Music History Exemption Part One! Flashcards
(73 cards)
1
Q
Humpty Dumpty Series
A
- Most successful American Pantomime
- Began in 1868 - 483 performances
- George Fox in the title role - played Humpty more than 1,400x –> SYPHILIS
- Humpty, et al. were harlequinade characters
- Ballet was staged by David Costa (choreo. of The Black Crook)
- Score largely consisted of ‘recycled’ Offenbach and old music hall tunes.
- Set new long-run record, inspired series of sequels.
2
Q
Floradora
A
- First theatrical sensation of the new century
- Owen Hall, Leslie Stewart, Paul Rubens
- 1899 in London - 455 performances; 1900 in NY - 553 performances
- Woman seeking romance and her stolen inheritance.
- Originally rejected in NY by producers as ‘too British,’ but when it was picked up, it made millions.
- Revived on bway in 1902, ‘05, ‘20
3
Q
The Merry Widow
A
- 1905 (Vienna), 1907 (Bway - 416 performances)
- Composer - Franz Lehar (Austro-Hungarian)
- Libretto - Victor Leon, Leo Stein
- ***‘Seamlessly integrated masterpiece’ –> every song and dialogue contributed to the plot
- Young widow re-ignites lost love with playboy nobleman -
- First “I love you but not telling you” trick.
- So inexplicably popular, several Shubert companies toured the US, and a full-length parody ran in NY. (Also London, Berlin)
- Most successful score sold
- Increased demand for romantic Viennese operettas.
4
Q
Very Good Eddie
A
- 1915 - 341 performances
- One of the ‘Princess Theatre musicals’ (created at the Princess Theatre) *Small 299 seats= naturalism
- Comstock - producer of theater
- Book - Guy Bolton
- *Music - Jerome Kern
- Focused on characters and settings that would be familiar to Bway audiences, with characters facing credible challenges. Naturalistic, seemingly informal style.
- Two honeymooning couples who get into innocent misunderstandings on a Hudson River steamboat.
5
Q
Gilbert and Sullivan
A
William S. Gilbert 1836-1911 - was an unsuccessful attorney who won attention for his humorous verses in popular magazines.
Arthur S. Sullivan 1842-1900 - studied classically and wrote a series of cantatas and tunes to the hymn “Onward Christian Soldier” that made him the most celebrated composer in Britain. (lol)
- The two first collaborated on a flop, “Thespis” 1871, but Producer Richard D. Carte brought them back together to work on a one-act “Trial By Jury” in 1875 and the partnership stuck.
- they self described their works as comic-operas, but most sources give them the label of operetta and many are still performed in the canon of musical theater today: “H.M.S Pinafore 1878, Pirates of Penzance 1880, Iolanthe 1882, The Mikado 1885, Yeoman of the Guard 1888, The Gondoliers 1889.”
- Gilbert’s lyrics are known for being hilarious and and his pattern songs are intricate. His plots are often topsy turvy view reality and spoofs everything from governmental stupidity to social pretension
- *Notable because they introduced the integrated musical (songs further plot, flow between dialogue and song, songs express characters and their views, dances advance plot, orchestra and underscoring parallels or compliments the action) (although they were billed as a comic-opera), They had a process together which included many revisions in the name of the plot.
6
Q
Jacques Offenbach
A
- 1819-1880 Often called the “Grandfather of the modern musical”. Was a successful cellist and conductor before he began composing for theaters. Started Patter. BIRTH of operetta.
- 1st larger work was “Orpheus in the Underworld” followed by a long string of hits: “La belle Helene, La Grand Duchesse de Gerolstein, La Perichole, Les Brigonds”
- used songs to develop characters and propel plot action…sort of the birth of the early book musical.
- plots of political and social satire (usually). Broadway season at the time saw at least 12 of his works per season and his one grand opera “The Tales of Hoffmann” is still in the opera repertory today.
- 1st to be translated into multiple languages, melodies became worldwide favorites.
- *Notable because he made musical theater an important art form world-wide in the late 1800s. He inspired Gilbert and Sullivan and Johann Strauss II, and the birth of the book musical/operetta/patter!!)
