MUSICAL

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MUSICAL THEATRE
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TYPES OF MUSICAL THEATERE

• OPERA
• OPERETTA
• BALLET
• MUSICAL COMEDY
• MUSICAL PLAY
• CONCEPT MUSICAL
• MUSICAL REVUE
• VARIETY/VAUDEVILLE, BURLESQUE, EXTRAVAGANZA

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OPERA

• GRAND OPERA originates in Italian Renaissance,
  usually tragic, sung-through, high spectacle
• COMIC OPERA Opera Comique/ Opera Buffo
  sung-through, lighter in tone
• Music-driven, elitist

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OPERETTA

• Not entirely sung-through
• Light in tone
• Romantic happy ending, often ends in marriage
• Exotic locales
• Music-driven

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BALLET

• Origins in Court Masques of the 17th Century
• Tells story through music and dance, no words
• Movement-driven, elitist

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ORIGINS OF MODERN MUSICAL THEATRE
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THE BLACK CROOK-1866

• Second-rate Melodrama
• NY Producer hires stranded 100-member French
  ballet company
• Bare-limbed spirits and demons are highly
  popular introduces concept of chorus line
• Runs for 16 months, tours for 40 years
• Use of dance to help tell story in popular
  entertainment

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William GILBERT and Sir Arthur SULLIVAN

• Wrote comic, satiric operettas
• Story and Words important
• HMS PINAFORE- 1878
• THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE- 1879
• THE MIKADO- 1885
• Popular in England and America

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VAUDEVILLE

• Variety show popular later 1800s through 1930s
• Includes singers, dancers, musicians, animal
  acts, jugglers, comedians
• Training ground for future musical theatre stars,
  composers, choreographers
• http//xroads.virginia.edu/ma02/easton/vaudeville
  /audio.html

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MINSTREL SHOWS

• Popular from 1850s to 1950s introduces
  African-based melodies and rhythms to popular
  American culture
• Introduces syncopation, gives birth to ragtime,
  jazz, blues
• Originally presented by white performers in
  blackface, black troupes organize in 1870s
  segregated theatres prevented blacks from
  performing in white theatres.

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BERT WILLIAMS

• First African-American star, born in Antigua in
  1875 moved to NY, then California _at_1887
• Began in minstrel shows, went on to vaudeville in
  early 1900s became well-known, popular performer

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BERT WILLIAMS

• Hired by Florenz Ziegfeld for his Follies in
  1912, first African-American to headline in a
  major white production
• Continued to star in the Follies until his death
  in 1922
• First A-A director of film, for Biograph Studios

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GEORGE M. COHAN1878-1942

• Performer, writer, composer, producer, director
• Performed in vaudeville with his family, THE FOUR
  COHANS ( parents Jerry and Nellie, sister
  Josephine)
• Played in orchestra at age 8
• Published first song at age 16
• Familys business manager, commanding 1000 per
  week

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GEORGE M. COHAN

• 1901-wrote and directed first musical, The
  Governors Son, age 22
• 1904-Little Johnny Jones, first hit Give My
  Regards to Broadway, Yankee Doodle Boy
• 1906-Forty-five Minutes to Broadway Marys A
  Grand Old Name
• 1906-George Washington, Jr. Youre a Grand Old
  Flag
• 1907-Fifty Miles from Boston Harrigan
• 1912-Broadway Jones

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GEORGE M. COHAN

• Developed strong, American stories about
  everyday people, immigrants
• Patriotic, celebrated American spirit
  flag-waving red, white, and blue
• Songs supported story, characters
• James Cagney movie portrays Cohans life
• George M.!- musical about Cohans life

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FLORENZ ZIEGFELD

• 1867-1931Producer/Director
• Best known for producing the Follies series from
  1907 to 1927, as well as plays and musicals
• Lived and spent grandly, known for spectacle
• Made many composers, lyricists, performers
  famous Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George
  Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein II, Fanny Brice,
  Barbara Stanwyck, Billie Burke (his wife), Anna
  Held, Fred Astaire, Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor,
  Bob Hope, Marion Davies

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ZIEGFELD FOLLIES

• Spectacle/ Extravaganza, huge, opulent, fantastic
• Introduced concept of showgirl, living scenery

