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Chapter 13
The Musical
On Musicals
American musical theatre is our
indigenous art form. We can’t
claim drama, ballet, or opera,
but musical theatre is our very
own. . . . Musicals are in our
blood and in our bones, are part
of our collective personality.
Molly Smith,
Artistic Director of the Arena Stage
Broad Categories of Musicals
Book musicals
 Rodgers and Hammerstein
 Lerner and Loewe
 Dance musicals
 Michael Bennett
 Bob Fosse
 Tommie Tune
 Operatic musicals
 Andrew Lloyd Webber
 Stephen Sondheim
 Adam Guettel
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Musical Theatre Genres
Opera
 Operetta
 Revue
 Variety show
 Vaudeville
 Burlesque
 Musical comedy
 Straight musical
 Rock musical
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Avenue Q
Components of the Musical
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Music
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Composer
Lyricists
Book
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Librettist
Types of Musical Numbers
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Overture
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Ballad
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Designed for comic relief
Showstopper
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Usually a slow love song
Comedy number
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Previews the music from the show by playing a
medley of tunes before the show begins
A big brass production number
Reprise
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Repetition of pieces of a song or melody line
Musicals: A Brief History
Opera
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Opera
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Originated in Italy in the 1500s
Reached its peak in the 19th century with composers
like Wagner, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, and Handel
Comic Opera
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Developed from intermezzi
Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera are regarded by most as
the epitome of this form
Exists today in the form of the rock opera
Musicals: A Brief History
Early American Musicals
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Ballad Operas
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Vaudeville
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Caricatured African-American plantation life in song and dance
Revues
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1890 – 1920 was its height of popularity
Minstrel Shows
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Began with John Gay’s Three Penny Opera in 1728
Ziegfeld Follies was the epitome of this unique form of the
American musical theatre
Extravaganzas
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The Black Crook in 1866 spawned this unique form of musical
that emphasized elaborate scenery and scantily glad female
dancing chorines
Musicals: A Brief History
African American Musicals
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A Trip to Coontown (1898)
The Origin of the Cakewalk (1898)
Scuffle Along (1921)
Running’ Wild (1923)
Porgy and Bess (1935)
Cabin in the Sky (1940)
The Wiz (1975)
Bring in da Noise; Bring in da Funk
(1996)
Musicals: A Brief History
The Show Boat (1927) Revolution
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The quintessential American
musical
Integrated book, lyrics, and music
into a unified whole
Focused on serious themes in
American culture
Brought Euro-American and
African-American performers
together on the same stage at the
same time
First musical to win the Pulitzer
Prize
Established Jerome Kern and
Oscar Hammerstein II as major
figures in the development of the
American musical
Musicals: A Brief History
1927 - Today
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Oklahoma! (1943)
West Side Story (1957)
Cabaret (1966)
Hair (1967)
A Chorus Line (1975)
Cats (1982)
Rent (1996)
The Producers (2001)
The Light in the Piazza (2005)
Musicals Today
The main problems for Broadway musicals
has to do with the exorbitant cost of
producing them
 Disneyification of the musical
 Reliance upon revivals to recoup huge
investments
 The Tourist Musical is challenged by
smaller cast musicals like Urinetown and
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Avenue Q