he’s not here so she doesn’t want to tell him she thinks Gabe (her son) is still alive as she’s worried Dan will think she’s crazy.

(Next to Normal – PLOT SYNOPSIS, 2022)

I feel the trauma caused by past losses has produced distant relationships between her and both her husband and her daughter. Bipolar Disorder is a condition in which an individual goes back and forth between very good, or manic, moods and very sad, irritable moods, or depressions. The “mood swings” between mania and depression can be very quick. The disorder affects men and women equally, and usually begins to appear between the ages of 15 and 25. The exact cause is unknown, but the disorder is known to occur more often in relatives of people with bipolar. Bipolar Disorder is a condition in which an individual goes back and forth between very good, or manic, moods and very sad, irritable moods, or depressions. The “mood swings” between mania and depression can be very quick. The disorder affects men and women equally, and usually begins to appear between the ages of 15 and 25. The exact cause is unknown, but the disorder is known to occur more often in relatives of people with bipolar disorder.

(Alliance Theatre, 2022).

Section 2

The second musical I’m doing is Be more Chill. This is all about the mental disorder ‘social anxiety’ involving social media and how teens just really want to fit in at high school. The play centres around Jeremy, a lonely kid who wants to fit in at high school but is constantly bullied because he’s a ‘nerd’ and an ‘outcast’. Jeremy then discovers and takes this pill and this squib is telling him how to be cool and makes him talk to girls and berates him for not engaging in sexual favours with a girl he likes.

(Be More Chill – SYNOPSIS, 2022).

The topic of social media being derogatory for young people is conveyed through various songs throughout the musical . An example of this would be the song “The Smartphone hour”. This song consists of all the teens in the show starting up a rumour about how one of the characters Rich “set a fire and burned down the house”. This rumour is spread by various different types of social media. It starts off with a girl named Jenna phoning her friend and telling her that Rich set a fire but he wasn’t drunk. Then after that the girl Jenna phoned calling another girl and telling her that she saw the whole thing and it was frightening. After that the rumour goes around all over social media as in the song the teens are singing about how they’re “sending a text” and “sending a tweet”. Then in a very passive aggressive way the teens begin to say “R-I-C-H can’t you see? Just how much I care about your tragedy. Change my profile pic to you now I fully understand what you’re going through. R-I-C-H it’s a drag, I read, she read, they read, you’re in a body bag. R-I-C-H can’t you see just how much I love your tragedy”. (Be More Chill Ensemble – The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set A Fire) Lyrics | Genius Lyrics, 2022)

In my opinion this is how social media is a derogatory way in how people use the internet as rumours like this can ruin someone’s life and can lead to mental illnesses like social anxiety, depression which is what it all leads up to in the show along with drug use and sex which are the key themes in this musical.

In my opinion Be More Chill the musical contrasts really well with the musical Dear Evan Hansen as the musical is all about how the lead character Evan Hansen is an anxious, isolated teenager who is longing for understanding and belonging amongst all the chaos and cruelty of the social media age. He then embarks on a self-discovering journey when a letter he wrote for a writing exercise suggested by his therapist and then falls into the wrong hands of a grieving couple whose son just committed suicide. In my opinion, unlike Be More Chill, Dear Evan Hansen has some good to come out of social media. For example, when Connor’s memorial speech goes viral loads of people share their support and love and feel that they aren’t alone anymore because there’s so many people going through similar situations however it is making the lie even more hard for Evan to deal with. I find the song ‘You will be found’ very moving and uplifting as even though it’s talking about someone taking their own life it’s also young people coming forward and saying ‘you are not alone’ and to talk to someone and the song conveys safety and compassion and the fact social media gives people a voice and a platform to bring people together. Even when Evan sings in the song “Even when the dark comes crashing through when you need a friend to carry you, when you’re broken on the ground. You will be found” conveys the positives of social media and unlike “Be More Chill”, Dear Evan Hansen shows positives and negatives of social media. (Film, 2022).

Section 3

Using these websites:

(Next to normal- PLOT SYNOPSIS,2022)

(Alliance theatre, 2022)

(Be More Chill- SYNOPSIS, 2022)

(Rich Set A Fire) Genius | Lyrics, 2022)

(Film, 2022)

I have successfully managed to convey how mental health is demonstrated through musical theatre. For the 3 musicals I’ve talked about I personally agree with all the points made in the sources I have used. Musical theatre is such an amazing way to get across to young people the struggles of mental health disorders as it can affect anyone at any time. I feel that the sources summed up the musicals perfectly in terms of how mental health was included in the musicals I’ve talked about. Especially the sources I found about the musicals Dear Evan Hansen and Be More Chill. The reason I believe this is because both sources mention the plot and the story behind the songs so well and it really gives me a good understanding to write about them in this essay. The Dear Evan Hansen source especially has also provided me with really great quotes that are sung in the songs of the musical. The sources I used for the musical Next To Normal were phenomenal as one of them made me understand and be familiar with the plot of the show and provided the songs for me so I could listen to the lyrics and the source also gave me background on the songs I quoted in this essay. In the other source I used for Next to Normal was amazing because it gave me some background on the characters and the mental disorder that is conveyed in the musical and what it is and it was super insightful and helpful.

Conclusion

In conclusion I feel that the fact mental health is conveyed in musical theatre is amazing as it can really get across to young people because as more and more young people go to the theatre and watch these musicals that focus around mental health themes the more understanding young people have with mental health. I also feel that the sources I used for the musicals I looked at are so amazing and reliable and made me really appreciate how mental health was incorporated into the lyrics of the songs in the musicals specifically. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it and got a good understanding of how mental health is incorporated into musical theatre.

Bibliography

Film, I., 2022. Exploring mental health and social media in musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen’. [online] Intofilm.org. Available at: <https://www.intofilm.org/news-and-views/articles/dear-evan-hansen-feature> [Accessed 19 January 2022].

Themusicallyrics.com. 2022. Be More Chill – SYNOPSIS. [online] Available at: <https://www.themusicallyrics.com/b/395-be-more-chill-the-musical-songs-lyrics/5114-be-more-chill-synopsis.html> [Accessed 19 January 2022].

Themusicallyrics.com. 2022. Next to Normal – PLOT SYNOPSIS. [online] Available at: <https://www.themusicallyrics.com/n/192-next-to-normal-the-musical-lyrics/7649-plot-synopsis.html> [Accessed 19 January 2022].

Alliancetheatre.org. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://alliancetheatre.org/sites/default/files/N2N%20Study%20Guide.pdf> [Accessed 19 January 2022].