Pop Goes the Musical

Is it time to defend the juke box musical – or at least stop mocking it?

Mamma Mia. Jersey Boys. All Shook Up. Rock of Ages. Movin’ Out:  for the last two decades, Broadway has played host to a long line of “jukebox musicals” – theatre productions that have taken pop and rock music from the radio to the stage as the framework for musical theatre.    

Some of these productions have been smash hits; some have closed in six weeks.  So -- how does Broadway deal with the rock-era American Songbook?

In this article, four New York theatre critics sit down to a lengthy discussion of the juke box musical, how they feel about it – and where they see the trend going.