Musical Theatre Final Flashcards
(91 cards)
1
Q
Diversionary entertainments
§ Grease, Annie, etc.
§ Integrated musicals
The rise of the Concept Musical
A
1970s
2
Q
○ No linear narrative plots ○ Fragmented structure of scenes ○ Unified by theme (or "concept") ○ Strong, complicated characters § Often introspective ○ NOT a revue! § Difference=character ○ Often ironic tone ○ Jones: 1968-1978 Fueled by 70s self absorption
A
The Concept Musical
3
Q
○ Culture Wars, civil rights backlash ○ 2nd wave feminism ○ Nixon Scandals ○ Bad recessions ○ Society turned inward Rise of Therapy
A
1970s in context
4
Q
Most closely associated w/concept Musical
A
Hal Prince & Stephen Sondheim
5
Q
○ Most celebrated composer alive ○ Well to do parents in NYC ○ Age 10: Parents divorced § Father left for another woman ○ Moved to rural PA ○ Became friends with Jimmy Hammerstein! ○ Oscar Hammerstein II= surrogate father Saw Oklahoma! At 13
A
Stephen Sondheim (1930-?)
6
Q
○ 1957-West Side Story (lyrics)
○ 1959- Gypsy (lyrics)
1962-A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (music & Lyrics)
A
Sondheim Early Credits
7
Q
○ Company (1970)
○ A Little Night Music (1973)
Sweeney Todd (1979)
A
Sondheim Major Works: 1970s
8
Q
○ Sunday in the Park with George (1984)
○ Into the Woods (1987)
Assasins (1990)
A
Sondheim: Major Works: 1980s & 90s
9
Q
○ Complicates, challenging music
○ Complicated characters
○ Ambitious themes
Mature, ambiguous stories
A
Sondheim Hallmarks
10
Q
○ Music & lyrics: Sondheim ○ Book: George Furth ○ Director: Hal Prince ○ 705 Performances ○ Deliberately fragmented ○ Takes place in Robert's head Paradox!
A
Company (1970)
11
Q
Elements of both concept & integrated musicals
A
Hybrid Musical
12
Q
○ Music: John Kander ○ Lyrics: Fredd Ebb ○ Book Joe Masteroff § Adapted from the berlin stories Christopher Isherwood ○ 1165 performances Director Hal Prince
A
Cabaret (1966)
13
Q
○ 1966: Director: Hal Prince ○ 1972: Movie Dir: Bob Fosse ○ 1987: Revivial (eh) ○ 1993: Director: Sam Mendes § London § Actual Nightclub Setting ○ 1998: Restaged for B'way Co Directed by Rob Marshall & Sam Mendes
A
Cabaret Stage Versions
14
Q
○ Homosexuality & bisexuality § Cliff § Emcee ○ Altered score & libretto Performance venue
A
Differences btwn 1966 & 1998 Cabaret
15
Q
○ Meeskite
○ The Money Song
Why should I wake up?
A
Songs cut in Cabaret ‘98 version
16
Q
○ Mein Herr ○ Maybe this time ○ Money Money Money ○ I don't care much Cut it, sung by prostitute in og version. Now sung by emcee
A
Songs added in Cabaret ‘72 kept for ‘98 version
17
Q
○ “If you could see her through my eyes”
§ ‘66: Jews threatened to boycott
‘72: Line stayed in (barely)
A
Accusations of Cabaret Anti-Semitism
18
Q
• Integrated -> Concept ○ Oklahoma ○ Cabaret (1966) (closer to oklahoma) ○ Chicago (1975) (Middle) ○ Company
A
• Hybrid Scale
19
Q
○ Music: John Kander ○ Lyrics: Fred Ebb ○ Book: Ebb & Fosse ○ 936 perfs Dir/Choreo: Bob Fosse
A
Chicago (1975)
20
Q
○ Conceived/director/choreo: Michael Bennett
○ Book: James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante*
○ Music: Marvin Hamlish (2nd pegot winner)
○ Lyrics: edward kleban
6137 Performances
A
A Chorus Line (1975)
21
Q
○ Performers- actors dancer etc.
