--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one expects a Broadway musical comedy…" description: "\"No one expects a Broadway musical comedy to be in the vanguard of what is bohemian, raunchy, folkloric, academic or aggressively experimental. That is ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf2/margo-jefferson-38348_academic_no-one-expects-a-broadway-musical-comedy_184048.jpg" --- # No one expects a Broadway musical comedy to be in the… ![“No one expects a Broadway musical comedy to be in the vanguard of what is bohemian, raunchy, folkloric, academic or aggressively experimental. That is not its job. Its job is to synthesize musical and social traditions with high-styled vivacity, especially those that dwell on different sides of…” quote by Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf2/margo-jefferson-38348_academic_no-one-expects-a-broadway-musical-comedy_184048.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf2/margo-jefferson-38348_academic_no-one-expects-a-broadway-musical-comedy_184048.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf2/margo-jefferson-38348_academic_no-one-expects-a-broadway-musical-comedy_184048.jpg) > “No one expects a Broadway musical comedy to be in the vanguard of what is bohemian, raunchy, folkloric, academic or aggressively experimental. That is not its job. Its job is to synthesize musical and social traditions with high-styled vivacity, especially those that dwell on different sides of the tracks in real life. The highbrow meets the lowbrow; sweet meets hot; uptown, downtown, all around the town.” [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Broadway musical comedies blend diverse cultural and social elements, creating a vibrant, accessible art form that bridges high and low culture. **In simple terms:** Musicals mix many influences into lively entertainment. Key Takeaway Celebrate the fusion of varied traditions. Themes culture art diversity entertainment Mood energetic reflective Type critical celebratory When to use this quote - theatre production - community festivals - educational curricula - cross‑cultural collaborations Key Concepts genre hybridity social commentary performance studies Questions to Reflect On - How does a musical reflect societal tensions? - What value lies in mixing highbrow and lowbrow art? A Different Perspective Commercial pressures may dilute artistic experimentation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Bohemian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bohemian/) [Broadway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broadway/) [Broadway musical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broadway-musical/) [Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Lowbrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lowbrow/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Musical comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musical-comedy/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) [Vivacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vivacity/) ## Related quotes > [I wanted to be on Broadway, but in musical comedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/i-wanted-to-be-on-broadway-but-in-musical-comedy/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [Grunge was so self-consciously lowbrow and nonaspirational that it seemed, at first, impervious to the hype and glamour normally applied swiftly to any emerging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/grunge-was-so-self-consciously-lowbrow-and-nonaspirational-that-it/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [ No, no, I'm a lowbrow. I read \[Dostoevsky\] more out of obligation than enjoyment. For enjoyment, for me, it's a beer and the football… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/no-no-i-m-a-lowbrow-i-read-dostoevsky-more-out-of-obligation-than/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [So my humor, I'd say, comes from a mixture of lowbrow comedy shows and highbrow theater. It's an interesting mix.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/so-my-humor-i-d-say-comes-from-a-mixture-of-lowbrow-comedy-shows-and/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [“There's no difference between pulp fiction and highbrow fiction, one is as good as the other, the only difference is the aura they have,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/there-s-no-difference-between-pulp-fiction-and-highbrow-fiction-one/) [Karl Ove Knausgård](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) > [I do read on holiday, but it tends to be very lowbrow. I'm into really camp biographies, and I'm a shameless fan of Jilly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-raison/i-do-read-on-holiday-but-it-tends-to-be-very-lowbrow-i-m-into-really/) [Miranda Raison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-raison/) > [Mozart is everyone's tea, pleasing to highbrows, middlebrows and lowbrows alike, though they probably all get different kinds of pleasure from him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/mozart-is-everyone-s-tea-pleasing-to-highbrows-middlebrows-and/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [I was thinking about sort of the similarities between "art movies" and lowbrow movies like kitschy sexploitation films. I think they share certain qualities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/i-was-thinking-about-sort-of-the-similarities-between-art-movies-and/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [I'm pretty lowbrow. It's a failing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/domhnall-gleeson/i-m-pretty-lowbrow-it-s-a-failing/) [Domhnall Gleeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/domhnall-gleeson/) > [I've always been pretty ravenous about pop culture, highbrow and lowbrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-vincent/i-ve-always-been-pretty-ravenous-about-pop-culture-highbrow-and/) [St. Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-vincent/) > [What we are headed for is a sort of social structure in which the highbrows are the elite, the middlebrows are the bourgeoisie and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-lynes/what-we-are-headed-for-is-a-sort-of-social-structure-in-which-the/) [Russell Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-lynes/) > [Lowbrow ingredients don't equal inexpensive or not tasty food. In fact, it requires even more skill to make something simple into something spectacular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-leung/lowbrow-ingredients-don-t-equal-inexpensive-or-not-tasty-food-in-fact/) [Alvin Leung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-leung/) > [His (Lloyd Kaufman) string of low-budget, lowbrow horror comedies stretching back to the ’80s has been cited as influence by Peter Jackson, the Farrelly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-lumenick/his-lloyd-kaufman-string-of-low-budget-lowbrow-horror-comedies/) Lou Lumenick > [ \[Virginia Madsen\] big part in that movie \['Class'\] required her shirt to get ripped off, and looking back, it couldn't be a more egregious,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/virginia-madsen-big-part-in-that-movie-class-required-her-shirt-to/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [At one point when I was very young, when I was first starting out, I thought, 'Well, one day I'll be able to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-burnham/at-one-point-when-i-was-very-young-when-i-was-first-starting-out-i/) [Bo Burnham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-burnham/) ## More by Margo Jefferson > [Depression is so treacherous - it can be so alluring as well as punishing. After all, it's yours and yours alone - no one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/depression-is-so-treacherous-it-can-be-so-alluring-as-well-as/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [“You are a single woman; you intend to remain one. You’ve acquired enough sexual experience to feel you belong to your times. You do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/you-are-a-single-woman-you-intend-to-remain-one-you-ve-acquired/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [Witty, brooding, contemplative, explosive: take your pick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/witty-brooding-contemplative-explosive-take-your-pick/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [The world I grew up in had both a literal and mythological quality. We were on the borders of several worlds - the larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/the-world-i-grew-up-in-had-both-a-literal-and-mythological-quality-we/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [Creativity isn't far away, or outside of you. It's an inner movement, a heart-shift, a joy making its way out of your throat or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/creativity-isn-t-far-away-or-outside-of-you-it-s-an-inner-movement-a/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [“the elite of our people” had, in his quiet way, escaped slavery. In 1841 Joseph Willson, dentist, of Philadelphia, published Sketches of the Higher…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/the-elite-of-our-people-had-in-his-quiet-way-escaped-slavery-in-1841/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [I think the most harmful belief passed on to me - not always directly - was the belief that whatever I did as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/i-think-the-most-harmful-belief-passed-on-to-me-not-always-directly/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [We talk about how we think, believe, suspect Michael Jackson treats children. We don't talk about how WE treat child stars. Child stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/we-talk-about-how-we-think-believe-suspect-michael-jackson-treats/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [Depression isn't the almighty ruler of your destiny. Even its familiar traits - grief, anger, despair - you find that you can use in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/depression-isn-t-the-almighty-ruler-of-your-destiny-even-its-familiar/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [For better or worse, there is not a situation in one's daily life that does not have feminist subtext, superstructure, implications and one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/for-better-or-worse-there-is-not-a-situation-in-one-s-daily-life-that/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) > [The theater let me dramatize inner struggles, the push-pull between the inner life and the world, the various selves I presented according to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-jefferson/the-theater-let-me-dramatize-inner-struggles-the-push-pull-between/) [Margo Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) [Explore all 12 Margo Jefferson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-jefferson/) ## More Academic quotes > [When I went to college, as much as my parents emphasized academic achievement, they emphasized marriage even more. 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Good sleep they sought for themselves, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/now-know-i-well-what-people-sought-formerly-above-all-else-when-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Because my graduate academic training at law school was not one that included most of the intellectual traditions I find useful for understanding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-spade/because-my-graduate-academic-training-at-law-school-was-not-one-that/) [Dean Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-spade/) > [An academic discipline, or any other semiotic domain, for that matter, is not primarily content, in the sense of facts and principles. 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