(SIDE NOTE: these shorter satirical works are generally regarded as operettas AND musicals by several sources, one source suggests opera bouffe or something else opera-y…perhaps not that one. )
7
Q
Johan Strauss II
A
- 1852-1899 The most popular composer of his time. Inspired by Offenbach.
- Strauss inspired by Offenbach’s collaboraters: Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy (librettists).
- satirical - Viennese society
- wrote music for 15 operettas, several which became international favorites.
- “Die Fledermaus” perhaps his best known work is still performed world-wide.
- Some of music has been used posthumously in stage and screen productions: “Weiner Blut” 1899, “Waltzer aus Wein” 1930, and the Stage and Screen versions of “The Great Waltz”
8
Q
Cabin in the Sky
A
- Composer - Vernon Duke
- Lyrics - John LaTouche
- 1940 - 156 performances
- Duke and LaTouche were among those determined to ‘make the Broadway musical grow up.’
- Parable of an angel/demon in a tug of war for a black man’s soul.
- Great reviews, poor box office return.
9
Q
Variety/Vaudeville Revue
A
- Popular from early 1880s - early 1930
- Filled a gap in American entertainment.
- People had spare cash and weekly leisure time, but Variety was often too coarse for women and children.
- Tried to bridge social gap that divided upper/lower classes
- Tony Pastor created first successful ‘clean’ variety.
- Ben Franklin Keith, Edward F. Albee created policy of continuous multiple daily performance, called it ‘vaudeville.’
- Performances could be ‘one-nighters’ or many a week depending on house size and performer popularity.
- Made up of separate, unrelated acts grouped on a common bill.
- Could included singers/dancers (nearly always), classical musicians, comedians, trained animals, magician, acrobats, jugglers, one-act plays/scenes, celebrities, etc.
10
Q
Annuals
A
- A form of revue that recurs on a yearly basis with different material.
- Examples: Ziegfeld’s Follies, Greenwich Village Follies, The Passing Show, etc.
11
Q
Burlesque
A
- Began as lower/middle class entertainment in the 1840s ‘burlesquing’ or making fun of plays, musicals, and habits of the upper class.
- 1860s, British burlesque began relying on scantily clad women.
- Badmouthing from the self-righteous HELPED the form rather than hurting it in late 1800s.
- Michael Leavitt created a 3-act format much like Minstrel Shows: 1. Ensemble songs/gags in formal wear 2. Olio with variety performances 3. Complete 1-act musical parody.
- Circuits arose - like Vaudeville, but were called wheels.
- Richest legacy was the COMEDY - headliner known as ‘top banana’
- Abbot and Costello were burlesque comedians (Who’s On First)
12
Q
Keith and Albee
A
- Creators of Vaudeville
- Began in 1883
- Built a chain of theaters in the northeast and used format of ‘continuous multiple daily performances’
13
Q
The Shubert Brothers
A
- Responsible for the breaking up of The Theater Syndicate’s monopoly in NY
- Largely responsible for the establishment of the NYC Broadway theater district.
- By 1924, owned 86 theaters across the US, and owned/operated/managed or booked over 1,000 theaters across the country.
- Staged many revues.
14
Q
Cabin in the Sky
A
- Composer - Vernon Duke
- Lyrics - John LaTouche
- 1940 - 156 performances
- Duke and LaTouche were among those determined to ‘make the Broadway musical grow up.’
- Parable of an angel/demon in a tug of war for a black man’s soul.
- Great reviews, poor box office return.
15
Q
Variety/Vaudevillrevue
A
- Filled a gap in American entertainment.
- People had spare cash and weekly leisure time, but Variety was often too coarse for women and children.
- Tried to bridge social gap that divided upper/lower classes
- Tony Pastor created first successful ‘clean’ variety.
- Ben Franklin Keith, Edward F. Albee created policy of continuous multiple daily performance, called it ‘vaudeville.’
- Dumb Act: Silent: Acrobats or animal acts
- Singers/Dancers: singing sister” or “dancing brother” act Gum Sisters/Nicholas Brothers
- Comedy sketch or one-act play. These could be old melodramas with unknown casts or new works featuring top Broadway star
- novelty act or eccentric dance act was thrown into the fourth spot
- This spot was reserved for rising stars or falling ones, to close out the first half of the program with a solid crowd pleaser.(FIRST HALF CLOSER)
(intermission) - After intermission came a “big” act involving a large set – choirs, novelty orchestras and top animal acts were typical choices for this slot.