○ “Assistants”
§ Contributions often Minimized, erased
Agnes DeMille
A
Women in 20th Century Broadway
22
Q
○ Writing partner: Adolph Green
○ Lyricists, Librettists, & Screenwriter
○ On the Town (1944)
§ 3 sailors on 24 hour shore leave in NYC
Movie: Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
A
Betty Comden (1917-2006)
23
Q
○ Music: L. Bernstein ○ Book & Lyrics: Comden & Green ○ Perfs: 462 ○ Dir: George Abbott Choreo: Jerome Robbins
A
On the Town (1944)
24
Q
○ Lyricist & Librettist
○ Annie Get Your Gun (1946)
Wrote book with brother Herbert
A
Dorothy Fields (1904-1974)
25
```
○ Music: Cy Coleman
○ Lyrics: Dorothy Fields
○ Book: Neil Simon
○ Charity, a taxi dancer, searches for love
○ Proto-Feminist
"Something Better than This"
```
Sweet Charity (1966)
26
```
○ Director & Choreographer
○ Film Director
○ Won Multiple Tony's & Oscars
○ Notoriuos Womanizer
Beloved by his collaborators
```
Bob Fosse (1927-1987)
27
○ Bob Fosse: Dir/Choreo
| Gwen Verson: Dancer/Collaborator
Bob Fosse & Gwen Verdon
28
○ Women!
○ Hats, gloves, canes, chairs
○ Slouchy shoulders, knock knees
Odd angles
Fosse Hallmarks
29
○ Fosse's girlfriend for 4 years before his death
○ Reinking: Performer/ choreograpger
○ Together w/ Verdon, protect his legacy
1996: Choreographed/ starred in Chicago
Fosse & Ann Reinking
30
○ Nostalgia
§ Revivals & Revues
○ The Mega Musical
Irony
End-Century Trends
31
○ Yearning to return to a real or idealized past
| Starts in 1970s
Nostalgia
32
○ Discontent w/present
○ Past often Romanticized
Example: Grease, Annie
Ingredients for Nostalgia
33
```
○ Pastiche
§ Parody but without the mockery
§ Homage
○ Hair/clothes
○ Feel-Good ending
Fantasy of the 50s/ 60s
```
Grease vs Hairspray
34
```
○ Ronald Reagan
§ Nostalgia!
○ Iran-Contra
○ AIDS
Shaky economy
```
1980s
35
```
○ Bill Clinton
§ Money & sex scandals!
○ Recession (early 90s)
○ Dot Com boon (late 90s)
○ WTC & OK City Bombing
○ Columbine
Y2K
• Bring on the nostalgia
AIDS killed a generation of artists
```
1990s
36
○ 44 revivals btwn 1979 & 2000
§ Chicago
Guys & Dolls, etc.
Revivals
37
○ Nostalgia
○ Economics!
§ Broadway= Expensive
Revival= safe bet
Why Revivals so Popular
38
○ Show featuring popular music, usually from one artist or era
○ Can be integrated or revue form
Examples: Mama Mia! Motown
Jukebox Musicals
39
```
○ 1970: Compnay
§ Investment: $530,000
§ (Extra money) Profit: $245,000
○ 1982: Nine
§ Investment: $2,750,000
Profit: $546,000
```
Sharp increase in costs
40
○ Budgets increase
○ Ticket Prices Increase
Sell to tourists
Economic factors 80's-90's
41
```
○ 1970s
§ Sex shops
§ Drug users
§ No Tourists
○ 1980s:
§ Rezoning Laws
□ What businesses can be where
§ Eminent Domain Laws
□ If the city decides they need your property for a civic reason, they can buy it from you
○ 1990s:
§ Disney!
Buy New Amsterdam Theatre
```
Effort to Clean up Times Square
42
○ Former home to Ziegfeld Follies
○ Disrepair
○ Sold to Disney in '93
Reopened in '97
New Amsterdam Theatre
43
```
○ Appetite for Spectacle
§ Chicken/egg
§ Beauty & the Beast 1994 Tonys
○ "Theme Park" experience
§ Tourists
§ Event Experience
○ Global Marketplace
Sell shows to the world
```
"Disney-fication of B'way
44
```
○ OLD
§ Independent Producer
§ Medium Sized
§ Audience: New Yorkers
○ New
§ Corporations
§ BIG!!!
