THEA 1314 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Showtunes, Musical Theatre, Intelligent Design
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Published on 22 Feb 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Musical Theatre
Musical Theatre History
• Musical theatre was born from other artistic expressions
• Opera -- operetta -- musicals
Types of Musicals
• Classical musical theatre
o Pre-1940s
o Close to operetta vocally
▪ Longer shows
o Unity of story elements (music, book, plots)
o Showtunes part of the top hits
▪ Anything Goes
▪ Showboat
▪ Of Thee I Sing
• Golden Age (1943-1965)
o 1960s time of transitions and it is reflected in musical theatre
▪ War
▪ Protests to war
▪ Civil rights movement
▪ Political strife
o Shows had more defined structure
o Emerging rock shows
▪ South Pacific
▪ King and I
▪ West Side Story
▪ Guys and Dolls
▪ My Fair Lady
▪ Music Man
▪ Hello Dolly
▪ Fiddler on the Roof
▪ Cabaret
▪ How to Succeed Without Really Trying
• Rock and Concept Shows
o 1970s intelligent design and intelligent audience
o Concept show : plot is based around a premise, idea, or theme
o Emerging director / choreographer
o New topics explored
o Revivals
▪ Godspell
▪ Grease
▪ Chicago
▪ Chorus Line
▪ Sweeney Todd
• British Invasion
o 1980s
o British mega-musicals
▪ Huge special effects
▪ Spectacle over substance
• Les Misérables
• Phantom of the Opera
• Cats
• Into the Woods
• Little Shop of Horrors
• Corporate Musicals and Revues
o 1990s
o The Disneyfication of Broadway
o Corporation pay to have musicals written and produced
▪ Lost of creative and intelligent works
o Movies into musicals
o Revue-musical based around the music of an artist or artists (i.e. Four Seasons)
▪ Lion King
▪ Beauty and the Beast
▪ Aladdin
▪ Legally Blonde
▪ Mary Poppins
▪ Jersey Boys
▪ Mamma Mia
• The Other
o Can not always be defined
o Create a new form
o Hybrid styles of older forms
o The re-emerging television musicals
▪ Sound of Music, Peter Pan, The Wiz, Grease Live
• Thoroughly Modern Millie
• Wicked
• Book of Mormon
• Hairspray
Hamilton
• Lin Manuel's musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton
o Cast minorities in the roles
o Uses Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B, Pop, and Musical Theatre styles in the score
o Cast recording won a Grammy
• Opened in 2015 and is continually sold-out
Broadway Legends
• Composers
o Rodgers & Hammerstein
▪ Pulitzer prize for South Pacific
▪ Oklahoma is often credited as the original book musical
▪ Known for depiction of social issues in their musicals
• Sexism
• Racism