The other day the WGN Morning News featured two “new” musicals in town, West Side Story and Footloose. In both the leading ladies and much of the female cast were, um, zaftig. Totally unlike Natalie Wood or Lori Singer. I know what figures are stylish change and these ladies are more realistically built, and I’m far from a fat shamer, but I’m wondering if I’m detecting a sea change in show biz, where thick is the new thin.
Your opinions and observations?
Really?
Both actresses are, indeed, actually on the curvy side, as you can see in the websites for the shows:
I’m not sure how much of a “sea change” it is. I still see too many actresses who just seem to be painfully thin, and I know that there’s often a tremendous amount of pressure on them to be that thin in order to get work in the industry. I saw Julianna Margulies on Stephen Colbert’s show last night, and she was sooo thin. 
It’s interesting to note that, for the past couple of years, Sports Illustrated has included bigger models in its Swimsuit issue (and, this year, they also have a model who has the skin condition vitiglio), though I suspect that a lot of that is SI fighting against perceptions that the Swimsuit issue is just exploitation of women (which, frankly, it is).
Perhaps it’s less about a shift toward “thick” per se, and more toward a sort of body-blind philosophy in casting. If so, it’s definitely a good thing. I’d much rather see the best actor/singer/dancer get the part than a less talented performer who happens to be thin, just because of conventional norms about attractiveness.
(Not that these two ladies are unattractive, but you get my point.)
I danced through college. It was a semi-pro troupe. I can tell you forsure the petite, extra thin dancer was the most highly sought after for lead roles. Girls (and guys, some) starved themselves to stay thin. I never met a prima who wasn’t anorexic and/or bulimic. Diet pills were sought after legally or otherwise.
I’ve seen a change in the last few years. It’s a good thing, I think. It’s a far more natural size. They must be eminently healtier.
Johanna McKenzie Miller is in it! An actual acquaintance of mine! And she’s directing now! I remember when she was sad that she was aging out of lead ingenue roles. Voice like an angel (she and her husband, always in the running for Hottest Professor where he teaches drama, sat in front of me in church) and a proper, no starvation and really nice, figure. I hope I remember correctly having said, “You can always direct.”
Thick is pretty popular right now, but not that type of thick. It usually means a big butt and chest with a tiny waist. What we used to call curvy before it started meaning fat.
Eh, not enough data points to indicate that. They’re still pretty and not unhealthily obese, so it’s fine by me.
Opera singers used to be associated with large size (“It’s not over 'til the fat lady sings”), and musical theater isn’t that different from opera. Though I’m not sure if that’s necessarily relevant: The “fat lady” era of opera was before electronic amplification, and it’s easier for a big person to project out into a large auditorium.
I think “Body Positive” is the new thin.
(Which is a fad I hope stays)
I like that,** Grrr!,** after decades of loathing myself over my weight. Funny/sad thing is I was looking at some yearbook photos and realized I was kinda hot despite my weight.
In ballet and similar dance forms this is always going to be true, no? Because the premier danseur has to be able to throw her around some, and tiny skinny women are always going to be easier to lift.
In the types of dance where performers stand on their own two feet, so to speak, having bigger danseuses doesn’t wreck the choreography.
Don’t hold your breath. Fashion always burns through whatever the new thing is until it can’t stand it any more and then moves on to something else.
I’ve been noticing it also, and it seems to coincide with society (slowwwwwwly)embracing a widening scope of cultures and lifestyles. And it’s about damn time.
On a related note, does anyone else find the term “think” somewhat distasteful? (Not knocking you, dropzone, for using it). To me it sounds like just another way to say “big”.
I’ve noticed this in a few ways, as well.
I have Buzzfeed on my phone - if only to keep up with my two teen girls when they throw stories at me - and I’ve notice something about what they recommend.
Especially in the swimsuit stories the recommend links to buy them - I presume BF gets a piece of the action - the women modelling the suits tend to be larger than your normal model-thin woman.
Here’s a representative example chosen at random:
I’m in no way arguing this is a bad thing. It’s just indicative of the trend the OP has spotted. Whether it’s for inclusion’s sake or just a marketing move that occurs because women as a whole are getting larger and advertisers want to appeal to that demo I couldn’t say. But it’s an interesting trend to notice.
I was in Target just the other day and noticed one of the mannequins modeling the bikinis was “plus” size.
Never seen that before.
I told my wife that one of the great tragedies (a bit facetious, true) of her life is she will, at the age of 95, look at her old pictures and finally, only then, realize how beautiful she was.
I assume you meant “thick” because nobody accuses me of thinking. I used it because I cannot resist alliteration. :o
I tell my obese (diagnosed) beagle not to look at the beagles in Dog Fancy magazine. It’s all done with lighting and edting.
I think thick suggests more of larger body type that carries weight well. Big can be anything from not skinny to obese.