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Many people who are new to theater may ask themselves “what are the differences between musical theater and plays?”. This happens because some aspects of theater are difficult that many don’t realize. These aspects are usually noticed by people who do theater backstage but aren’t noticeable to a person who just wants enjoy a show. These two types of entertainment sources tell a story line in different ways. Like most two things that are similar one of them always come on top of the other and gains more. Many people have opinions with one thing over the other but others have factional opinions.
Firstly, the most noticeable difference between both plays and musical is the way they are communicated. In plays dialogue is used and in musicals
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This means that more people and the media get more involved. They tend to get more popularity because nowadays musicals tend to relate to young adult and they usually have something “different” or new to them. For example, a show like Hamilton gain popularity because of its creative difference of bring history and rap together in a show. A musical theater production also leave people singing the music from the soundtracks. On the website “http://www.campbroadway.com” it stated “In the first place, musicals are just that… musical! People remember music and walk out of the theater singing the songs they just heard on stage. They buy cast recordings, memorize the songs, and some, if lucky enough, will play coveted parts in community and regional theaters nationwide.” Overall, even though plays are interesting they don’t always relate or gravitate towards today’s …show more content…
This is due to musicals also having extra merchandise and the amounts of people who watch Broadway shows. A comparison is the grosses of the musical “Hamilton” and the play title “The Play That Went Wrong”. On the websites “www.broadwayworld.com” the statistics of the grosses has a difference between them of $2,493,455. You could see that musical such as “The Children”, “The Parisian Women” and “The Play That Went Wrong” have lower gain compared to musicals. “But why does this happened?” some might think. Well, as said in the last paragraph these shows tend to appeal to today's youth since musicals are more high energy and exiting and plays tend attract adult but adults don’t tend to have as much free as children do to enjoy
Popularity for live performances heightened exponentially during the late nineteenth century. The United States flourished with circuses, ballparks for sporting events, night clubs, world and state fairs, as well as theatrical road shows. Growing amusement parks, such as Coney Island, attracted customer attendance not just by supplying thrillingly-fun rides, but by also providing an array of the newly emerging vaudeville theatrical shows. Vaudeville was gaining much popularity because it strived to appeal to people of all socioeconomic classes and cultural background as well as offered low admission prices. It consisted of a diversity of individual performances which could range from comical skits, singing, acrobatic stunts to magic shows. “Variety theatre drew larger audiences than the ‘legitimate’ theater which presented classical performances” (Administrator). For this reason, vaudeville theatre was gaining much attraction because it was able to enthrall the population with a wide range of
These strong people have help not only with the growth of the Broadway musical, but also with the beginning of the modernization of musical theater during this period. Particularly the growth and change in the types of characters being used in Broadway musicals. Such as the Cinderella type characters are in the rag to riches stories, where they are struggling in the beginning of the act, yet at the final curtain they have a happy ending. Women and men during this period are beginning to show more personality in their acting and their struggles on stage. This was also the period where talking pictures, started to become a growing industry, it was no longer about just the Jazz period of the 1920’s. However, all good things must come to an end; it was the crash of the stock market during this period that brought an end to the feverish pitch of Broadway.
...ush. Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theater Hanover: Brandeis University Press, published by University Press of New England, 2003.
Since theatre was established as an art form, it has constantly been changing and developing as new methods of theatre styles came to light. This is also true with how musical theatre developed into how we know it today. Vaudeville and burlesque were forms of theatre in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that forged the way for the American musical to emerge. The elements that writers used from vaudeville allowed for not just musical acts to be performed during the course of the story, but eventually became a way for the story to further be told. The American musical was not always as big as it is today, and vaudeville and burlesque acts made it possible for such a type of performance style to develop. Musical writers used multiple elements, not just the song element, in their stories. This change did not just happen overnight. The evolution from vaudeville and burlesque was a gradual one, taking years to further develop the performance styles into the Broadway musical we can see today.
Theatre Journal 57.4 (2005): 598-600. Print.
