Music in Theatre
- greece, elizabethan, shakes, scripted songs, molar, asian techniques, big love, godot, brecht, etc.
- 150 musical theatre years (american art form mainly on Broadway)
FORMAL ORIGINS
- european opera
- operetta (more close to M.T.)=PIRATES OF…1879, gilbert and sullivan
INFORMAL ORIGINS/SOURCES
- variety acts
- minstrelsy
- vaudeville
- burlesque
- follies/spectacles-20 and 30’s
Follies/spectacles
Zigfield Follies 1907-1931
- amazing sets, grandiose prpdpcutions, like La Cage or MGM
- Vegas-like, rockets, non-linear, table vivant’s, mainly nude pretty women
- Bert Williams (black man black face) hired by Ziegfeld
- Fanny Brice (also hired by him)
Musica comedy
- Irving Berlin, etc.
- characters romantic or comedic
- Gerogre m. Cohan, composer: (“Yankee Doodle” “Give My Regards”LITTLE JOHNNY JONES 1904
- all about personality
SHOWBOAT
Jerome Kern 1927
- “an integrated musical” produced by Zigfield
- play w/in a play. workers on boat, black girl married to white man
- racial integration and plot advancement through music
- Paul Robeson song “old man river”
- 1927: double the ppl went to Bway shoes
1930’s
- like today, depression and recession
- jazz on Bway.
- musicals emulated in movies
- recording and radio emulated Bway too
- most musical fun light, no moral dilemma’s, similar to Shakespeare’s comedies
Three Penny Opera
Brecht 1935 Kurt Wihel (music)
Gershwin bros
OF THEE I SING, patriotic themes
PORGY AND BESS: 1935
-folk opera, tradition with realistic story
all black cast, white producers
-“summertime”
-forwarded folk, African American themes, forwarded opera and classical singing and plot
ANYTHING GOES
Cole Porter-1934
Ethel Merman in it
GOLDEN AGE OF BWAY (1940-50’s)
OKLAHOMA CAROSEL SOUTH PACIFC KING AND I SOUND OF MUSIC GUYS AND DOLLS-1950 Frank Loesser MY FAIR LADY-1956 Lerner and Lowe THIS IS THE ARMY KISS ME KATE WSS
OKLAHOMA
Rodgers and Hammerstein 1943
- dance informed plot and forwarded story
- dream ballet=abstract dance creation
THIS IS THE ARMY
Irving Berlin
pushed patriotism and buying war bonds
Uncle sam
Gov. Propoganda for WWI
MY FAIR LADY-
1956 Lerner and Lowe -Pygmalian (Shaw) -Julie Andrews (19) Bway, pop music -existing material
EXISTING MATERIAL
KISS ME KATE=TAMING OF THE SHREW
Cole Porter, includes shakes scenes and lines too
WEST SIDE STORY
1957 Jerome Robbins (director.choreographer) Leonard Bernsetin music Sondheim lyrics R and J traditional musical thr dance show -existing material/themes
CABARET
1966 Kandera and Ebb
- Nazi Germany influence
- abortion/gay
- fosse did film with Liza Minelli (1972)
- overtly sexual and dark
PIPPIN
director choreo-Fosse 1972
- Stephen Shwartz (gspell, wicked,etc.)
- midst of war, a trio appears, Brechtian tale of glory of war
- Vaudevillian dance
- about the father for Charlemagne
- revival done in circus context
HAIR
1968
reflected youth culture, rebellion, and Vietnam war protests
1st musical with entirely rock score
COMPANY
Sondheim “concept musical” 1970
- urban, abstract, marriage but not happy ending resulting in marriage, non linear, series of snapshots from birthdays
- ppl rode working elevator up and down set
- musc/words commented on characters not meant to further dialogue or plot of come from a need to express
SONDHEIM
COMPANY FOLLIES SUNDAY... SWEENEY... ASSASSINS INTO THE WOODS... not the norm of words can't express so I'm going to sing!
INTO THE WOODS
-tough themes, symbolism, different topics, no happy ending 1988
1970’s
A CHORUS LINE
DREAM GIRLS
A CHORUS LINE
“CONCEPT MUSICAL” 1977
Michael Bennet (dir, chor.)
-Marvin Hamlish music
-inside look at dancers and audition process
-1st time workshops were used with Joe Papp, top secret
