Musical Theater

○ Concept musical

- theme driven § A Chorus Line, Company, Caberet

SHOWBOAT

-1927-produced by Ziegfeld -Had one composer and one lyricist --Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II -Takes place over a 30 year period (1800s-1920s) -Songs developed the plot and character -Serious subject matter-crumbling romantic relationships, gambling, racism, alcoholism -Full white and full black chorus -Cemented the development of writer/composer teams --George and Ira Gershwin, Rogers and Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe

Oklahoma!

-1942-based on a play "Green Grow the Lilacs" -Rogers and Hammerstein -Simple and straight forward plotline -Show started with a solo performer singing "Oh, what a beautiful morning", not a large production number (Showboat still had the big number at the beginning) -Songs and dances had a purpose ---Advanced the plotline ---Gave character background ---Gave character relationship

Rock Musical

-Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair -Megamusical- spectacle ---Phantom of the Opera ---Cats ---Starlight Express

Development of the musical

-Leads, singing chorus, dancing chorus -Triple threat-performers that sing, dance and act -Jerome Robbins-director/choreographer of WEST SIDE STORY -Development of the director/choreographer -Move towards elimination of the "lead"-A CHORUS LINE -Star musical-musicals will only succeed if a well known Broadway star performer is in it -Addition of other types of dance into musicals ---Jazz, tap, folk , square dance, ballroom ---All dance has a reason for being in the musical

Burlesque

-Like Vaudeville-variety of acts, but or low morality -Follies stars, Vaudeville stars -Development of the "talkies" movies -Silent film stars had horrible voices, thick accents-stage stars moved to Hollywood -To attract audiences back to the theatre the acts became vulgar ----Strippers ---Lot of sexual innuendo in the comedy skits ---Theses acts lead to the closing of many theatres by authorities ---Actors were put in jail for lewdness

Development of technology changes the singers

-No microphones, must be heard over a full orchestra -Now mixed, orchestras may be in another building -Transfer of musicals to movies, declined in the 1970s and 80s- Why do people burst into song?? -Movie of CHICAGO changed that with a "concept" -Audiences now want to hear the "American Idol" type of singer

Personnel of a Musical

-Producer-may be one or many -Composer-writes the music -Lyricist-writes the lyrics -Librettist-writes the book -Director -Choreographer -Vocal director -Specialty advisor-combat, flying, roller skating, gymnastics -Star/leads -Secondary leads-sub plots -Singers -dancers

Soaring costs of a musical

-Producing a musical-10-20 million- SPIDERMAN is an exception at 75 milll -Ticket prices- $75-$400 per seat -Results in high risk in producing a musical

Musicals of the 1920s-11930s

-Silly and complicated plots -Big opening number -Leads-usually a singer -Comic roles -Singing chorus -Dancing chorus- primarily ballet -Minstrel shows-black vaudeville ---White performers put on black face ---Now illegal

What were Ziegfeld Follies usually about?

-The glorification of the American Woman --Many women, dressed in elegant costumes --Simple choreography-usually with large staircase --Women were used as seats and decoration ----Nude ----Could not move, they had to be revealed ----No one could touch them --Choreography took off with Busby Berkeley (don't worry about him) ----Kaledioscope formations ----Dancers had little talent

Musicals that were written in the 1910s-1920s

-Usually silly comedies -Romantic plots that happened within a 24 hour time period -Songs became the popular music of the time -Songs had no relationship to the plot -Dances were for spectacle, no relation to the plot -Many had more than one composer

Specialty advisor

-combat, flying, roller skating, gymnastics

Producer

-may be one or many

Many of the great shows of the 1940s and 1950s were made into well-known films (These are sometimes called "................."; they also qualify as ...............)

-movicals -megamusicals

Book musical

-story driven --My fair lady, sound of music, Oklahoma!

Librettist

-writes the book

Lyricist

-writes the lyrics

Composer

-writes the music

Blackface minstrelsy started becoming popular around ............., eventually coming to rival melodrama in popularity. Early troupes comprised between four and six members who were all white males. Their comic skits involved stereotypes of blacks, dealing with plantation life or other situations, and songs with accompaniments by a minstrel band, in what were essentially variety shows. The so-called golden era was the 1840s to the 1870s.

1843

In contrast to earlier shows, the musicals of the .................. combined lighthearted and comic elements with those of a greater depth and weight, with characters that are more complex as individuals and in relation to each other

1940s and 1950s

What was Oklahoma based on?