- “Next to closing” was the star spot
- The “closing” spot was reserved for short films – or annoying acts that might encourage patrons to leave before the next show. A clunky one-man band or a grating singer were typical closers: Lillian Russel (closing Act) - large figure, lots of food. Webber and Fields - Mike and Myers skit.
16
Q
Evangeline
A
1874 - A Boston creation that was billed as an Extravaganza while it’s sheet music listed it as opera bouffe, and was treated by critics as a burlesque..which it actually was.
- title from Longfellow’s poem, in NY it was a surprise success and so it went back to Boston for a more lavish production/version and returned to NY even more successful.
- trouser role for women, and the obese clown woman was played by a man.
- authored by J. Cheever Goodwin who was the first professional librettist to leave his mark on American Musical theater (Bordman Text)
- musically was billed as solos, duets, trios, full chorus with all original works by Edward E. Rice.
- The show was incoherent, but lively. Family loved the spouting whale, dancing cow, and comedian. The “Jumble of Delights” toured the US for over a decade and periodically returned to NY. The 1885 revival ran for 251 performances and was the Broadway debut of two future stars: Fay Templeton and Lillian Russell.
17
Q
Little Johnny Jones
A
- 1904 (with a few revivals later)
- A George M. Cohan piece where he served as composer/lyricist, author/librettist, producer, director, and star. He also had tailor made roles for his father, mother, and wife. The score included songs like “Yankee Doodle Boy” and “Give My Regards to Broadway”.
- a patriotic and sentimental story of an American jockey who is falsley accused throwing the english derby. He billed it as a musical play…a play with music…Most critics were harsh and belittled his attempts at seriousness.
- the shows dimensions were more human than not and the songs were a telling adjunct to the story line.
- the show had a transformation that served as the dramatic climax instead of straight up spectacle a la The Black Crook.
- Cohan changed the definition of the leading man and also broke out of the box that had long restricted male dancers.
- Show made two return trips to NY on it’s year-long tour.
18
Q
Burlesque
A
- Began as lower/middle class entertainment in the 1840s ‘burlesquing’ or making fun of plays, musicals, and habits of the upper class.
- Would tour on wheels (circuits) as a troupe, not individually.
- 1860s, British burlesque began relying on scantily clad women. Didn’t get dirty here until popularity died down. (as an attempt to save it)
19
Q
Keith and Albee
A
- Creators of Vaudeville
- Began in 1883
- Built a chain of theaters in the northeast and used format of ‘continuous multiple daily performances’
20
Q
The Schubert Brothers
A
- Responsible for the breaking up of The Theater Syndicate’s monopoly in NY
- **Largely responsible for the establishment of the NYC Broadway theater district.
- By 1924, owned 86 theaters across the US, and owned/operated/managed or booked over 1,000 theaters across the country.
- popular revues, Ziegfeld wanted to challenge.
21
Q
Florenz Ziegfeld
A
- Embellished his life for publicity - facts are difficult to pinpoint
- Popularized the revue with his 1907 follies, based on Paris’ Folies Bergere.
- Name ‘Follies’ based on the various ‘follies’ or foibles of the culture at the time.
- Because they were respectable, larger than a cabaret and more elaborate than vaudeville, the Follies were considered the ultimate variety show.
- **Created more than 20 versions, and set new technical and artistic standards for pro theaters in America.
= Largescale Broadway
22
Q
Klaw and Erlanger
A
- Theater owner contemporaries of the Schubert Bros.
- Founders of the Theaterical Syndicate, a theater monopoly, in 1896.
- **Funded Ziegfeld’s Follies to compete with the Schuberts’ lavish revues.
23
Q
The Girl from Utah
A
1914-1915 season
- the plot was about an American girl fleeing to London rather than become a rich Mormon’s latest wife. Score was blah so producer Charles Frohman hired Jerome Kern and veteran lyricist Herbert Reynolds to write five new numbers for the first act.
