Miss You Like Hell: Exploring the Impacts of Socially Conscious Musical Theatre on Audience Attitudes

In fall 2023, Arizona State University’s Musical Theatre and Opera program produced the Arizona premiere of the musical Miss You Like Hell by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes (In the Heights, Water by the Spoonful) and singer/songwriter Erin McKeown. Miss You Like Hell is a contemporary musical about an undocumented Mexican-American woman named Beatriz who is trying to gain legal citizenship. She and her teenage daughter, Olivia, travel the United States, from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, as they mend their fractured relationship. This paper details a research study surrounding this 2023 production of Miss You Like Hell as part of the author’s graduate study. The research study consisted of pre-show and post-show audience surveys and post-show talkbacks to measure the musical’s impact on audience attitudes toward immigration reform and interest in civic engagement around the issue. This study asked a critical question: How can theatre-makers and artist-activists utilize musical theatre to build community, impact attitudes, and increase civic engagement around social issues like immigration reform? This case study on Miss You Like Hell is an example of the impact of socially conscious musicals on audience attitudes. In this context, a socially conscious musical is defined as a musical that directly engages with a sociopolitical or social justice issue. The author concludes with a consideration of the research limitations and an invitation to future scholars to conduct further research at the intersection of musical theatre and social justice.