Audience: Tourists
```
New B'way Economics
45
○ Nostalgia + (Spectacle x Tourism)= shift in expectation
○ Audience seeks the familiar
§ Want a show that they know they'll like
§ Disney land
Seek Event Evenings
End of the 20th Century
46
```
○ Big
○ Flashy Musical
○ Catchy music
○ Has to be in there heads
Political
```
Discuss What kind of musical to produce in 1995
47
○ Lavish spectacle
○ Global Appeal
○ Huge Budgets
Insanely Profitable
The Megamusical
48
○ Composer
○ British, from musical family
○ Married 3 times
2nd richest man in Britain
Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-X)
49
```
○ Jesus Christ Superstar
○ Evita
○ Cats
○ Phantom
Sunset Boulevard
```
Major Lloyd Webber Shows
50
○ Sung-Through Score
○ Impressive Spectacle
Operetta-style conventions
Lloyd Webber Hallmarks
51
○ Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
○ Based on: T.S. Eliots Old Possums' book of practical cats
Lyrics/Book: Elliot/Trevor Nunn
Cats (1981)
52
```
○ All the cats introduce each other
○ King of the cats
○ Lady cat, old
○ London: Ran for 21 years
§ 8949 perfs
○ B'way: Ran for 18 years
§ 6138 perfs
§ Longest running show until Phantom
Cost: $5 Million
```
Cats
53
○ Music: Lloyd Webber
○ Lyrics: Charles Hart
§ Add'l lyrics: Richard Stilgoe
○ Dir: Hal Prince
○ Based on : Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux (French novel)
○ 9,067 Performances (and counting!)
○ Longest running B'way musical in history
○ As of 2007, most profitable entertainment venture ever
○ Made more money than Star Wars or Harry Potter
That's just ticket sales
The Phantom of The Opera (1986)
54
○ 40 Tony noms, 7 wins
| Plagiarism?
Critics' Response to Lloyd Webber
55
```
○ Producer
§ Cats
§ Les Miserables
§ The Phantom of the Opera
§ Miss Saigon
○ Most Successful ind. Producer alive
○ Works closely w/artistic team
○ Tightly controls productions
Merchandise!!!
```
Cameron Mackintosh (1946-?)
56
```
○ Uniform experience
○ Broadest possible appeal, wide audiences
○ Souvenirs: the "theme park" show
○ Want to see where the $$$ went
• The megamusical's appeal
Gee Whiz!
```
Audience & the megamusical
57
The actual result is the opposite of the intended or expected result
Irony
58
○ Gen X loves Irony
| Skeptical of promises of society
Irony in the 1990s
59
○ Avenue Q
| Urinetown
Ironic Musicals:
60
○ Conceived by Jeff Marx & Robert Lopez
○ Music/Lyrics by Marx & Lopez
Book by Jeff Whitty
Avenue Q
61
○ Music: Mark Hollman
○ Book: Greg Kotis
○ Lyrics: Both
965 perfs
Urinetown (2001)
62
○ Started in NYC Fringe Festival
○ Supposed to open on B'way 9/13
Opened 9/20
Urinetown
63
○ Advacating for change theatre
○ Paradoying this
○ Waiting for Lefty
The Cradle will rock
Agit-Prop
64
○ Overthrow or undermine the status quo
§ Govvernment
§ social mores
The "Establishment"
To Subvert (V.)
65
○ Often popular, or a cult hit
○ Often Comedic
○ Hints at P.O.V.
Audience comes the "conclusion"
Clues: Subversion in art
66
○ Sex
| Homosexuality- coded!
Popular subversive topics
67
○ La Cage Aux Folles (1983)
○ Falsettos (1992)
Rent (1996)
"Out" homosexuality in musicals
68
○ Music & Lyrics: Johnathan Larson
○ Book: Larson/ Billy Aronson
Based on: La Boheme
Rent (1996)
69
```
○ Music: Marc Shaiman
○ Lyrics: Shaiman & Scott Wittman
○ Book: Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan
○ Based on: John Waters' movie (1988)
Queer Liberation
```
Hairspray (2002)
70
○ Drag Queens
○ Raunchy humor
○ Pastiche/ Parody
Subversive!