- Notable because Jerome Kern, a native New Yorker, got his start amending the scores of imported British musicals. British high society rarely arrived at a theatre before intermission, London musicals of the early 1900s often saved their best material for the second act and filled their early scenes with forgettable fluff. These shows had to be revised for New York audiences, who tended to arrive for the first curtain and leave at intermission if the first act was not up to snuff.
- One number - “They Didn’t Believe Me” eclipsed everything in the show’s original British score and made Kern the hottest new composer on Broadway and changed the course of MT.
24
Q
Leave it to Jane
A
1917-1918 season.
- After Kern enjoyed much success at the Princess Theater british lyricist-librettist P.G. Wodehouse joined the team and they began several other hit shows.
- Leave it to Jane opened at Longacre Theater while another previous show was still enjoying a long run at the Princess.
- “A college president’s daughter woos a rival school’s star quarterback and loses her heart to him in the process. The catchy title tune and the comic “Cleopatterer” were highlights. A cozy 1959 revival Off-Broadway captured enough period charm to run for a whopping 928 performances.”
- seems notable because of Kern and the princess theater shows which were very successful with traits of small casts in realistic settings.
25
No, No, Nanette
- 1925-1926 season Composer Vincent Youmans and lyricists Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach
- had a rather short broadway run but had already run in Chicago for a year and sent out road companies before the NY opening. Producers after discouragement at Baltimore recast the show and had the writers come up with more material which turned into two of the hits from the show: "Tea for Two" and " I Want To Be Happy".
- Plot centered on fun Manhattan heiress who gives her boyfriend the cold shoulder and runs off to Atlantic City for a weekend. By the final curtain, Nanette and her man are reunited, and her bible publishing foster father mends his philandering ways.
- 3 screen adaptations and a broadway revival in 1971
- significant I think for the revision process, pre-broadway out of town trials, and the fact that several of the songs were brought over from previous Youmans shows
26
Of Thee I Sing
1931-1932 season-was the longest running Broadway book musical of the 1930s.
The Gershwins worked with script writers George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind on this satirical tale of a President who gets elected (and almost impeached) because he marries the woman he loves. Several scenes were set to music in a semi-operatic format, but the score was pure musical comedy.
-Of Thee I Sing was the first musical ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama
27
The Cradle Will Rock
1937-1938 season - had sort of an odd start legally
- It was dropped as a WPA project in Washington and was about to be done in NY in June when an injunction prevented the actors from performing. So John Houseman and Orson Welles hired the Venice Theater and march the cast and patrons 20 blocks north to it. Then the musicians union was not on board so the show's creator Marc Blitztein played his score from an on-stage piano. While the actors to comply with the injunction bought tickets, sat with the audience and performed the show from their seats. It was performed at the Venice 19 times and eventually moved to the Mercury for a regular run.
- The musical is a Brechtian allegory of corruption and corporate greed and includes a panoply of societal figures. Set in "Steeltown, USA", it follows the efforts of Larry Foreman to unionize the town's workers and combat wicked, greedy businessman Mr. Mister, who controls the town's factory, press, church and social organization. The piece is almost entirely sung-through, giving it many operatic qualities, although it included popular song styles of the time.
- An abridged version of the production was recorded and released in 1938, the first original cast recording ever made.
(Wikipedia...)
28
P.T. Barnum
1810-1891 (Phineas Taylor Barnum)
-Barnum was an author, publisher, philanthropist, and for some time a politician (mayor of Bridgeport CT in 1875, founder of their hospital), he said of himself, "I am a showman by profession...and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me" and his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers" (Wiki)
- In 1842, P.T. opened the American Museum on lower Broadway in New York City as a place for family entertainment, enlightenment and instructive amusement. It became a shrine for advancing public knowledge of fine arts, music, literature and the marvels of nature, showcasing natural curiosities and artistic and historic exhibitions. The museum's success only grew and expanded - was very popular.
- In 1842 he also met a tiny four year old boy...and "After seeing him and talking with him, I am once determined to secure his services from his parents and to exhibit him in public." So he displayed him and billed him as Tom Thumb, an 11 year old (25" tall and 15 lbs). Together they toured the US and Europe and made a fortune. The kid's salary went from $3 to $7 to $25 a week.
