Download Musical Director - The Stallion Repertory Theatre

Name_________________________________
MUSICAL THEATRE
Intro Vocabulary:
 Producer: Finances the show; pays the BILLS
 Director: In charge of overall artistic concept; during rehearsal, in charge of the
ACTING
 Musical Director: Person in charge of the SINGING
 Choreographer: Person who is in charge of the DANCING of the show
 Triple threat: Actor who can SING, DANCE, and act well
 Composer: Person who writes the MUSIC for the show
 Lyricist: Person who writes the LYRICS (words) for the music of the show
 Choreography: The DANCING of the show
 Libretto: The script of the musical containing the DIALOGUE & MUSIC
 Book Musical: a musical play where songs and dances are fully integrated into
a COMPLETE STORY with serious dramatic goals
Broadway: the American Musical
Episode 1: Give My Regards to Broadway (1893-1927)
Introduction
1. Who is hosting the documentary? JULIE ANDREWS
2. Do you recognize any of the songs or titles of Broadway musicals in the
opening? Name one. VARIABLE ANSWERS
All the Gang at 42nd Street: George M. Cohan
3. The center of the modern theatre district was created in what year? 1904
4. What opened in Times Squares that brought in so many visitors to that part of
town? SUBWAY STATION
5. Vaudeville was an essential TRAINING GROUND for Broadway musicals.
6. Vaudeville shows were America’s most POPULAR entertainment at the
beginning of the century. Prices were cheap but the VARIETY of acts was
enormous.
7. Name or describe at least one of the Vaudeville acts they show clips of.
VARIABLE ANSWERS
8. How did George M. Cohan grow up? BORN IN 1878; TRAVELLED WITH PARENTS
WHO WERE VAUDEVILLE PERFORMERS; NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL
9. What happened in the year 1904, eleven days after the Times Square Subway
Station opened? COHAN PERFORMED ON BROADWAY
10. Cohan created his character as his own persona onstage, but it really became
the emblem of BROADWAY itself.
11. Though remembered for his popular songs, Cohan imbued (instilled) the
Broadway musical with his ENERGY and STYLE, which still reverberate today.
Nothin’ to Nobody: Burt Williams
12. What tradition is considered to be the center of most American popular musical
entertainment (at least before rock & roll)? MINSTREL SHOWS
13. Elements of the minstrel show—the dancing, comic interludes, cross-dressing—
were appropriated by the MUSICAL, but few black minstrel performers ever
made it to the Broadway STAGE.
14. Why did Burt Williams “black up” his face when performing? IT WAS THE WAY TO
GET TO PERFORM ONSTAGE; MAKING SOCIAL COMMENTARY
15. Speaking of Burt Williams, “Though he made people laugh, he made them
THINK.”
16. Why do you think it was in Burt Williams’ acting contract that he would never
have to perform in the South? VARIABLE ANSWERS
Show Boat: The Book Musical
(Note: Miscegenation means that two people of different ethnic groups got married
and/or had children. This was against the law in some states during the time period
the musical, Show Boat, was set.)
17.
The history of the American musical is divided quite simply into what two
eras? EVERYTHING BEFORE AND AFTER SHOW BOAT
18.
Who was Ziegfeld? Why did the writers bring Show Boat to him?
BROADWAY PRODUCER; HE WAS BRAVE AND POPULAR ENOUGH
19.
What did Ziegfeld fear was the problem with the show? IT WAS SAD AND
BECAUSE PEOPLE EXPECTED LAUGHTER
20.
Ziegfeld, the producer, had given his audience everything his name had
stood for—the spectacle, fantastic costumes, etc.—for over two decades, but
this time there was a STORY, and the Broadway BOOK musical had reached its
first milestone.
21.
What was missing from the original production of Showboat? CURTAIN
CALL
22.
Was Showboat a success or failure? SUCCESS
Notes: There are 4 basic reasons or FUNCTION for a song in a musical:
 Exposition: for the audience to learn BACKGROUND information or context for
the story to make SENSE
 CHARACTER Development: for the audience to learn more about a specific
character
 Plot DEVELOPMENT: to carry out something that is HAPPENING in the story
 Spectacle: to SHOWCASE a specific set piece, costume, or other special
characteristic or effect of the technical design
Episode 2: Syncopated City (1919-1933)
Introduction
1. In the Jazz Age, NY was the Syncopated City and Broadway was the “big apple”—
the GOAL of all ambition.
