Attending a Broadway musical is a magical experience. There’s nothing like sitting in an ornate theater alongside businessmen and tourists, shuffling a playbook in one hand and a $24 glass of wine in the other, all to see actors at the absolute top of their game belt their hearts out. But the exorbitant prices and location in New York City make seeing those original shows impossible for some.
Enter video games, a medium that allows you to become almost anything, anywhere. Some incredibly crafty players have managed to take these online sandboxes and tools created by developers to bring immaculate virtual theaters into the hands of anyone online.
Nearly two years ago, I attended a near-perfect recreation of the Lion King musical in Minecraft with puppets, lights, props, and thousands of different behind-the-scenes blocks controlling the whole thing. About a month ago, the theater had its last performance, and I was heartbroken when I found out a week too late.
But the almighty TikTok algorithm knew exactly what I was looking for and introduced me to the Illumination Theatre, a theater troupe inside of Roblox with 23,000 followers.
I am in my early thirties with no children (over 40% of Roblox users are under 13 years old) so I have never played Roblox or even knew much about it. But on the theater troupe’s Discord, I learned that it would be putting on “The Little Mermaid.” I might be out of the demographic for Skibidi Toilet, but I am unapologetically a Disney Adult.
So I downloaded Roblox and the Bloxburg game mode, which gives anyone a space where they can build anything, design a character, and also invite strangers.
On the day of the show, I waited in line with over two dozen players, dressed in their nicest fairy robes and evening gowns. I looked out of place with my only cosmetic being a bird on my shoulder (that I found a code for free online) and a stink cloud from forgetting to virtually bathe.
When the doors opened, every character rushed to the ticket stand. To get in, it would cost 1,000 Bloxburg cash, a currency only used in that mode, which I saved up beforehand by in-game fishing.
There was also a concession stand, with two avatars dressed as stewardesses taking orders. Ordering popcorn by typing in chat, donating the money to the other player, and then having the snack gifted to me was the closest I’ve ever felt to the metaverse being real. Putting on a fancy VR headset created by Mark Zuckerberg and sitting in an empty lobby just doesn’t hold a candelabra to doing make-believe capitalism with what I assume to be children.
With popcorn in my blocky palm, I sat down in a free seat as the show started up. The audio played through the Discord group, which I only learned about halfway through “Part of Your World.” Actors on stage mimed along to the musical’s soundtrack using in-game emotes as their interpretive dance. “Under the Sea” had at least a half dozen avatars with fish on their noggins twirling around.
But suddenly, after the second number, the game crashed, throwing dozens of confused players out in the street. Over Discord, an AI voice shared that there were “technical difficulties” and that it would start up again. Over the next 10 minutes, the theater reappeared in the same spot, with moderators warning users not to walk in until it was fully built, or else they’d fall through the ground.
After getting my seat again, it crashed once more. The process of rebuilding, sitting, and crashing would happen at least two more times before the troupe called a rain check. I’ll be returning to get the full experience on a later show because it was truly fascinating. According to Disney’s FAQ, you do need a performance license “whenever a show is presented in front of an audience,” but I won’t tell if you won’t.
It was clear that the theater’s creator, all the actors, and the packed-out house cared and wanted to experience something special within this virtual world. Honestly, I’d be willing to skip the overpriced wine to spend a few hours part of another world.