1942-based on a play "Green Grow the Lilacs"

Starting in the ............. creators of the musical began to experiment with new ways of telling stories, exploring new narrative structures that did not rely as greatly on the book musical's plot-oriented approach. The book musical never disappeared or went out of style, however, and is still the most prevalent genre in popular shows of today. But certain aspects of its conventions have been influenced by stylistic developments that started to occur in the second half of the twentieth century.

1960s,

Sondheim's prominence lasted into the................., during which he continued to experiment with form and nonlinear ways of storytelling.

1980s and 1990s

is perhaps the first concept musical to gain critical acclaim, winning nine Tony awards. It is also called a "fully integrated" musical, a reference to the prominence of dance in the action.

A Chorus Line (1975)

After he collaborated in West Side Story and Gypsy, Sondheim's first show for which he composed all the music was .................., a hilarious throwback to the tradition of musical comedy.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962)

................, in the early history of the musical, simply refers to classical dance with a story line.

Ballet

.........................(also called musical plays) are shows generally based on some kind of literary source with a story line that has a clear beginning, middle, and end. This genre came to dominate the history of musical theatre and is still the most popular category today

Book musicals

............................ emphasized broad comedy and sexual content. Its texts were full of puns, innuendos, and topical references and spoofed aspects of contemporary society.

Burlesque -Evangeline (1874) was the first burlesque for which the music was newly written. Based on a narrative poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, 1847), it featured music by Edward Everett Rice and text by John Cheever Goodwin. This show is one of the first among several to be called a "musical comedy,"

................ plays with generic convention perhaps more than any of its predecessors, the role of the narrator (the emcee of the Kit Kat Klub, originated by Joel Grey) playing an important part in that process. In addition, many of the songs are commentaries on the events in the plot

Cabaret

............................. is considered the first American musical.

Cohan's Little Johnny Jones (1904) -Cohan's vaudeville roots led to his rise to stardom. Coming from a family of vaudeville performers, Cohan was the composer, lyricist, producer, director, and choreographer of his shows. His songs, such as "Yankee Doodle Boy" and "Give My Regards to Broadway," became emblematic of vaudeville.

was the first of Sondheim's collaborations

Company (1970)

...............................was a crucial element in the early musical comedies popular during these decades.

Dance—particularly tap dance—

.......................... was of great significance in the development of the musical.

European opera -American audiences at the end of the nineteenth century loved opera, and elements of opera's music and dramatic language gradually carried over into operetta, or light opera

This show is one of the first among several to be called a "musical comedy,"

Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, 1847

.....................had all of those components (featured dance, elaborate scenery and costumes, sets, and sophisticated stage machinery.) in addition to elements of melodrama and fantasy.

Extravaganzas -The Black Crook (1866) was an important extravaganza. Frequently cited as the first real precursor to the twentieth-century musical

True or False? Ziegfeld follies had a plot

False

True or false? Ziegfeld Follies music was by only one composer

False music was by many different composers

Started in 1907 by ........... with the "Ziegfeld Follies of 1907" and every year until 1936 then moved to radio and film

Florenz Ziegfeld

The brothers ............... (composer and lyricist, respectively) created many of the 1920s and 1930s most popular works.

George and Ira Gershwin

The prom

Inclusiveness Diverseness Social injustice

What is the American musical?

It is many things: a fusion of song, dance, spoken and sung dialogue, and visual elements; an essential form of entertainment in popular culture; a venue for expression of political and social themes that have shaped the American experience; a money-making enterprise, with big-budget productions requiring enormous outlay of funds from wealthy sponsors; and a genre that both shapes and has been shaped by American culture.

....................... are those in which the visual spectacle is the main emphasis and is larger than life.

Megamusicals

Underscoring, a significant element in the later musical, grew out of this technique

Melodrama

......................, popular by the last third of the nineteenth century, represents the use of short musical passages to heighten affect in drama, either in alternation with or underlying spoken dialogue.

Melodrama -Coming from British popular theatre, it eventually developed into full-length melodramatic plays. Underscoring, a significant element in the later musical, grew out of this technique

The Black Crook 1866:

Melodrama mixed with a Parisian ballet

Dreamgirls (1981) is a .................. musical

Motown

The only form of theatre that is truly American

Musical theatre

What musicals had -Songs had no relationship to the plot -Dances were for spectacle, no relation to the plot -Many had more than one composer

Musicals that were written in the 1910s-1920s

What musicals had romantic plots that happened within a 24 hour time period

Musicals that were written in the 1910s-1920s

................. refers to theatrical presentations that used gestures done in silence. It featured underscoring, or instrumental music that occurred during the performance of the gestures and that helped create a particular mood.

