Chapter nine

The Musical Theatre CHAPTER NINE

Music theatre is antirealistic & presentational  All drama has always been partly musical  Classic Greek drama was sung and danced  Most renaissance performances were accompanied by songs and instrumental music  Shakespeare’s 38 plays contain singing...THE TEMPEST has nine songs  17th century comedies regularly ended with a dance  Musical masques evolved over time into ballet and opera  Asian forms of theatre involve singing, dancing and instrumental music  Still, musical theatre is widely regarded

as a genre into itself for the past 150 years

Broadway musicals dominate NY box offices and NYC remains the international center of musical theatre

THE FANTASTICKS  Opened in 1960  Ran for 42 years  Closed in 2002  17,162 performances  Reopened in 2006

Pulitzer Prize Award-winners  Of Thee I Sing, 1932  South Pacific, 1950  Fiorello!, 1960  How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,  

 

1962 A Chorus Line, 1976 Sunday in the Park With George, 1985 Rent, 1996 Next to Normal, 2010

European influences of the musical include Classical Greek Theatre

Greek Theatre’s were like modern sports stadiums

Greco-Roman Theatre

Shakespeare’s stage

Court of Louis XIV

Minuet at Court

Royal Ballet

Lully’s Ballet at French court

Commedia dell’ Arte – Italian renaissance

Size and spectacle in 18th Century Playhouse

19th Century German Opera House

Russian Ballet at turn of 20th century

Influences on the American musical

RENT

Extravaganza

Niblo’s Garden, 1860

Niblo’s Garden produced “first” musical

The Extravagant Revue

Minstrelsy

Slayton Jubilee Singers

Christy’s Minstrels

Jazz Dance

Vaudeville

Variety Acts

Burlesque

Comic Opera

OPERETTA

Musical Comedy

Irving Berlin’s “The Cocoanuts”

No, No Nanette

Rodgers and Hart

Cole Porter

Show Boat (1927) by Jerome Kern

George and Ira Gershwin

PORGY AND BESS

Rodgers and Hammerstein with Irving Berlin

Broadway’s Golden Age  Show Boat, 1927  Of Thee I Sing, 1932  Porgy and Bess, 1935  Pal Joey, 1940

Oklahoma! - 1943

Agnes DeMille

Legacy of R&H

Memorable MUSICALS from the Golden Age           

Irving Berlin’s ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1946) Cole Porter’s KISS ME KATE (1948) Frank Loesser, GUYS AND DOLLS (1950) Adler and Ross, DAMN YANKEES (1955) Leonard Bernstein’s WEST SIDE STORY (1957) Meredith Willson’s THE MUSIC MAN (1957) Jule Styne’s GYPSY (1959) Charles Strouse BYE, BYE BIRDIE (1960) Lerner and Leowe, MY FAIR LADY (1964) Bock and Harnick’s FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1964) Michael Bennett’s A CHORUS LINE (1974)

Stephen Schwartz CREDITS Butterflies Are Free Godspell Mass Pippin The Magic Show The Baker’s Wife Working Rags Children of Eden Pocahantas (film) Hunchback of Notre Dame (film) Prince of Egypt (film) Wicked Enchanted (film) Snapshots Séance on a Wet Afternoon Houdini (in process)

The Contemporary Musical  In its heyday, the broadway musical was a star-maker:  Jimmy Durante, Eddie Cantor, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Julie Andrews, Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Bob Hope, John Raitt are examples  As film and television became more popular, the golden age of

the musical came to an end.

 During the 70s and 80s, a new artist emerged...the

Choreographer-Director Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) Gower Champion (1921-1980) Bob Fosse (1927-1987) Tommy Tune (born 1939) Michael Bennett (1943-1987)

Susan Stroman  Today’s pre-eminent Director-Choreographer

 Credits include Crazy for You (1992)  Show Boat (revival) 1995  Big (1996)  Steel Pier (1997)  Oklahoma! (revival) 1999  Contact (2000)  The Music Man (revival) 2000  The Producers (2001)  Young Frankenstein (2007)  The Scottsboro Boys (2010)  Big Fish (2013) 

Dress rehearsal – THE PRODUCERS

Production shot – THE PRODUCERS

Susan Stroman credits Contact The Producers

The Scottsboro Boys

BIG FISH

Other Recent Credits

Stephen Sondheim (born 1930)

Company (1970)

The Rock Musical

The British Invasion  Jesus Christ Superstar  Cats

 Phantom of the Opera  Les Misérables  Miss Saigon  Mamma Mia

Two men led the British Invasion

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Cameron Mackintosh

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Cult Musicals

Musicals of the 21st Century

Musicals – A “How to” Music  Composer writes the music  Arranger prepares for performance  Music director prepares music for performance  Lyricist writes the lyrics  Stephen Sondheim writes both music and lyrics  Cole Porter also wrote both music and lyrics

Musical Score

Pit Orchestra – THE PRODUCERS

The Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim A Little Priest (from “Sweeney Todd”)

TODD: (spoken) These are desperate times, Mrs. Lovett, and desperate measures are called for! LOVETT: Here we are, now! Hot out of the oven! TODD: What is that? LOVETT: It's priest. Have a little priest. TODD: Is it really good?

A Little Priest (continued) LOVETT: Sir, it's too good, at least! Then again, they don't commit sins of the flesh, So it's pretty fresh. TODD: Awful lot of fat.

LOVETT: Only where it sat. TODD: Haven't you got poet, or something like that?

LOVETT: No, y'see, the trouble with poet is 'Ow do you know it's deceased? Try the priest!

The Book of a Musical  What is "The Book"?

The book – also called the libretto – is the least appreciated and yet most dramatically important element of a musical. It is the narrative structure that keeps the score from being nothing more than a disjointed medley of songs.  For many years, the main point of most shows was to showcase a score and/or a major star. As a result, the books of most Broadway musicals were a series of scenes, jokes and sight gags designed to get from song to song. By the 1940s, audiences were ready for something more, and shows like Pal Joey and Oklahoma! made it imperative that the book and score interweave to tell a cohesive story. This made for a much more satisfying kind of theatrical entertainment.  After all, the first job of every play or film – musical or not – is to tell a good story.

Rehearsal studio

Albert Taylor Hall

ESU Theatre presents WORKING October 16-19 2014 Albert Taylor Hall