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Chapter 13

Chapter 13. The Musical. On Musicals . American musical theatre is our indigenous art form. We can’t claim drama, ballet, or opera, but musical theatre is our very own. . . . Musicals are in our blood and in our bones, are part of our collective personality. Molly Smith,

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Chapter 13

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  1. Chapter 13 The Musical

  2. On Musicals American musical theatre is our indigenous art form. We can’t claim drama, ballet, or opera, but musical theatre is our very own. . . . Musicals are in our blood and in our bones, are part of our collective personality. Molly Smith, Artistic Director of the Arena Stage

  3. Broad Categories of Musicals • Book musicals • Rodgers and Hammerstein • Lerner and Loewe • Dance musicals • Michael Bennett • Bob Fosse • Tommie Tune • Operatic musicals • Andrew Lloyd Webber • Stephen Sondheim • Adam Guettel

  4. Musical Theatre Genres • Opera • Operetta • Revue • Variety show • Vaudeville • Burlesque • Musical comedy • Straight musical • Rock musical Avenue Q

  5. Components of the Musical • Music • Composer • Lyricists • Book • Librettist

  6. Types of Musical Numbers • Overture • Previews the music from the show by playing a medley of tunes before the show begins • Ballad • Usually a slow love song • Comedy number • Designed for comic relief • Showstopper • A big brass production number • Reprise • Repetition of pieces of a song or melody line

  7. Musicals: A Brief HistoryOpera • Opera • Originated in Italy in the 1500s • Reached its peak in the 19th century with composers like Wagner, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, and Handel • Comic Opera • Developed from intermezzi • Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera are regarded by most as the epitome of this form • Exists today in the form of the rock opera

  8. Musicals: A Brief HistoryEarly American Musicals • Ballad Operas • Began with John Gay’s Three Penny Opera in 1728 • Vaudeville • 1890 – 1920 was its height of popularity • Minstrel Shows • Caricatured African-American plantation life in song and dance • Revues • Ziegfeld Follies was the epitome of this unique form of the American musical theatre • Extravaganzas • The Black Crook in 1866 spawned this unique form of musical that emphasized elaborate scenery and scantily glad female dancing chorines

  9. Musicals: A Brief HistoryAfrican American Musicals • A Trip to Coontown (1898) • The Origin of the Cakewalk (1898) • Scuffle Along (1921) • Running’ Wild (1923) • Porgy and Bess (1935) • Cabin in the Sky (1940) • The Wiz (1975) • Bring in da Noise; Bring in da Funk (1996)

  10. Musicals: A Brief HistoryThe Show Boat (1927) Revolution • The quintessential American musical • Integrated book, lyrics, and music into a unified whole • Focused on serious themes in American culture • Brought Euro-American and African-American performers together on the same stage at the same time • First musical to win the Pulitzer Prize • Established Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II as major figures in the development of the American musical

  11. Musicals: A Brief History1927 - Today • Oklahoma! (1943) • West Side Story (1957) • Cabaret (1966) • Hair (1967) • A Chorus Line (1975) • Cats (1982) • Rent (1996) • The Producers (2001) • The Light in the Piazza (2005)

  12. Musicals Today • The main problems for Broadway musicals has to do with the exorbitant cost of producing them • Disneyification of the musical • Reliance upon revivals to recoup huge investments • The Tourist Musical is challenged by smaller cast musicals like Urinetown and Avenue Q

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