- He also toured European soprano Jenny Lind which also became highly successful and everyone's salaries were increased.
(Barnum Museum where I'm getting all of this says that Barnum held theater and entertainment in high social regard and used them as venues for reformation, furthering his ideals of theater going as moral, benevolent, educational, and entertaining. Seems notable as a grand innovator in variety and family entertainment. It wasn't until later in his career - 1870- he was approached about a joint circus venture which first opened in Brooklyn in 1871.)
29
T.D. Rice
1808-1860 - (Timothy Dartmouth) minstrel, singer, dancer.
-In in 1828 a Louisville street dancer inspired him to put on blackface make-up and perform of an old Negro singing "Jump Jim Crow."
- Audiences loved it and he became internationally famous.
- He played Jim Crow in a series of 1830s burlesque musicals that he called "Ethiopian Operas."
- his unprecedented success inspired the rise of minstrelsy. He appeared with several minstrel troupes in the 1840s, but was bankrupt by the time paralysis led to his death at age 58.
30
Dan Emmett
Daniel Decatur "Dan" Emmett 1815-1904
- American songwriter, entertainer, and founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition (blackface as a solo act had been seen for nearly a decade before)
- The group's full-length blackface performance is generally considered to have been the first true minstrel show: previous blackface acts were usually either an entr'acte for a play or one of many acts in a comic variety show.
- credited with writing the famous song "Dixie"
31
Edwin Christie
E. P. Christy -1815-1862
- composer, singer, actor and stage producer. Founded the blackface minstrel group Christy's Minstrels.
- eventually perfected the three part format that became the standard for all minstrel shows:
- The First Part/Minstrel Line
- The Olio: After an intermission
- Afterpiece/One-Act Musical
(description of 3 parts here: http://www.musicals101.com/minstrelb.htm)
32
Stephen Foster
1826-1864
-Most of the hit songs of the 1800s come from minstrelsy. Stephen Foster's "Camptown Races," "My Old Kentucky Home," "O Susanna" and "Old Folks at Home" were all popularized in minstrel shows.
33
Tony Pastor
1832-1908 - producer/performer (Inventor of Vaudeville)
- the man who invented vaudeville began his career as a boy, singing at P.T. Barnum's NYC Museum in 1846. Over the next few years, Pastor sang in circuses, minstrel shows and variety revues.
- Pastor started producing variety bills, sending out touring troupes and opening his first Manhattan theater in 1865.
- he wanted to clean-up variety entertainment. In 1881, he opened a new theatre on 14th Street, promising "cultivated and aesthetic pure music and comedy" designed for family audiences. He alternated operettas with clean variety bills – the beginning of what became known as vaudeville.
- Pastor showcased the finest talents on the variety stage, giving crucial opportunities to such future stars as Lillian Russell and George M. Cohan. He never expanded beyond his small theatre near Union Square.
34
Harrigan and Hart
Edward (Ned) Harrigan 1844-1911 - Actor, singer, librettist, lyricist, producer
Tony Hart (1855-1891) - Actor, singer, producer (did a lot of drag)
- After their "Mulligan Guards" sketch made them variety stars, the team developed a series of songs and sketches featuring lower class characters drawn from the streets of New York. In time, these sketches evolved into seventeen full length farcical musical comedies
- Harrigan ultimately wrote the the book and lyrics for more than twenty five Broadway musicals, including The Mulligan Guards' Ball (1879) and Cordelia's Aspirations (1883), all with melodies composed by father in law David Braham.
