A theatre piece that contains music, spoken dialogue, and
dance
Typically popular styles of music
Story is told through all aspects of the piece
Examples?
Types of Musicals
Book Musical
Traditional music with a strong story that drives the music and
the characters
Revue
A collection of songs, generally with some common element
Types of Musicals cont.
Concept Musical
Musical where the concept or message is just as, if not more
important than the story
Jukebox Musical
Music using only songs from a group or artist
Types of Musicals cont.
Rock Or Pop Musicals
Using rock or pop music, typically with little to no dialogue.
It could be called a Rock/Pop Opera
Musical Breakdown a. The three main components of a book
musical are the music, the lyrics and the book. b. The book of a
musical refers to the story, character development, and dramatic
structure, including the spoken dialogue. c. Book can also refer to
the dialogue and lyrics together, which are sometimes referred to
as the libretto (Italian for little book d. The music and lyrics
together form the score of the musical
Musical Breakdown
Typically 2 act shows
About 6 main pieces of music, but usually more than 10
songs
Spoken dialogue breaks up between the songs
Although some musicals are sung all the way through (Jesus
Christ Superstar/ Evita)
Typically the moments of greatest tension are told through
song
In America, the first original theatre piece in English that
conforms to the modern conception of a musical, adding dance and
original music that helped to tell the story, is generally
considered to be The Black Crook
premiered in New York on September 12, 1866. The production was
a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it
ran for a record-breaking 474 performances
History Golden Age
The Golden age of Musicals was from the 1940s-60s
Began with Oklahoma by Rodgers and Hammerstein
tightly integrating all the aspects of musical theatre, with a
cohesive plot, songs that furthered the action of the story, and
dances that advanced the plot and developed the characters, rather
than using dance as an excuse to parade scantily clad women across
the stage
Golden Age Cont.
It was the first "blockbuster" Broadway show, running a total
of 2,212 performances, and was made into a hit film. It remains one
of the most frequently produced of the team's projects
From this era we get famous musicals such as Carousel (1945),
South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), and The Sound of Music
(1959).
These had serious subject matter than earlier shows
Golden Age Cont.
the villain in Oklahoma! is a suspected murderer and psychopath
with a fondness for lewd post cards
Carousel deals with spousal abuse, thievery, suicide and the
afterlife
South Pacific explores miscegenation even more thoroughly than
Show Boat
the hero of The King and I dies onstage.
The 60s
The most notable musical contributor to come out of this time
period was Steven Sondheim
Notable Plays by him include
Sweeney Todd
Sunday in the Park with George
Into the Woods
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
ALTHOUSE MUSICAL
Happening Feb 1 st -4 th !!!
70s
Here we saw the rise of rock musicals such as
Jesus Christ Superstar
Rocky Horror
GODSPELL
80s/ 90s
Here the mega- musicals or Pop Operas began
Andrew Lloyd Webbers musicals Phantom of the Opera, Evita,
Cats
Miss Saigon
Aida
Little Shop of Horrors
Current
Musicals currently put on are those most likely to see healthy
profit, largely based off of spectacle and Broadway influences
However a few unusual shows have sprung up to become some of
the most popular shows yet such as Avenue Q , The 25th Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee Spring Awakening , In the Heights , Next
to Normal , The Book of Mormon