Pantomime

Jukebox Musical (style)- Musical Revue (composer/lyricist)

Smokey Joes Café, Cole, All Shoo Up, Ain't Misbehavin, Memphis, Million Dollar QuartetteCole

Dear Evan Hansen

Societal responsibility Parenting Bullying

Book of Mormon

Society Sexuality Religion

..................... was classically trained in music, having studied with the modernist composer Milton Babbitt, but his true mentor was Oscar Hammerstein II.

Sondheim

.........................featured dance, elaborate scenery and costumes, sets, and sophisticated stage machinery.

Spectacles

The songs in works during this period were part of the dramatic fabric and essential to the narrative, a result of the close collaboration between the members of the creative teams who conceived the works.

The 1940s and 1950s

.........................was the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama and the first show to have its book—the spoken dialogue apart from the song lyrics—published separately.

The Gershwins' Of Thee I Sing (1931)

was the first successful American revue.

The Passing Show (1894)

.................... is neither a genre nor a real place, but it is important for understanding the musical side of the early musical theatrical genres. It is a nickname both for the area around 28th Street in Manhattan, where many early sheet music publishers were located from the 1880s to the 1950s, and for the type of music they published.

Tin Pan Alley -Tin Pan Alley songs were the popular songs of America, and many were big hits. Tin Pan Alley helped to publicize the music of American musical theatre in two important ways: people either wanted the music that they heard at the shows they saw, or they heard the songs and then wanted to see the shows from which those songs were drawn.

True or False? Many genres overlapped, coexisted with, and borrowed elements from one another

True

True or False? Many stars emerged from the Follies-Ed Wynn, Billie Burke, Fanny Brice, Bob Hope, Will Rogers

True

..............., emerging around the 1850s, had little of the luxury and romance of the revue. Featuring skits, gags, and specialized acts, it was entertainment that was considered highly disreputable.

Variety -Concert saloons were important venues for variety in the first decade of the genre's popularity. They were patronized exclusively by men who bought drinks and watched the entertainments. Variety theatres began to develop during the 1880s and 1890s; these became the central venues for vaudeville.

........................ began to develop during the 1880s and 1890s; these became the central venues for vaudeville.

Variety theatres

..................might be thought of as variety without alcohol, in a theatre rather than a saloon. Theatre managers invented the term, changing the name of the entertainment in an attempt to attract family audiences (in other words, women) and, in general, to clean up the form and render it more professional in tone and content.

Vaudeville -(Vaudeville was a term long used in French popular theatre, which bore close resemblances to variety.) Vaudeville shows featured skits, gags, and specialized acts like those found in variety but placed a greater emphasis on individual performers and independent acts, with no plot tying things together. Its heyday was the decades of the 1890s and 1910s. George M.

Who were the Ziegfeld Follies made for?

White Collar (elitist) audience

what seems to be the modern formula for success:

a familiar story (but one that offers a new twist); strong dramatic situations with complex characters who wrestle with conflicting emotions (Elphaba and Glinda's relationship); larger-than-life spectacular moments that are integrated into the drama (Elphaba's thrilling ascent in "Defying Gravity"); big stars with name recognition (Joel Grey, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel); and affecting music in a range of styles that creates a broad array of contrasting moods.

The Ziegfeld Follies Act I always ended with a what?

big wedding scene

In Dahomey (1903) by Will Marion Cook and Paul Dunbar is an early musical comedy drawing on the tradition of

blackface minstrelsy.

The 1940s and 1950s were dominated by the .......................

book musical

Sometimes the "early genres" are described in terms of what they are not: they are not ................., the genre that eventually displaced all of them, and one that privileges a traditional, forward-moving narrative, usually serious in tone.

book musicals

The most important alternative to the book musical to emerge in the 1970s was the .................... Shows in this genre are more nonlinear meditations on various themes—explorations of concepts—than unified stories.

concept musical

The ...................................... that would become an integral part of the book musical is central to the operetta and is possibly among that genre's most important contributions to the development of the American musical.

continuous narrative

Sondheim's shows often ............. because of his innovative approaches to form and structure and his tireless search for new ways to manipulate generic conventions.

defy categorization

Musical theatre in the 1920s and 1930s was all about ....................

