Exploring the Sustainability of American Musical Theatre
“Musical theatre isn’t some ancient, dusty, irrelevant invalid; it is, right now, a thriving, vigorous art form”. This statement by Miller (2007, p. 8) suggests that American musical theatre is still alive and abundant in today’s society. This essay seeks to support this claim by using three aspects of the ‘ecosystems of music’ framework (Schipper, 2009) to determine if musical theatre does indeed prosper in modern society. Specifically, this essay discusses the involvement of musicians and communities, the relevance of the musical contexts in today’s society, how it is disseminated and how it is supported by the media and music industry.
Musical theatre is continuously embraced in
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As Leonard Bernstein once said, musical theatre is “an art that arises out of American roots, out of our speech, our tempo, our moral attitudes, our way of moving” (Bernstein,???). Therefore, it stands to reason that society will continue to engage with musical theatre to witness themes that reflect their daily lives and social history. For example, “Hairspray” deals with African-American integration, “Wicked” addresses social exclusion and “Hair” conjures themes of the sexual revolution and political uprise (GROVE MUSIC). Moreover, Miller (2007) describes that musical theatre, its lyricists and book writers, composers, directors and actors, have continually had to evolve to suit the modern day audiences desires for more relatable material, which is now recognised in modern theatre’s energetic, dissolute, intense and emotional presentation (reference??). NEW PARAGRAPH? Now, more than ever before, America, and the world, can access these thought-provoking themes through the increasing use of disseminating musical theatre through mediums other than live theatre. These include movie musicals such as Les Miserables (2012) and Into the Woods (2014), TV series such as Smash (2012-13) and Glee (2009-15), Disney- animated musicals such as Frozen (2013), which showcase the …show more content…
With a strong community engagement due to amateur productions and new pop music theatre works, relevant subject matter and effective dissemination techniques and finally, endorsements from the media and music industry that promote its financial success, it can be construed that the American musical theatre industry will continue to flourish. Given these factors from aspects of the ‘ecosystem of music’ (Schippers, 2009), musical theatre in America has a long lasting future ahead of
Kislan, Richard. The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1980. 84, 110, 116-121, 125-127, 128, 134, 163, 195, 201, 209. Print.
Ever heard of a story that sings of the “Angel of Music” and the “Phantom of the Opera”? A tale that once you have listened to the sweet melody that you will realized that you've pasted the “Point of No Return”? This love triangle has captivated multitudes ever since the 1910 original Phantom of the Opera was published in France by Monsieur Leroux, although most story lovers recall the musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber or the motion picture adaption. Although this story has been entertaining people for over a century, in this new era have prerecorded voices and movements begun to overshadow the talented performers of live theater? Although “The lavish screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera (2005) only deepened the damage” of the dislike of musicals made into film “with non-stars in the leads and an unimaginative production,”(Musical),which version, the live performance or the film, makes the story more attractive? To answer these questions, permit this essay to analyze two methods of storytelling: 2011 live performance Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall and the 2005 film, and decide if music and story lovers everywhere have too “turned from true beauty”.
People have dreams of what they want to do or accomplish in life, but usually musical theatre is just pushed into the non-realistic void. It isn’t a dream for me. In the past four years, musical theatre has been clarified as my reality. Musical theatre has been the only thing I have seen myself wanting to do. My first love was The Phantom of the Opera, seeing how I watched it almost every day and it was one of the first shows I saw. Of course, I started doing all of those cute shows in middle school and making a huge deal about it to my family and friends, but I have never felt so passionate about something. The minute I get up on that stage I throw away Riley for two and a half hours and it’s the most amazing feeling! Being able to tell a story
Musical theatre has been around for quite a while. But where exactly did it come from? The book Anything Goes, written by Ethan Mordden looks to explore just that. From operas to musical comedies, Mordden covers the basic history of musical theatre and why it’s important for the world to know.
Ostlere, Hilary. “Taming The Musical.” Dance Magazine 73.12 (1999): 84. Expanded Academic ASAP. Westfield State College Library, MA. 15 April 2005.
Musical theatre is a type of theatrical performance combining music, dance, acting and spoken dialogue. Written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, ‘West Side Story’ is a classic American musical based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The through-composed score and lyrics are used to portray different characters and their cultures, the rivalry between the Jets and Sharks, and the emotions felt as the story progresses. This essay will be exploring the music and how effective the score is in realising the world and characters of the musical. Furthermore, it will discuss how Bernstein and Sondheim relate characters’ diverse ethnicities to particular musical ideas and motifs.
