Theatre History Project: Musical Theatre

Musical Theatre

The Main components for a Musical are:

· Song
· Dance
· Dialogue

Musical emerged from opera’s via operettas (mini opera’s), which were invented by Gilbert and Sullivan. Their works included ‘The Mikado’, ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ and ‘HMS pinafore’. These are still popular performances of today.

The Mikado: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U92t8XO-L4w

The Pirates of Penzance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp1BL0Gb6Ok

HMS Pinafore at BBC Proms 2005: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odBDjYK1gz4

Gilbert and Sullivan:

· Sir William Gilbert (1836-1911) was the dramatist and Lyricist.

· Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) was the composer.

Their works became known as the Savoy operas.

In the 1920’s:

Most shows in urban areas were revues, Combing vaudeville, variety, music hall and other disciplines.

The first proper musical as we know it was ‘Showboat’ (1927)

Showboat Broadway Revival (1994): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdkWyH7qGdE

Showboat integrated book and score and was put together by P.G Wodehouse and Oscar Hammerstein II.

1930’s:

Inspired by the success of Showboat, creative teams began following the same format.

· Comedy

· A story

· Music

· Visuals

Broadway:

Broadway became the centre for the genre. Shows were notably written by

· Ira and George Gershwin.
· Cole Porter
· Irving Berlin

Major Musicals, 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s:

It began with Oklahoma! In 1943, it was the first blockbuster musical, giving 2212 performances.

Rodgers and Hammerstein:

· Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) wrote the music.

· Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) wrote the words.

The duo wrote: Oklahoma! (Including ‘oh what a beautiful morning’), Carousel (including ‘you’ll never walk alone’), South pacific, The King and I (including ‘Getting to know you’) and The Sound of Music.

Later Blockbusters:

By this time, musicals were big money. They also produced stars. By the late 1950’s musicals was the mainstream of theatre.

· My Fair Lady (Frederick Loewe 1956)

National Broadway Tour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TCBzjkAryE

· West Side Story (Bernstein, Sondheim 1957)

Highlights of the Broadway production: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoE5Y6peV9E

· Gypsy (Steven Sondheim 1959)

Original Theatrical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5175bV18MM

Steven Sondheim:

Steven was a childhood friend of Jimmy Hammerstein (son of Oscar)

Hammerstein was a major influence on him, creating a remarkable ‘apprenticeship’. Hammerstein advised Sondheim as to how to construct a musical. West Side Story was his first project.

Some Practitioners went onto experiment with creating musicals around other styles:

Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) = Rock

Broadway Montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGGjgT6fKns

· Hair (1967)=Rock

Musical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_BgFSy0M4E

· God Spell (1971)= Rock

Broadway Trailer Preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgof_tXWtJs

· The Wiz (1975)=Gospel

'He's a wizard': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3LF-852F_I

Chorus line (Michael Bennet 1976) was about people auditioning for a musical.

Official London Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmg1sYwn3Us

· Cabaret (Kander/Ebb) 1966) was about Nazi Germany.

fUK Tour Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQyQOIX8wEE

· Chicago (Kander/Fosse/Ebb 1975) was set during prohibition.

Broadway Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyL_izT4Rgc

The other major Broadway musical of the 70’s was ‘Annie’ (but less controversial).

80’s and 90’s:

Boubil and Schonberg (france) were important writers in this period.

They brought us:

Miss Saigon

Broadway Musical: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dIZlkMbgnE

· Les Miserables

Official Tour Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgnf_zC8lag

Now a Major Movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuEFm84s4oI

02 Arena 25th Anniversy (2010): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq36ieYP9YU

· Martin Guerre

Royal Variety Peformance 1996: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40i4SAoBqto

Andrew Lloyd Webber:

Lloyd Webber’s first success was ‘Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ with Tim Rice when he was 19 in 1968.

· Jesus Christ superstar (1970)

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGGjgT6fKns

· Evita (1976)

Broadway Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m68iXHKF6c

· Cats (1981)

Musical Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H2WvG3J2FQ

· Starlight Express (1984)

Promo Video (Germany): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1WRYoM6vRM

UK Tour Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWiBbsJtpZ0

· Phantom of the Opera (1986)

West End Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6eiO01unps

Royal Albert Hall, Sarah Brightman & Antonio Banderas (1998): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiYRASDlq-0

· Aspects of love (1990)

Royal Variety Performance (1989): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psXg3T7rMeY

· Sunset Boulevard (1993)

Production Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcr4h3JpNQY

· Whistle Down the Wind (1996)

· The Beautiful Game (2001)

· The Woman in White (2004)

Preview Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDebiGIXQxA

Disney:

Saw the potential to move into the musicals market after it had small scale successes with shows in their theme parks.

Beauty and the Beast (1994) was written by Tim Rice.

Tour Montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uizVpwvlNRI + http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sES2o2Vy8RM

Northen Ballet's version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLthkAt3hiw

The Lion King (1997) was a collaboration between Tim Rice and Elton John.

Disney Presents The Lion King on Broadway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pgZtzDj_7o

West End Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FwkGDEOTwM

Disney has since then produced:

· The Little Mermaid

· Tarzan

· High School Musical 1,2&3

· Mary Poppins

And are currently working on:

· Dumbo

· Aladdin

· Alice in Wonderland

· The hunchback of Notre dame

Modern Musicals:

‘Rent’ was the most successful musical of the 90’s.

A trend of the noughties was musicals based upon the music of popular recording artists- Queen, Boy George, Elvis, The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Rod Stewart- an most notably ‘Mamma Mia’.

New Successes-

No one expected musical theatre to be such a success in the current economic climate, but there have been a number of successes and popular shows.

· The producers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA4tvn0WGwA

· Hairspray: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8xgINPB4MM

· Avenue Q: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_lveRFdwI

· The Witches of Eastwick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDJG4Wp-TNU

· Sweet charity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BaUET2ma8Y

· Billy Elliot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a_kJbRylYQ

· The Lord of the Rings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbF88CUeyYQ

· Dirty Dancing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci0qYbY_cV8

· Legally Blonde: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txW5FZtp54o

· Sister Act: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll1gFK7OUFg