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The ZIEGFELD Showgirl

• Hired most beautiful women
• Costumed lavishly , often revealingly, and always
  with great style and taste
• Motto Glorifying the American Girl
• Concept copied by George Whites Scandals, Lewis
  Carrolls Vanities, with less taste, more tease

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THE PRINCESS MUSICALS

• 1913- The Princess Theatre 299 seat theatre
  built by Ray Comstock for dramatic repertory a
  failure
• 1915-1919- produced small, low-budget musicals as
  an alternative to lavish spectacles on Broadway
  Nobodys Home, Very Good Eddie, Oh Boy!, etc.
• Used talents of JEROME KERN, hot young
  composer/lyricist GUY BOLTON, librettist P.G.
  WODEHOUSE, lyricist/librettist
• Shows accented a solid American story, catchy
  tunes, witty lyrics

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SHOWBOAT-1927

• Produced by F. Ziegfeld
• Jerome Kern, composer
• Oscar Hammerstein, lyricist
• Serious storyline
• All American, life on riverboat
• Combined operetta with native American music
• Integration of black and white performers

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SHOWBOAT

• 1ST musical to show interracial love story
• Deals with unlikely themes of racism, alcoholism,
  spousal abuse/neglect, gambling addiction
• Integrates songs into story, dance is organic to
  action
• Eliminates line of chorus girls, popular since
  BLACK CROOK and FOLLIES

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1930s Experimentation

• The Depression begins the demise of the big stage
  extravaganzas, puts more emphasis on innovation
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt creates the Federal
  Theatre Project in 1935 to aid unemployment among
  theatre artists
• Development of African-American artists and
  material

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1931 OF THEE I SING

• Direction and Book by George Kaufman,
  music by GEORGE GERSHWIN, lyrics by IRA GERSHWIN
• Political Satire
• First musical to win Pulitzer Prize

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1935 PORGY AND BESS

• Book by DuBose Heywood, music by GEORGE GERSHWIN,
  lyrics by IRA GERSHWIN
• Folk opera, uses indigenous musical style
• Summertime, Bess, You Is My Woman Now, It
  Aint Necessarily So
• African-Americans as central, sympathetic,
  realistic characters

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1936 ON YOUR TOES

• Co-authored and directed by GEORGE ABBOTT, music
  by RICHARD ROGERS, lyrics by LORENZ HART,
  choreographed by GEORGE BALANCHINE
• About characters in a ballet company, introduced
  serious dance (ballet) into musical comedy
  Slaughter on 10th Ave.

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1940s-early 60s GOLDEN AGE OF BOOK MUSICAL

• Book musicals and their presentation develop in
  maturity
• Competing with Television
• Prolific period of American creativity in the
  genre
• Wide range and depth of material

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1943 OKLAHOMA!

• Simple love story, not ground-breaking, but
  caught growing sense of nationalism created by
  war
• Music by RICHARD ROGERS, lyrics by OSCAR
  HAMMERSTEIN II
• Choreographed by AGNES de MILLE, used ballet and
  modern and indigenous dance to tell story dream
  ballet

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Agnes de Mille 1905-1993

• Combined different forms of dance to help create
  individual characters, advance the plot
• Dance was not just for dance sake assigned
  dancers dramatic features, motivation, emotional
  content
• Other shows BRIGADOON, PAINT YOUR WAGON,
  GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES

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Dream Ballet

• OKLAHOMA!s dream ballet, about 17 minutes
  long, allowed dance to play an intrinsic part in
  the psychology of the characters, story
• Created a trend 12 of the next 21 musicals on
  Broadway included a dream ballet

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Richard Rogers 1902-1979Oscar Hammerstein II
1895-1960

• Prolific team, wrote many of the most famous
  musicals of the 40s and 50s
• Both had established strong careers with other
  partners
• Interested in serious themes, social issues
• Some of their most famous works

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CAROUSEL - 1945

• Set at the turn of the 19th Century in a
  traveling carnival near a small New England town,
  deals with life and love on two sides of the
  train track
• If I Loved You
• Youll Never Walk Alone

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SOUTH PACIFIC - 1949

• Set during WWII on a south sea island, deals with
  racism and effects of war on relationships
• Wins Pulitzer Prize and 7 Tony Awards
• Some Enchanted Evening
• Im Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair
• Bali Hai

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THE KING AND I - 1951

• Set in Siam in 1864, examines clash of eastern
  and western cultures
• Something Wonderful
• I Whistle A Happy Tune
• Hello, Young Lovers
• Shall We Dance?