2. Thanks to the power of the press, the arrival of radio and TALKING pictures,
everyone in America could hear the seductive siren song of Broadway.
3. The 20s are a time of incredibly rapid CHANGE, really quick modernization and this
is the decade in which Broadway and the musical theatre are in many ways in the
height of their INFLUENCE.
4. What led to the different classes mingling at speakeasies in NY? PROHIBITION;
DRINKING ILLEGALLY IN BARS
5. What are some changes happening for women during this time period?
SHORT HAIR, EXPOSED SKIN, MORE FREEDOM, SMOKING AND DRINKING
Marx Brothers & Revues
6. The 20s on Broadway was an age of wonderful NONSENSE. Audiences wanted to
have a good time and the musical comedy did not rely on memorable STORIES.
7. The musical revues of that period were a representation of the pluralism of the
AMERICAN LIFE. They captured a little bit of everything.
8. What did the musical revues feature instead of story and characters? SONGS &
STARS
Shuffle Along
9. The invention or creation of JAZZ by black artists sort of gave this country a
language that it was searching for and gave it a rhythmic IDENTITY, so it makes sense
that the composers would use this invented language and rhythm for theatre.
10. Why was the song “Love Will Find a Way” risky? 1ST LOVE SONG IN A MUSICAL FOR
AFRICAN AMERICAN CHARACTERS
11. What was significant about the writing and performing of Shuffle Along? WRITTEN
AND PERFORMED BY AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS FOR BROADWAY
12. Shuffle Along cracked open Broadway’s doors to black TALENT.
13. Where were/are the night clubs that are famous for jazz? HARLEM
14. In the 20s everyone had permission to VISIT “each other’s lands” and see what
they were DOING.
Fascinating Rhythm: Gershwins
15. “I’d like to write of the melting pot of New York City itself. This would allow for
many kinds of music—black and white, eastern and western—and would call for a
STYLE that would achieve out of this diversity and artistic UNITY.”—George Gershwin
16. Where was George Gershwin born and where are his parents from?
BORN IN BROOKLYN; PARENTS FROM RUSSIA
17. What type of music was really influential for George Gershwin? JAZZ
18. What is the performer singing “Swanee” wearing on his face? BLACK FACE
The Big Apple
19. Broadway musicals and musical revues are really integral to a kind of REVOLUTION
that goes on in the American language in the 1920s.
20. Where was Broadway slang used? PAPERS, RADIO, SONGS
Broadway, the Depression, and Hollywood
21. What happened on October 19, 1929 that put an end to Broadway’s “feverish
expansion? STOCK MARKET CRASH
22. Who “flooded” NY when the stock market crashed? PERFORMERS
23. When the money on Broadway dried up, where did producers and writers go?
HOLLYWOOD
24. What were most of the talking pictures about in the first few years? BROADWAY
Episode 3: I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’ (1930-1942)
Introduction
1. In an era of yearning DREAMS, Broadway offered an effervescent antidote
America’s DARKEST days.
2. “Working was the main thing, to SURVIVE was the main thing.”
3. Most of the musicals of that time didn’t reflect LIFE at all…but when the Depression
came, that changed everything.
4. In the kinds of shows that were done, there’s much more SOCIAL COMMENTARY,
there’s much more relationship to the bad times.
5. While more popular songs still wanted to pretend that “life is just a bowl of cherries,”
Broadway in the 30s was now open to EXPERIMENTS in form and content.
6. How did the song “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” get past the censorship that
only wanted love songs and escapist songs? IT WAS IN A BROADWAY SHOW
Nuttin’s Plenty Fo’ Me: Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
7. Artists in the 30s were going back to the roots of AMERICAN CULTURE—the land, the
ordinary people—digging into rural life and common folk.
8. Where did Gershwin and Heyward go for research and inspiration? FOLLY ISLAND,
SC
9. Speaking of Porgy and Bess: “the result is one of the far-famed wonders of the
melting pot, the most American OPERA that has yet been seen or heard.”
This Is the Army: WWII and Irving Berlin
10. Irving Berlin, who had created a rousing army revue during that first World War,
was asked by the government to rally the troops again. This Is the Army had a cast
composed of real SOLDIERS and proceeds from the performances with the army
emergency relief fund.
11. When did the show open? THE FIRST 4TH OF JULY DURING THE WAR
12. Why do you think they performed this play for troops overseas? VARIABLE
ANSWERS
Episode 4: Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ (1943-1960)
Introduction
1. Speaking of Rodgers and Hammerstein, “Beginning with Oklahoma, in the middle
of the Second World War, they had pioneered a kind of show which the STORY was
more important than anything else.