35
Webber and Fields
Lew Fields (1867-1941)
Joseph Webber (1867-1942)
- They formed a comedy act, developing a series of ethnic routines while touring the variety circuits. In time, they perfected the characters 'Myer' (the tall Fields) and 'Mike' (the diminutive Weber)
- By 1896, Weber and Fields established an all-star Broadway troupe, producing a popular series of variety shows that mixed one-act musical burlesques with assorted sketches and vaudeville acts. With nonsensical titles like Whirl-i-gig (1899), Hoity Toity (1901) and Higgeldy Piggledy (1904), these shows offered Weber and Fields in their trademark slapstick routines while also showcasing such top musical comedy talents as Fay Templeton, Lillian Russell and DeWolf Hopper. These productions eventually evolved into full-length burlesques spoofing current theatrical hits, celebrities and events. These send-ups included Cyranose de Bricabrac (1899), Quo Vass Iss, and a lavish parody of The Merry Widow (1908
- Dissolved their partnership in 1904
36
Mulligan Guard Series
- Tony Hart and Ned Harrigan, lyrics: David Braham
- Produced 1878-1884
- Broadway series that depicts situations/characters from NYC's lower classes
- Laid foundation for Broadways shows for next century
- Started as drunken gatherings called the "guard" hosted by politicians where H&H dressed up in uniforms and sang etc. Eventually played in top variety theaters
The Mulligan Guard Picnic (1878)
-Harrigan played Irish saloon owner in all scetchrees
The Mulligan Guard Ball (1879)
- Extremely popular with immigrants
- focused on real problems like interracial tension, political corruption etc. but had so much clownish humor that kept audience laughing
```
Squatter Sovereignty (1882)
-Songs used popular style but with street smart humor (ethnic accents, slang etc)
```
37
Babes in Toyland
(1903) Score: Victor Herbert (one of the most acclaimed songwriters of his time)
- Attempt to copy the success of the fanciful Wizard of Oz (Babes In Toyland boasted a better score)
- Herbert: first B-way composer to insist that no changes be made to scores w/o permission (led to ASCAP which protects rights of composers and lyricists)
38
Naughty Marietta
(1910) Score: Victor Hebert
- French noblewoman who leaves prospect of loveless marriage to marry American soldier
- Showcase for operatic voices
- "I'm Falling In Love With Someone" and "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life"= recycled in Thoroughly Modern Millie
39
Maytime
(1917) - Sigmund Romberg (Staff composer for Shubert Brothers)
- American Operetta: WWI top stage hit
- 2 companies ran the show simultaneously on B-way b/c of ticket demand
40
Rose-Marie
(1924) - Rudoph Friml (Czech native who composed 20 B-way operettas) (Many songs became popular in the day)
- Woman must get a Canadian mountie to clear the name of the man she loves
41
Show Boat
(1927) Florenz Ziegfeld, Jerome Kern and OScar Hammerstein II (lyrics)
- One of the most popular musicals ever written
- Inhabitants of Mississippi survive from 1880s-1920s: deals with racism, interracial romance, alcoholism etc (subjects previously considered taboo)
- Most lasting accomplishment of Ziegfeld's career
- Character-driven score
- Started no lasting trends but inspired R&H when they created Oklahoma! 16 years later (Saw what MT could aspire to)
- Depression ended the show
42
Porgy and Bess
(1935) George and Ira Gershwin
- Unique jazz opera
- Teamed with playwright DuBose Heyward (adapted from his play and the hit novel "Porgy")
- Depicts poor black people on dockside in Charleston
- All the makings of Grand opera (death, rape etc)
- Blended classical, pop and jazz music
- Failed at first b/c it was too heavy and serious but became popular with revivals in 1942, 1952 and 1976
- 1985 became the first musical to enter the New York Metropolitan Opera's standard rep
43
Pal Joey
(1940) Rodgers and Hart
Book: John Ohara
-First musical to center on anti-hero (sleezy night club hoofer who manipulates wealthy mistress)
-Gene Kelly played title character
44
Circus
-Part of Variety shows
Components (1920s)
*The Parade
*Equestrian Acts
*Acts of Skill (High wire, tumbling etc)
*Clown (actors who did small "shows" that
told stories etc)
*Wild Animals Acts
*Circus Music (Perpetual flow of music to keep the excitement going. Events were highlighted with sounds. John Philip Souza= Popular music to use b/c its brassy grandeur)
45
Minstrel Shows
-Most popular stage shows of early-mid 19th century
-embodied racial hatred
-blackface
-1st 100% American-made entertainment
-Developed 1840s after the Civil War
-Sentimentalized slave life etc (shown as naive buffoons)
-Stock characters:
*Slave
*Dandy (more leisurely character with
hobbies etc)
3 Act Structure
I Troupe Dance, wisecracks, songs
II Variety entertainment (pun-filled stump speech)
III Slapstick skit, plantation skit or send-up stage play
46
Ziegfeld Follies
- The quintessential revue.