Hallmarks of John Waters
71
○ 2642 peformances!
○ Musical stays true to original film (mostly)
2007: Film musical
Hairspray the Musical
72
○ Fat Girls
○ Drag Queens
○ Black People
Filthfy show
Outsider Metaphors- Hairspray
73
○ Harvey Fierstein
○ Playwright, librettise, actor, gay activist
○ Torch song trilogy
La Cage Aux Folles
2002 Edna Turnblad
74
```
19th C.
-Operettas
-European
-Melodrama
-Vaudeville
-Revues
-Minstrel Shows
1910s
-George M. Cohan
-Book Musical
○ 1920s
-Shuffle Along
-Show Boat
□ Integrated Musicals
○ 1930s
-Anything Goes
-Porgy & Bess
○ 1940s
-Oklahoma!
○ 1950s
-West Side Story
-Guys & dolls
○ 1960s
-Hair
-Fiddler on the roof
-Cabaret
○ 1970s
-Chicago
-Company
-Jesus Christ Superstar
-Follies
-Godspell
-Grease
-Annie
-The Wiz
○ 1980s
-Cats
-Phantom
-Mega Musicals
○ 1990s
-Irony
-Rent
-Revivals & Revues
-Disney
```
Review of Musicals
75
○ 2000: Musicals are dead!
§ Creatively
○ 2001: The Producers
Musicals are alive!
The Aughts
76
```
○ Book: Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan
○ Music & Lyrics: Brooks
○ Based on movie
○ 2502 Performances
"Reinvented" the American musical
```
The Producers (2001)
77
○ Megamusicals
§ Lion King, Wicked, movie-musicals
○ Musical Comedy (expensive budgets, expensive tickets)
§ The Producers, Hairspray, movie-musicals
○ Ironic Musicals
§ Ave. Q, Urinetown, [Title of Show]
Small Musical
2000s
78
```
○ Small Cast
○ Character driven
○ Often serious tone or theme
○ Often artistically courageous
○ Often based on original or obscure material
Can still be super-expensive
```
The "small" musical
79
○ Book & Lyrics: Tom Yorkey
○ Music: Tom Kitt
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Next to Normal (2008)
80
```
○ Development process has changed
§ A Lot of readings
§ Readings where they give them money
§ Elevates the story & goes away from grand spectacle
○ Productions are too expensive
Reaction to megamusicals
```
Why Small Musicals?
81
Wrote On the Town
Comden & Green
82
Big spender, escort host wants to get out & fall in love. Wants to escape situation
Sweet Charity
83
```
○ Hairspray
○ Urinetown
○ Rocky Horror Picture show
○ Undermine the status quo
○ Popular, cult hint
○ Hint at the povt
○ Fuck establishment
○ Audience comes to a conclusion
○ Real message isn't shown through
Cole porter
```
Subversion
84
○ Musicals made with Music that was from a band
| Motown, American Idiot, Mama Mia, Jersey Boys
Jukebox musicals
85
○ Makes new york a tourist park
○ Disney musicals
○ For kids
Made it expensive
Disney-fication
86
○ Huge Spectacle
| A lot of money to make money back
Megamusicals
87
```
○ Made it touristy
○ Red zoning
○ Stop & Frisk
○ Eminent domain laws
Took out non pg13 businesses
```
Times Square transformation
88
```
○ Megamusicals
○ Phantom
○ Cats
○ Andrew Lloyd Webber
Disney-ficatoin begins
```
Trends & examples: 1980s
89
○ Revivals
| British Theatre
Trends & examples: 1990s
90
```
○ Small Cast
○ Big budget small cast
○ Character driven
○ Next to normal
○ In a reaction to the mega musical
○ Artistically Courageous
○ Fun Home
Based on original or obscure material
```
Small musical
91
○ Both concept & Integrated
○ Cabaret
○ Chicago
Chorus Line
Hybrid Musical
