musicals then & now. back in the day -musical theater elements go back to greek theater when...
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Types of Musical - Book Musical- what we are most accustomed to now, music with a strong story that drives the play -Revue- A collection of songs, generally with a common element present (Ziegfeld's Follies)TRANSCRIPT
MusicalsThen & Now
Back in the Day
-Musical theater elements go back to Greek theater when music and dance were important aspects of a performance.
-Tap dance started with the Greeks- They would put metal on the bottom of their shoes so their dancing would be more audible in those large omni theaters
-The Christian Church also used musical theater aspects as a means to tell their stories
-But we’re going to focus on 1800-present
Types of Musical
- Book Musical- what we are most accustomed to now, music with a strong story that drives the play
-Revue- A collection of songs, generally with a common element present
(Ziegfeld's Follies)
Types of Musicals cont.
-Concept Musical: the concept or message is just as important, if not more than the story
(Rent)
-Jukebox Musical: using only songs from a group or artist (Jersey Boys)
-Rock/Pop Musical: rock or pop with little to no dialogue (Hair)
19th Century Musical Theater
Gilbert & Sullivan-British writer and composer-These two were the ones who future
composers and writers looked to as a model for integrating words and music together almost seamlessly, to move the plot forward.
- “Pirates of Penzance” opened in NYC in attempts to save the theater district
19th Century Musical Theater cont.
-Opera was still the common form of musical performance pieces for the most part
-But change was happening all around-NYC and London had set themselves up as
major theater districts
19th Century Musical Theater cont.
How’s this for a show? It’s called “Mikado”The characters’ names are:Pitty-Sing, Yum-Yum, Nanki-Poo, & Pish-Tush
Early 20th Century Musical Theater
-Vaudeville Theater-In the early 1900’s, people used the theater as
an escapist experience from the realities of war
-In the 20’s, the shows began to highlight key actors, big routines, and songs in lieu of the plot
-Many shows were revues-“Showboat” in 1927, was another stepping
stone towards musical theater today
20th Century Musicals cont.
-The 1930s light-hearted musicals held on through the depression as well as the booming movie industry
-1940-60 “The Golden Age” Rodgers & Hammerstein had finally come
together and “Oklahoma” was born.-Quickly followed by “Carousel,” “South
Pacific,” “The King and I,” and “The Sound of Music”
Traits of Golden Age MusicalsThe formula for the Golden Age musicals reflected one or
more of four widely-held perceptions of the "American dream": That stability and worth derives from a love relationship sanctioned and restricted by Protestant ideals of marriage; that a married couple should make a moral home with children away from the city in a suburb or small town; that the woman's function was as homemaker and mother; and that Americans incorporate an independent and pioneering spirit or that their success is self-made
Golden Age Musicals
Big choreographed dance numbersFollow gender roles closelyAs far as content goes, definitely “school
appropriate”The go-to shows for schools to put on
Golden Age Musicals Examples:
AnnieThe Music Man
Annie Get Your Gun My Fair LadyBye Bye Birdie
OklahomaDamn Yankees
ShowboatThe Fantasticks Sound
of MusicGuys and Dolls South
PacificGypsy
West Side StoryThe King & I 42nd
Street
The 1970s
The Decade of Rock MusicalsJesus Christ Superstar, Hair, The Rocky Horror
Picture Show, GodspellThere was also a significant African-American
impact on Broadway with: Dreamgirls, The Wiz, Purlie
1975, A Chorus LinePippin, Chicago, & Cabaret utilized the old
Vaudeville style
The 1980s
Influence from Europe with “mega musicals” or “pop musicals”
big casts, big effects, and big budgetsLes Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Cats,
Little Shop of HorrorsAndrew Lloyd Webber is the musical man of
80sThe large budgets of the shows were redefining
what financial success on Broadway meant--from a few shows running to a few years of shows running
The 1990s
New Composers and writers were emergingAs well as Disney’s presence on Broadway
Rent debuted and pulled the young crowd back into musicals
Disney also brought out The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aida
Again, big shows, big budgetsBut also a comeback from the little guys
The 2000s
Bring on the new and unusual!Avenue Q (puppets), Urinetown (being poor),
Spring Awakening(nudity/profanity/sex), Wicked(the before of Wizard of Oz), Hairspray(remake of Jon Waters’ movie), Legally Blonde(remake of movie)
A reuse of film plotsMaking musicals out of plots of hits from artistsJersey Boys(Frankie Vallie, Movin’ Out (Billy
Joel), Mamma Mia (ABBA)
So How BIG are Musicals?
Last season, Broadway grossed $1,139,000,000
46 new productions opened11.57 million people went to see the shows
TOURING SHOWS:$877,000,00013.7 million viewers
Average Ticket Price: $40-$200