- Began on rooftops, but made it into the New Amsterdam theater (owned by Abe Erlanger), and eventually The Ziegfeld Theater.
- Though originally in burlesque, Fanny Brice reached stardom in the Follies.
- Other stars include Will Rogers and W.C. Fields among others.
- got bigger and bigger each year - he was the beginning of today's big broadway.
47
George White's Scandals
- 1919? --> Originally a featured dancer in Ziegfeld's Follies, George White believe he could improve on them.
- Produced 13 revues called 'Scandals.'
- His revues were good enough to make Ziegfeld nervous.
- Included some Gershwin music and stars like Ethel Merman.
48
Music Box Revues
- 1921 --> Irving Berlin and Sam Harris built the Music Box Theater, in which they produced four revues scored by Berlin. (Called Music Box Revues).
- Featured 'sophisticated comedy lavish production values.'
- Fanny Brice a featured performer.
49
As Thousands Cheer
- 1933 -- Berlin and Harris back together to create the biggest revue of the decade.
- Included Berlin's songs 'Easter Parade' and 'Heat Wave.'
50
Pins and Needles
- 1937 --> Inexpensive revue sponsored by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
- Included 2 pianos, and cast comprised of ILGW union workers.
- Composed by Harold Rome.
- Rehearsed nights and weekends due to their factory jobs
- Only hit produced by a labor union, and only group of unknown non-pros to bring successful musical to Broadway.
51
This is the Army
- 1942 --> Revue featuring all-Army cast.
- Poked fun at military life
- Composed by Berlin, who performed 'Oh, How I hate to Get Up in the Morning' himself.
- Broadway run, tour, London run, then made into a film.
52
Olio
- In Minstrel shows, songs/variety acts performed in front of painted backdrop.
- Sometimes performed w/o blackface.
- Often ended with 'stump speech' - satiric takeoff of politicians --> precursor to standup comedy.
53
Afterpiece
- Burlesqued (parodied) popular topic/novel/play.
- Two stock blackface characters --> Jim Crow (ignorant bumpkin), Zip Coon (city slicker whose self-assurance led to his fall)
54
Wheels
- Burlesque version of a circuit.
| - Columbia (Eastern US), Mutual, and Empire (Western US)
55
Circuits
- Chains of theaters of similar size in different parts of the country that hosted vaudeville performers.
- Small time (lowest pay), medium time (people on their way up or down), and big time (highest pay).
56
Keeping it Clean
- Keith and Albee (vaudeville theater owners) would insist that acts in their theaters "keep it clean." Anything perceived as sacrilegious or insulting to patrons would result in dismissal and banning from performing in their theaters. (Vaudeville clean version of burlesque/minstrelsy)
57
Tableaux Vivants
- Literally 'living picture.'
- Group of costumed actors/models posed, and often theatrically lit.
- Actors do not move. Could be considered a marriage of stage/painting or photography.
- Popular in frontier towns, and made its way into broadway variety, revues (Ziegfeld Follies)
- Used sometimes in erotic entertainment as laws prohibited nude actors moving on stage. (WATCH "MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS")
(wiki)
58
Small to Big Time
- Small Time --> Smallest vaudeville theaters. Training ground for new performers. Low pay.
- Medium Time --> Decent theaters, better pay. Often during someone's career ascent or descent.
- Big Time --> Best theaters in the best cities. MUCH better pay. Could be hundreds/week or $1,000s/week depending on size of star.
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Actor Mangers
- Particularly common in the 1800s, a leading actor who begins a theater company, and manages said company.
- Sometimes take over an actual theater, and perform plays of their own choice in which they often star.
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Business Producers
- Oversees business aspects of a production.
| - Coordinates everything that doesn't involve events on stage.
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ASCAP
- Founded 1924 by Victor Herbert, George M. Cohan, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, etc., giving composers more creative control over what happens to their music in shows.
- More or less ended interpolation of other composers' music.
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Tin Pan Alley
- 3 blocks of W 28th st. where most music publishers were located.
- The sound of pianists banging away sounded like 'housewives banging tin pans.' Thus the moniker.