2. What was it like living in NY during WWII? VARIABLE ANSWERS
Rodgers and Hammerstein and Oklahoma
3. What show ushered in a new era of musical theatre? OKLAHOMA
4. Speaking of Oklahoma, “It attempts to explore RELATIONSHIPS the way a play does
and that had not been done in commercial musical theatre.”
5. What became the essential element of the Broadway musical after Oklahoma?
WELL-CRAFTED STORY
6. Speaking of Oscar Hammerstein, “[He] wrote the dialogue as well as the song lyrics.
Oscar invented the musical BOOK. It started to take form in Show Boat and he got
finally to Oklahoma, he was dealing with a book that was quite difficult. He made the
score (music) follow the BOOK--it had always been the other way around…suddenly
along came Oscar and the story took over.”
7. Speaking of Oklahoma, “No musical numbers to showcase a STAR, no songs written
just to become popular hits; even the show’s opening number went against the grain
of expectations.”
8. How did the choreography in Oklahoma, especially the Dream Ballet, change
dancing in musicals? DANCING BECAME STORYTELLING
9. How did Oklahoma relate to the soldiers who came to see the show? VARIABLE
ANSWERS
Episode 5: Tradition (1957-1979)
West Side Story
1. The marriage of dance movement and STORYTELLING was new to the theatre.
2. How is West Side Story related to the choreography of Oklahoma? STORYTELLING—
APPLIED IT TO THE WHOLE PIECE RATHER THAN JUST AN INDIVIDUAL SONG
3. What play was West Side Story an adaptation of? ROMEO AND JULIET
4. What was it that Robbins considered that made he get into the story of Romeo and
Juliet? (Hint: It became his concept for the show.) HE ASKED THE QUESTION, “WHAT IF I
MADE THE STORY TODAY?”
5. In what area did West Side Story break new ground? SUBJECT MATTER
6. “People walk out on shows, and those are very often the show that become
HISTORICAL.”—Hal Prince
7. What show ushered in the demand for the triple threat performer? WEST SIDE STORY
Episode 6: Putting It Together (1980-2004)
Introduction
1. What theatre is the documentary starting in? NEW AMSTERDAM
2. “The Broadway stages are the same, the actors and the orchestra, but the
BUSINESS of show business has changed, especially if you want to be a
producer.”
Cats and Other British Imports
3. “Cats’ producer was Cameron Mackintosh and during the 80s he redefined the
FORMULA for success in musical theatre.”
4. Trevor Nunn, the director of Cats, says a lot of the success came from reaching
across perceived barriers. What is a barrier he says was overcome?
GENERATIONAL
5. “Cats became the LONGEST RUNNING show in Broadway history.” (It has been
beat since then, though. Phantom of the Opera is currently winning.)
6. “If you’re dealing with big themes you’ve got to have it BIG visually as well as
big musically.”
7. Ultimately, where does a show need to be performed in order to be considered
successful? BROADWAY
The Circle of Life
8. “Before the Broadway musical was resurrected by Disney, Disney was
resurrected by the BROADWAY MUSICAL.”
9. “After more than a decade of lackluster films, Disney had a string of hit
animated musicals, many WRITTEN by Broadway veterans and informed by
Broadway STORYTELLING.”
10. What did a NY critic claim was the best musical in New York, even though it
was a movie? BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
11. What did Disney need the mayor to reassure them of before renovating the
theatre district? THAT THE NEIGHBORHOOD WOULD BE SAFE
12. What are some things that happened on 42nd Street and in Times Square once
Disney renovated the New Amsterdam theatre? VARIABLE ANSWERS
Post 9/11Era
13. “At first it seemed inappropriate to go to the theatre, but, in fact, it became
almost like MEDICING—top notch performers were doing their best to make you
have a little relief from that grief.”
14. Why are there more comedies on Broadway after 9/11? TO HELP PEOPLE WITH
THE GRIEF
Defying Gravity
15. The biggest show of 2003 was WICKED, a $14 million gamble that reflects how
art and commerce intersect on Broadway.
16. Wicked is what kind of musical? TRADITIONAL BOOK MUSICAL
17. “The theatre is a HAND-made enterprise.”
18. In what city did Wicked open? SAN FRANCISCO
19. Why must you start a new musical “out of town” (meaning, not in NY)?
GET IT READY BEFORE FACING CRITICS
20. In theatre, “it’s either live or die by OPENING NIGHT.”