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THE SOUND OF MUSIC - 1959

• Set in Austria on the eve of the Nazi invasion,
  tackles theme of clashing political ideologies
• Last show together before Hammerstein dies in
  1960
• Do-Re-Mi
• Edelwiess
• Climb Every Mountain
• The Sound of Music

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OTHER SHOWS OF THE PERIOD

• 1946-ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
• 1948-KISS ME, KATE
• 1950- GUYS AND DOLLS
• MY FAIR LADY
• GYPSY
• DAMN YANKEES
• CAMELOT
• CAN-CAN

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WEST SIDE STORY-1957

• Conceived, directed, and choreographed by JEROME
  ROBBINS first triple-threat
• Music and lyrics by LEONARD BERNSTEIN
• Romeo and Juliet told in terms of NY street
  gangs
• Integrates dance seamlessly into action

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FIDDLER ON THE ROOF - 1964

• Widely considered to mark the end of the golden
  era of book musicals
• Story of a Jewish Russian milkman in the small
  village of Anatevka who wishes to marry off his
  daughters in the traditional ways examines
  themes of tradition vs. modern thought
• If I Were A Rich Man
• Far From The Home I Love
• Sunrise, Sunset
• La Chaim!

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1960s AGE OF SEXUALITY

• The Pill ushers in time of uninhibited
  sexuality, a desire to turn from standards of the
  older generation
• HAIR introduces the CONCEPT MUSICAL, no real
  story line, current themes in youth culture,
  nudity
• Other concept musicals COMPANY (1970), FOLLIES
  (1971), A CHORUS LINE (1975)

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BOB FOSSE 1927-1987

• Major director/choreographer in 60s/70s,
  started as a stage and film dancer
• Hallmarks are sexual energy and innuendo, use of
  hats and turned-in toes, angled limbs
• Womanizer, alcoholic, drug addict, died of heart
  failure
• Directed his own life story as a musical film
  All That Jazz

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SHOWS DIRECTED and/or CHOREOGRAPHED BY
BOB FOSSE

• PAJAMA GAME
• SWEET CHARITY
• DAMN YANKEES
• PIPPIN
• CABARET
• CHICAGO
• DANCIN
• FOSSE a compilation of his work from many shows

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A CHORUS LINE - 1975

• Longest running musical in the world when it
  closed in 1990 after 6,137 performances only
  CATS has surpassed it
• Directed and choreographed by MICHAEL BENNETT,
  music and lyrics by MARVIN HAMLISCH, tells
  personal stories of dancers at a Broadway
  audition
• Wins Pulitzer prize for drama and 9 Tony Awards

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1970s/80s Emergence of British Musicals

• ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, most prolific of the British
  composers, dominates Broadway for over 20 years
• With lyricist TIM RICE JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
  (1971), EVITA (1979), JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING
  TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT (1982)

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OTHER WEBBER SHOWS

• 1982-CATS
• 1984- STARLIGHT EXPRESS
• 1987- PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
• 1990- ASPECTS OF LOVE
• 1993- SUNSET BLVD.

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1980S/90S RETURN OF THE SPECTACLE

• 1985- LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
• 1987- LES MISERABLES
• 1989- GRAND HOTEL
• 1991- WILL ROGERS FOLLIES
• 1991- MISS SAIGON
• 1992- CRAZY FOR YOU
• 1994- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
• 1999- THE LION KING

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MUSICALS CURRENTLY ON BROADWAY

• WICKED
• THE BOY FROM OZ
• HAIRSPRAY
• THE PRODUCERS
• THE LION KING
• GYPSY (revival)
• URINETOWN
• 42ND STREET (revival)
• THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE (based on 1967 movie)

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BROADWAY TICKET PRICES

• 1880 1.50
• 1920 7.70
• 1930 3.85 (Depression)
• 1970 30.00
• 1984 45.00 and up
• 1990 65.00 and up
• 1991 MISS SAIGON charges first 100 Bway ticket
• Current prices 55-100, best seats 80 and up