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Actors' Equity Association
- Union for stage actors/stage managers, established in 1913, recognized in 1919 (by theaters).
- In 1919, demanded that all professional production offer standard contract. When theaters refused, the union struck and won.
64
Theatrical Syndicates
- Formed by Klaw and Erlanger in 1896.
| - Gave them a monopoly over nearly every legit theater in the country for 16 years.
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British Music Hall
- 1843 first appeared b/c saloons and pleasure gardens could only have entertainment if run as a theater
- Liquor was a huge part of these halls
- Not proscenium stage but like church with fenced-in sanctuary
* Lots of tables and benches to eat and drink and talk
* Acts were often ignored
- Mediocrity "bood" off stage
- Not risque b/c women and children were present
- Talking films killed music halls
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American Variety
Honky Tonks
- Saloon-style atmosphere in abandoned churches and warehouses etc
- Koster and Bial's =most prestigious variety house (NYC)
- Not for family audience
- "Waiter girls" encouraged people to drink more and teased the guests
Blue Acts
- Nudity and obscenity was forbidden so songs were written to depict sexual situations etc
- OR acts called Blue Acts contained induendo etc
- Got more perverted later in the evenings
Museums
- Variety managers tried to push respectable side b/c politicians etc. were concerned w/ lower class entertainment
- P.T. Barnum's American Museum=most popular
* 3,000 seat "lecture hall"
* Variety acts
* Melodramas
- "Educational" displays or freak shows or "Instructive dramas" (Blue material banned)
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Seven Shows the won Pulitzer Prizes
```
George and Ira Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing (1932)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific (1950)
Bock & Harnick's Fiorello! (1960)
Frank Loesser's How to Succeed (1962)
Marvin Hamlisch, A Chorus Line (1976)
Sunday in the Park with George (1985),
Rent (1996)
Next to Normal (2010).
```
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John Gay
1685-1732
- Wrote for stage and danced around politics, but was shut down by opposing Prime Minister.
- channeled frustrations into a satirical "ballad opera" with lyrics set to pre-existing opera arias and barroom ballads: Beggar's Opera
- British gov't banned sequel "Polly"
- He also wrote libretto for Handel's "Acis & Galatea"
- "Beggar's Opera" still performed and inspired Brecht and Weill's "Threepenny Opera".
69
Franz Lehar
1870-1948
- Austro-Hungarian composer/conductor who studied in Prague under Dvorak.
- producers used sets and costumes from his earlier works that had little success to produce "The Merry Widow" which became an instant sensation and was translated and brought him worldwide fame.
- his political ambivalence to Nazi's in WWII clouded his reputation later in life.
70
Anything Goes
1934
- Book: Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse
- Composer: Cole Porter
- Producer: Vinton Freedly
- Starring: William Gaxton, Victor Moore, Ethel Merman.
- required a lot of revising; ethel took shorthand notes and typed them up for the cast.
- show about madcap antics on an ocean liner
- tryouts in Boston 1st; 4th longest running musical of the 1930s, despite the depression
- many hit songs; moved Porter to top of the B'way pack.
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A Connecticut Yankee
1927
Rodgers, Hart, Fields - based on Mark Twain tale of modern american who dreams he's been transported to King Arthur's court.
- combination of neo-medieval speech and 1920's slang "methinks yon damsel is a lovely broad"
- William Gaxton won acclaim in central role beginning his reign has Broadway's most popular leading man.
- Their shows were lighthearted romps; crash was hard on their stage shows.
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Irene
1919 - Book James Montgomery (based on his play), lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, music Harry Tierny
-longest running musical for 2 decades at that time.
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Black Crook
1866
- merger of a French Ballet and a shabby melodrama. Melodrama by Charles M. Barras, played @ the Niblo after the Academy of Music burnt down.
- 5 and a half hour spectacle.
- musical hodgepodge - only two lyrics remain, but many many cues for background music etc
- most music was popular of the day - some originally composed, but nothing great and they were replaced along the way.
- choreography by David Costa, dancers were the sensation of the show!
- sets worked on by many (people who specialized)
- people argue backwards and forwards if this is America's first original work/ballad opera.
- inspired series of fantasy-themed extravaganzas!
- transformation was a spectacle
