THE-2000 Lecture 10: Musicals & Broadway Today
Document Summary
The musical is americas biggest and most unique (and only) contribution to world theatre. Background: minstrel shows radically racist, commentary on american culture, consisted of a lot of skits, musical numbers, and dancing all put together, crucial part of what created the musical, no plot though. Burlesque and the leg show: 1869-1930s, florenz ziegland. Lydia thompson & british blondes: ziegland"s follies series of elaborate productions on broadway, focus on glorifying female form, pretty girls, expensive productions. Integrated or book musical: concept or fragmented musical, more, especially recently, not opposites. Concept or fragmented musicals: characteristics, themes and ideas are primary, characters and plot are developed as needed, usually dark musicals, dark endings, happy theme seen as a sell out. Idea behind story and characters takes precedence: examples, hair (1968, ragni, rado & macdermot, assassins (1990, weidman and sondheim, focuses on presidential assassins and their motivations.
