Musical Theatre

1. Musical Theatre Write this down – Yes, there will be a test….

2. So, let’s say that you want to produce a play. Hypothetically speaking. So, what do you do first? Choose the play, right? So how can you get hold of plays and musicals to read? Is there a place you can go to get synopses of plays, so you don’t have to read the whole thing? YES. Samuel French, Inc. Dramatists’ Play Service are the two biggest. AND The biggest publishing houses for musicals are:

3. Music Theatre International

6. You can Google them and get the online versions of the catalogues, but you can request the hard copy, too. The catalogs will give you synopses of scripts, numbers of characters, cost per performance, instrumentation, and sometimes more info than that. Once you choose several that you might want to produce— you want to read them to pick the right one, yes? So, how do you get the publishers to send you scripts? Let me back up for a minute: So how do authors get paid?

7. They get royalties. So what are they, the King? Nope. What are Royalties? --an amount of $$$$ paid to the publisher to get permission to produce a play or musical. So you pay the publisher and the publisher takes his cut and then pays the authors. That’s how an author makes a living. What is a play without music called? Straight play

8. So, if you are reading straight plays, Scripts for a straight play costaround $8.00 apiece Shakespeare and old plays like that--free (no royalty) Neil Simon--royalty of $50-$75 first performances $25-$50 subsequent performances Where does one go to purchase scripts? Oh, yeah--Samuel French Dramatists’ Play Service So, one could do 3 performances of a straight play for $175.00 plus scripts. If you paid for 10 scripts it would total $80.00. So, you could get the rights to produce the play for around $250.00. Scripts for musicals are more, though…

9. Musicals cost more—but they make more money, too. There are more costs involved…what do you think they might be? Royalties Music Librettos Vocal Instrumental Musical royalties, including scripts and music run about $1800 to $3000. Depending on whether the show has been on Broadway or not and how recently. So Cabaret cost less than $2000 for royalties and rental. Guys and Dolls cost $3000 even though it was an old show because it had just had a revival. Just an aside, they charge $50 per book for unerased music.

10. Equity- Actor’s Equity Association (the stage actor’s union) AFTRA- Allied Federation of Television and Radio Artists SAG- Screen Actors’ Guild ASCAP- American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers IATSE- International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees OSHA- Occupational Health and Safety Administration An amount of money paid to the publisher to get permission to produce a play or musical. Royalty-

11. Opera In opera, even conversations are sung “Hello.” “How are you?” “I am well, but how are you?” “My sciatica is giving me fits.” -Generally serious “heavy” music on serious or tragic themes Tosca, Susannah, Amal and the Night Visitors, La Boheme(became Rent)

12. Operetta Operetta has lighter music, flimsy plots, less serious subjects, there is spoken dialogue, but the music is still in a classical style -Songs happen around the plot, they don’t develop it Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy? The Merry Widow, Babes in Toyland, The Student Prince, Little Mary Sunshine

13. Comic Opera Comic Opera may have some spoken dialogue but is mostly distinguished by its humorous and/or satirical nature What is satire? • sat·ireNoun/ˈsaˌtī(ə)r/ • 1. The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Gilbert and Sullivan -HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance

14. Musical Review A Musical Review is songs strung together with a theme rather than a plot Ain’tMisbehavin’ , Zeigfeld Follies, Jersey Boys?

15. Musical Comedy plot is weak but there is one, characters are more believable, dialogue is clever, songs are stuck in--they may reiterate the plot, but they don’t develop it. • Musical comedies and musical plays are, like jazz, anAmerican art form. -Anything Goes, Guys and Dolls, Annie Get Your Gun -Showboat-bridged gap between operetta , musical comedy, and today’s musical play (Kern /Hammerstein)

16. Musical Play -real people in real situations -acting and choreography areimportant -good story, clever dialogue -interesting characters -well-designedchoreography -catchy music -meaningful ballads all woven together. • SONGS CONTINUE THE PLOT OR DEVELOP IT Big River? Les Miserables? Sweeney Todd?

17. Musical Theatre Vocabulary book - thedialogue choreography - - thedance choreographer - - the person who plans the dances chorus - - The singers --they support the leads blocking - - movement that goes with the words composer - - writes the music conductor - - leads the orchestra or band entr’act - - music before Act II begins (like overture only between the acts)

18. dialogue - - the spoken words libretto - - script with dialogue and written lyrics librettist - - person who writes the libretto lyrics- - words to the songs lyricist - - writer of the song lyrics musical - - a play with music, songs and often dance Musicals are not meant to be realistic. They are an ALTERNATE way of expressing an emotional message. My friend Timm says that characters sing in a musical when their emotion is too great to be expressed in words. overture - • pieces of all the songs in the show, played before the show begins • to give the audience a taste of what the music is like it sets the mood

19. principals - - leading roles production number - - singing and dancing by the whole cast recitative - - song performed by talking –sort of like rap (ex. Trouble) score - - the musical notes segue - - a transition sides/asides - - pieces of the script containing only one person’s lines ingenue - - first lead female (usually young and innocent) ex. Laurie OKLAHOMA soubrette - - Second lead female (usually comic role) ex. Ado Annie OKLAHOMA

20. underscore - - music under dialogue vamp - - to repeat measures of music (for as long as necessary) straight play- - not a musical royalty - - fee paid to composer, lyricist, librettist, publisher, etc. for legal rights to produce their work crossover - - short scene designed and written to cover a scene change concept musical- - a play built around a theme (ex. Cats, Chorus Line)

21. About West Side Story and Li’lAbner Plot: from Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare swiped it from a Greek myth Myth: Pyramus and Thisbe WSS: Dance: Choreography byJerome Robbins Dance as expression ofemotion Dance asathleticism Because it is filmed, the choreography can be done nearly perfectly (and is). (This explains why we have not produced WSS. We don’t have enough men with dance training.) 10 Academy Awards: Best Picture 1961 Best supporting actress: Rita Moreno (Anita) Best Supporting Actor: George Chakiris (Bernardo)

22. John Astin’s cameo as Glennon Watch for John Astin’s cameo; he creates a whole character in less than ten lines. Symbolism: Colors of Maria’s dresses… scene in the dress shop NOTEs: When the Sharks catch up with Baby John, they pierce his ear. Natalie Wood (Maria) didn’t sing her own songs. Marney Nixon (who did the voice over for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady) sang Maria’s songs. Notice the 1950s slang : “Buddy-boy” “Daddy-o” “You won’t dig it” Jets character names: Riff, Ice, A-rab, Baby John, Action, Anybody’s How are the adults, especially the cops, depicted?

23. Satire: Deliberately making fun of something in order to reveal a weakness or flaw. In Li’lAbner, politics and politicians are made fun of all over the place. You need to have some idea about the cold war to understand the nuclear fallout jokes. See what else you can spot that is satirized.