Throughout the 1920s many things changed in the United States along with other countries. When World War 1 ended, some many countries struggled economically, but the United States was not one of them. At the time America was in a happy state with good economic standing. Since the U.S. was doing so well people were able to work less and enjoy more leisure activities such as sports, music on the radio, movies and Broadway theatre. Before the 1920s theatre was mainly for the rich and was not wildly popular, as people’s money situations changed so did theatre and Broadway Theatre grew in popularity with more people coming to the U.S. through Ellis Island. Centered in New York with its large population, Broadway theatre in the 1920s was filled of
Kenrick, John. Musical Theatre A History. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Broadway, or musical theater, had a strong presence in the 1920s caused by hit shows which is why Broadway stuck around (“Musical Theater”). Music brought out a whole new side of the shows, and more acceptance from the audience. Musical theater expanded and the subjects portrayed became bolder and often brought up things like abuse or alcoholism while using music to numb the crowd a bit (“Show Boat”). Obviously, not every show was a hit but there were a few exceptions. Things like Show Boat and Lady, Be Good! Helped secure Broadway’s future (“Musical Theater”). Music not only impacted the theater, but the population of adoring fans sitting in their seats, anticipating the thrill of the show to come. Musical theater did, however, move the theater in three significant ways: it used music to intensify the plot, it allowed American qualities bleed through, and the music helped accentuate the themes and lessons of the stories (“Show Boat”). The impact that the 1920s had on musical theater, and other music types, is
Broadway musicals can be characterized by aspects such as having multiple performances nearly every day of the week, having productions that tour the nation in hopes of attracting more audiences, and having large casts and orchestras (Cohen 248).
When writing the musical Hair, James Rado and Gerome Ragni were more interested in creating plot and characters which were “generated by attitudes and perceptions rather than the reverse.” (Wollman, 2009) The aim was to highlight a “specific group of people at a particular point in time” rather than to create a conventional musical and specifically influence the culture upon which it was based (Wollman, 2009). This idea of the plot and characters being generated by society is evidenced by the fact that each of the revivals that took place around the globe soon after the original Broadway run had adaptations which reflected on the country and or state in which it took place. However, it could be argued that without the creation of Hair this
Firstly, theatre allows the actors to connect with the audience on a whole new level. With movies, only certain people appear on screen, even with others in a scene. Alternatively, theatre provides many other people and objects to look at during long dialogues. Because of how the sounds and actors surround an audience, allowing them to feel included in the scene, the passion emitted by the actor creates a powerful connection with the audience.
I think the first thing that becomes more difficult to do in a musical then in a straight play is the casting. Musicals can require hiring a larger cast and a bigger artistic panel, which can be good or bad thing. The good thing about a larger group of people is that you get to work with a variety of unique talents and this can also allow directors to try more artist direction on stage. The bad thing is that with a larger group it can also mean artist butting heads which can cause tension in rehearsal and make for a long show. Then when you start to cast the show you have to look for actors that not only have the look the director envisions for the part, but also who can sing and dance.
Musical theatre is a living art form and are usually performed in theatres to entertain the viewers. It is usually combined with music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. • Music • Musical theatre have various roles in theatres. Some artist used catchy songs depending on what genre they’re performing but usually do popular style. In various times solo songs, duets, choruses and ensembles are presented as well at which most of the time accompanied by orchestra or band.
Theatre is still relevant in the 21st century. It transcends what a book can accomplish by creating a visual and artistic picture from words on a page. The audience can still receive the playwright’s message even though it requires them to leave their homes to view a performance. Granted it isn’t as flexible as seeing a film or movie in the privacy of ones home, but one is able to see a performance in action that no one has ever seen exactly the same way before. One could say that the playwright sets the ground rules and the producer and director takes those rules and expresses them to their own end and how they see fit. You get to see a story unfold through many people’s eyes, not just the one who wrote it. The play is a living breathing artistic form that is open not only to the interpretation of the viewer and the audience but also to the cast and the producer.
Theatre is something that brings people together; it needs and audience to exist unlike movies and television. For a performance to happen, anywhere from a hundred to a thousand or more people need to gather in one place for a few hours, and share together in witnessing a live event that may be beautiful, funny, moving, or thought-provoking. Each type can fade in and out of popularity but it is not foreseeable that live performance will ever really "die out". Even in a world where all narrative performances have migrated to video, some musician at some point may introduce a new element of theatricality into their show, or some standup comic will act out something for their routine, people will respond to it, and suddenly we 'll see Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, and Rogers and Hammerstein popping up all over the