entertainment

The plots of musical comedies are usually considered ............, a result of viewing them through the lens of today's book musicals.

frivolous

Leonard Bernstein

is a towering figure in the history of American music. His contributions to the musical world as composer, conductor, and educator are unsurpassed by those of any other artist in America in the second half of the twentieth century. Bernstein composed concert works in various genres and film scores as well as musicals. On the Town (1944), his first musical, took its inspiration from a ballet he and Robbins had created called Fancy Free. It exhibits the thorough integration of book, music, and dance so important to Bernstein's creative vision and that would become essential to the musical's later development

City of Angels (1989) represents the .............. musical.

jazz

The musical language of .......... and other types of American popular music greatly influenced musical theatre of 1920s and 1930s

jazz

The pervasiveness of popular musical idioms in musical theatre is one factor in the development of a related genre, the .................... Shows in this genre, also sometimes called "compilation shows," consist of existing pop songs, whether by a single group or artist or by different ones from a particular era

jukebox musical

Operetta

light, silly, very little dialogue -Gilbert and Sullivan-Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, Always a plot twist at the end of act (1871-1896)

Perhaps one of the most difficult genres for us to understand today involved white performers "blacking up"—coloring their skin with burnt cork—and imitating black Americans. Over the course of its complicated history, blacks eventually performed it as well. The tradition of both groups is known as ................ What today seems like the pinnacle of prejudice and offensiveness was a form of entertainment that offered black performers an entrée into what was then an all-white world. In fact, during its heyday, it was considered a source of pride.

minstrelsy

They do have narratives, but they stand apart from book musicals because their emphasis is more on comedy and dance than on drama and character development.

musical comedies

Hamilton Casting-

nontraditional, diverse, color-blind casting History Rap

The musical's origins lie in a fusion of different entertainment genres from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These are traditionally called ........................................................................of the musical. Such labels imply a bias toward an organic unity that is the result of an anachronistic view.

precursors, forerunners, or antecedents

The ................ emerged in the 1890s and remained popular to late 1930s.

revue -A style of entertainment that had become popular in Paris, the revue featured elements loosely related by an overarching theme. It had elements of vaudeville, with which it coexisted, but those elements were more integrated. They combined the components of the extravaganza—fantasy, ballet, spectacular scenery and costumes, and sophisticated stage machinery—with an emphasis on beautiful girls performing skits, solo numbers, and choruses. The Passing Show (1894) was the first successful American revue.

The .............is one of the most difficult genres to define, primarily because rock-influenced music has been part of the musical since at least the 1950s. It is a category that is still in flux, with the boundaries of its definition still being formulated by specialists. Those who define the ...............parameters are concerned with the use of rock as a musical language (whether as the show's primary one or as one style among many) and whether a show is or is not called a "................" by its creators or commentators, among other considerations

rock musical

Stephen Sondheim

shows dominated Broadway during the 1970s and much of the 1980s, garnering numerous awards including six Tonys for Best Broadway Musical.

In terms of general form and structure, most songs took the form of AABA, with a repeating section, followed by a contrasting section, and a return to the familiar material, over the course of thirty-two measures, yielding what came to be known as ........................

song form

In music stores,......................, musicians who worked for a publishing firm, played songs on a piano to interest customers in buying the sheet music.

song pluggers

Different kinds of crossovers are ........................, of which The Producers represents a recent success.

stage shows that are adaptations of nonmusical films

Vaudeville:

stringing together of unrelated acts of multiple variety for the Blue Collar audience -Dog acts -Singers -Song and dance acts -Jugglers, contortionists, magicians etc.

The musical's relationship with film has been a significant part of its history since

the 1930s.

Black Americans started performing in troupes regularly after ..............................; eventually the troupes grew larger and were transformed—some were all female; some were all black.

the abolition of slavery

Perhaps the most significant change to occur in the book musical's development around 1960s-1980s is

the continued broadening of the types of subject matter that came to be considered acceptable for presentation on the musical stage.

A recurring theme in Sondheim's subsequent shows is

the many different ways people communicate with each other—or do not—in relationships. He creates complex characters who feel deeply. His shows not only explore his characters' inner lives but address basic, larger questions about what motivates people to do the things they do. The complex psychological portraits he creates emerge as a central feature of his dramatic language.

Vaudeville circuits- took the acts "on the road" by

trains, vaudeville houses (circus)

Opera

usually tragic, spectacle oriented, everything sung