Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
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.”