Anyone can dance on Broadway! Well, "anyone" white, thin and female.

An important lesson in inequality, brought to us by…a video game?

I had never really played console games before my roommate brought home a Nintendo Wii and the game Just Dance. In the blink of an eye, I could transform from a nerdy civil servant into Blondie, a Beach Boy, or even MC Hammer. Evenings at our apartment suddenly got a lot less boring.

But the real excitement came when my roommate told me that a musical theater game called Dance on Broadway was being released. I’m a huge Broadway fan, and as soon as I looked at the song list–which includes songs from Hairspray, Chicago, and The Rocky Horror Show–I knew I had to get it.

Instead of the single, abstracted avatar in Just Dance, Dance on Broadway lets you pick from four pre-determined characters per song, which are supposed to be true to the musicals. Both the box cover and game trailer are filled with pictures of people dressed in musical theater costumes, demonstrating how you can put yourself in the characters’ shoes: Continue reading →