For many years, American musical theatre was defined as being mere entertainment for the people. It ranged from operetta, burlesque, vaudeville, and more. If there is one towering figure in the history of American Musical Theater, that person is Oscar Hammerstein II. He was a lyricist-librettist, as well as a distinguished poet and director. For over forty years, as the theatre’s forms of entertainment shifted, he helped merge everything into the art form known today as the musical. Born twenty-three years after Hammerstein, came Alan Jay Lerner. Idolizing Hammerstein’s work, he would grow to become another distinguished lyricist-librettist in musical theatre history. In this paper, we will look deeper at who these lyricists are and their writing style. Then we will examine one of each of their works and factors that fueled their creation.
Kenrick, John. Musical Theatre A History. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Most of all, those values that the American musical celebrated — and that is those values of American life, American philosophy, American belief — what we find is by the mid-1960s all of those beliefs, all of those philosophies, are being challenged, are being upset. As in all genres, the musical has had its share of failures. Some worthy dramas have been pressed into service and musicalized and sometimes butchered in the process, and audiences have had to watch a fine play diluted into a mediocre musical. But the successes have been many and spectacular, and they have left a long lasting effect on the American art and culture.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein were both writers and producers in the theatre, but, their collaborative venture in the 1940’s introduced a new era of musical theatre. First, they wrote the first musical in which every element: music, lyrics, narrative, and even dance contributed to telling the story, each part blending and woven into the whole. Their new idea was a huge sensation with audiences, and brought with it, new recordings of shows with albums and records to follow and revival productions around the world. The duo changed the fate of musical theatre practically overnight, but, it couldn’t have been done without the projects, big or small, that got them there, their
Contemporary musical theatre is evolving and expanding every year, From “Wicked” to “Once”, but what makes these shows such a success? it is interesting that theatre is still doing well though the current recession society is experiencing; While some productions aren’t a success there is still a handful that are and most of which have similarities, is this why trends are starting to appear? Are we reaching a point in theatre where we can’t take risks anymore? We need to stick to trends to sell seats?
Musical theatre is a type of theatrical performance combining music, dance, acting and spoken dialogue. West Side Story is a classic American musical based on the classic story "Romeo and Juliet". The through-composed score and lyrics are used to portray different characters and their cultures, the rivalry between the Jets and Sharks, and the emotions felt as the story progresses. However, we should inspect how the musical film through its music, its dances, its romantic melodrama, and its exoticism of cultural differences distracts from the racism in it. How does it attract, interpellate, and position ideologically the perceiving spectator — whose social construction of reality and racial differences belong to the U.S.A. — by spatially dividing
I experienced Chicago, the Broadway musical, and because I had seen the movie many times before, I knew all the songs and dances by heart. I loved it, but it was actually the movie that influenced me to become a “Chicago fan.” The movie is based on the 1996 Chicago revival of the original musical version of 1975. It was thrilling knowing that the making of the musical into a mainstream production would increase its accessibility and widen its distribution into all the corners of the world; now there is no excuse for people not to experience Chicago, and though not everyone can go to Broadway to see it, just about anyone can indulge themselves in this dazzling movie in the comfort of their homes. In addition to a fantasy world of singing, dancing and Vaudeville, the film also provides a narrative that is explicitly presented through Roxie’s point of view, creating a counter-human side to Roxie’s fantasy world so that the audience can easily identify and engage.
Theatre has heavily evolved over the past 100 years, particularly Musical Theatre- a subgenre of theatre in which the storyline is conveyed relying on songs and lyrics rather than dialogue. From its origination in Athens, musical theatre has spread across the world and is a popular form of entertainment today. This essay will discuss the evolution and change of musical theatre from 1980-2016, primarily focusing on Broadway (New York) and the West End (London). It will consider in depth, the time periods of: The 1980s: “Brit Hits”- the influence of European mega musicals, the 1990s: “The downfall of musicals”- what failed and what redeemed, and the 2000s/2010s: “The Resurgence of musicals”- including the rise of pop and movie musicals. Concluding
For thousands of years, people have been arguing that theatre is a dying art form. Many people think theatre is all just cheesy singing and dancing or just boring old Shakespeare, but there is much more to theatre than those two extremes. Theatre is important to our society because it teaches us more about real life than recorded media. Theatre has been around for thousands of years and began as a religious ceremony that evolved into an art form that teaches about the true essence of life. Theatre can incorporate profound, and provocative, observations of the human condition that can transcend time; lessons found in Greek plays can still be relevant to the modern world. People argue that the very essence of theatre is being snuffed out by modern