Another Fucking High School Musical: An Exploration of Adolescent Female Archetypes in Contemporary, Commercial Musical Theater

This thesis explores the question of whether there is an overarching adolescent female archetype in contemporary Broadway musicals. My essay looks at five recent musicals, specifically how they depict the stories of young women. My musical tells the story of a group of teenaged friends through the eyes of a young woman. Through the essay and the musical, I find and explore an overarching trend for female adolescents in musical theater, namely that female adolescents in musicals are kind, dutiful, smart, and have a strong desire to be noticed. In my essay and my own creative work I engage with and subvert these trends.