A Brief History – Part 1 Early Influences Musical Theatre A Brief History – Part 1 Early Influences

What is Musical Theatre? mu·si·cal the·a·ter noun: musical theatre is a genre of drama in which singing and dancing play an essential part It is an American creation Influenced by English ballad opera, ragtime, jazz music, minstrelsy, vaudeville, burlesque, follies and revues

Early Influences - English ballad opera   The Beggar’s Opera – 1728; Flora – 1735 No historical scenery or costumes Spoken play with preexisting popular songs amid dialogue Musical parody - Late 18th, early 19th century Satire of famous story or performer – burlesques Pantomime with songs and dances for entertainment and variety 1828 – Hamlet 

The Beggar’s Opera – 1728 by John Gay & John Christopher Pepusch Video Clip "Fill Every Glass"

Early Influences - Minstrel Show First major contribution to theatre by blacks in America Product of black slave culture mingled with white colonial potpourri Dan Emmet, composer “Old Dan Tucker”, “Blue-Tail Fly”,1843, brought Virginia Minstrels to NY – touring show

Three part show - performed in “blackface 1- Fantasia - The Walkaround (Cakewalk) singing & dancing 2 - Olio – snappy banter, jokes, solo musical (banjo, fiddle, tambourine, singing, bone castanets) 3 - Burlesque (parody) – one-act vignette; satire of plays or carefree life on the plantation

Blackface performer The Cakewalk 1929 audio recording that follows the classic format of a minstrel show Minstrel show clip

Early Influences - Minstrel Show Ed Christy Minstrel Show – featured Stephen Foster, composer “My Old Kentucky Home” – touring show Olio grew into variety or vaudeville show Fantasia became Broadway Revue Satire became used as themes for later musicals

Christy Minstrels - 1847 Part 2 – The Olio

Early Influences – New York City Shift from rural to city life created a demand for permanent theatres and pleasure gardens 1866 – The Black Crook – used theatrical effect and sensual pleasures to become a theatre extravaganza Showed producers and investors that frivolity could substitute for dramatic and musical substance (as in European opera)

Early Shows in NYC 1874 – Evangeline was first to use an original musical score – first musical comedy 1879 – The Brook used a common locale or event to interweave stories (like a sitcom/serial) – first desire for meaningful story Mulligan Shows – 1880’s was a burlesque on the common people of NY – tales of the ordinary became important

The Black Crook – 1866 Melodrama First American Acting Troupe Using Women - 1893

Early Influences - Operetta 1890’s – 1920, European Operetta was an instant success as it toured U.S. Gilbert & Sullivan’s satirical operetta was especially popular Gave way to American imitations (Sousa) W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan

Early Influences - Operetta HMS Pinafore “Captain of the Pinafore” 10:30

A Brief History – Part 2 American Influence Musical Theatre A Brief History – Part 2 American Influence

American Influences – 1918-1929 U.S. was the economic world leader U.S. was victorious after WWI Optimistic society – an American not European culture was developing Development of American Writers and Performers Women and Black performers allowed onstage Revues/Follies were dominant form of entertainment

American Songwriters Wrote for major music publishing houses in New York City (“Tin Pan Alley”) – before the phonograph, people used to purchase sheet music to sing around the piano Wrote swinging optimistic melodies Songs were recycled and moved from one revue to another

American Revues – the Follies Featured stars of the day and a chorus of beautiful women in elaborate costumes and scenery such as in the Ziegfeld Follies (1907-1931) and George White’s Scandals (1919-1939)

American Musical Comedy Showed a picture of contemporary America Had a shallow insubstantial look Music and plot were not integrated Had happy endings

Vincent Youmans 1898-1946 Influenced by popular music; worked as a rehearsal pianist for many songwriters Wrote the most produced musical in the 1920’s “Tea for Two” and ” I Want to Be Happy” from No, No Nannette

A Brief History – Part 3 Age of Development Musical Theatre A Brief History – Part 3 Age of Development

The Age of Development 1925-1945 Factors that influenced the development of musical theatre during this period were: Global economic crisis (depression) Global warfare (WWII) Since theatre often mirrors its environment, operettas and large scale productions seemed out-of place. A new kind of musical was developed using great literature as the story base (like feature films)

Jerome Kern - Showboat - 1927 Showboat with music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein Based on the novel by Edna Ferber Music was integrated with the libretto Famous songs “Ol’ Man River,” “Can’t Help Lovin’Dat Man”

Showboat – first “musical comedy” Showboat was the first “book musical” Was a social documentary based on serious and profound themes Major conflict involves what makes people “black” or “white” in America Had first integrated cast

George Gershwin 1898-1937 Influenced by jazz music Music was strongly syncopated, “swingy” using a jazz offbeat (emphasis on the 2 and 4) 1924 wrote “Rhapsody in Blue” 1931 - Of Thee I Sing – serious satire on American politics 1935 – Porgy and Bess–wrote jazz opera that examines racism in America ; “Summertime”

Cole Porter - 1927 Cole Porter, composer, introduced an era of social grace and upper class charm 1930 – Anything Goes Popular Songs: “Let’s Do It,” “Love for Sale,” “Night and Day”

Richard Rodgers 1902-1979 Influenced by operetta tradition; Worked with Lorenz Hart as his early lyricist Rodgers & Hart continued to use meaningful literature as the basis of the story such as: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 1927 based on novel by Mark Twain; Boys from Syracuse 1938 based on The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare

Kurt Weill 1900-1950 Refugee from fascist Europe His work reflected the awareness of social and political issues Made serious avant-garde attempts with setless, costumeless, orchestraless, political satires Most famous was The ThreePenny Opera made “Mack the Knife” a hit  

A Brief History - Part 4 The Golden Age Musical Theatre A Brief History - Part 4 The Golden Age

Golden Age of Musicals 1945-1968 Musicals lost their innocence by the end of WWII Broadway activity was reduced to a trickle In 1943 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein formed a partnership to produce a musical on the play Green Grow the Lilacs 

Reign of R & H Oklahoma! developed a new formula for a new Era: Song and dialogue were interspersed Used Agnes de Mille ballet as dance form Had a sympathetic villain Threw out much of the rules of the previous era (unrelated song, music and dance, happy endings, small scale)

R & H Domination R & H continued to dominate the American musical for the next 20 years Musicals were based on great literature Had profound, universal, humanistic theme: Carousel (domestic violence), South Pacific (racial bias), The King & I (role of women), The Sound of Music (anti-Semitism) Characters were rarely trite; plots rarely predictable; endings not always happy