History of Musical Theatre 1920-1932

Major Historical Event: Prohibition

Prohibition Nationwide constitutional ban on the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages, which ran from 1920-1933. Lead to the rise of organized crime, bootlegging, and speakeasies. A cultural consequence was the enter mixing of social groups at clubs selling illegal booze.

Musical Comedies Despite Showboat premiering in 1927, the prevailing form of musical was the musical comedy. Light, fluffy stories usually about a down on her luck gal who would marry her dream man by the end of the show.

“Sally”

“Sally” Music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Clifford Grey and book by Guy Bolton. Starring Marilyn Miller, the sweetheart of the Follies Musical about a dishwasher who poses as a famous ballerina and joins the Follies and marries a millionaire. First produced on Broadway by Ziegfeld in 1920, Ran for 570 performances at the New Amsterdam Major song was Kern’s “Look for the Silver Lining”

Al Jolson Born Asa Yoelson in Lithuania sometime between 1883 and 1886. The youngest of four children, and his mother’s favorite. From age four to eight was raised by his mother while his father relocated to America. It was his mother who introduced him to the violin. His mother died when he was eight, and spent the rest of his life struggling with the trauma of her death.

Al Jolson 11 Al was singing in the streets for nickels that he used to buy tickets to shows at the National Theatre. In 1902 he ran away from home to New York City and did a stint in the Walter L. Main’s circus. First as an usher and then later a singer during the Indian Medicine Side Show. Al joined his brother Harry on the vaudeville circuit.

Al Jolson His most successful Broadway musical was “Sinbad”, in 1918. The show would go on to feature George Gershwins’s first hit “Swanee” By 1920 he had become the biggest star on Broadway By age 35, was the youngest man in American history to have a theatre named after him, the Lee Shubert built Jolson’s 59th Street Theatre across from Central Park.

Eubie Blake

Eubie Blake Began his career playing piano in “sporting houses and other similar establishments.” 1915 joined forces with Noble Sissle, and formed the vaudeville team known as Sissle and Blake. In 1921 Sissle and Blake joined forces with other African-American performers, such as Flournoy Miller, Aubery Lyles, to create the Broadway show, “Shuffle Along”

“Shuffle Along”

“Shuffle Along” A revue style show, Music by Noble Sissle Lyrics by Eubie Blake A connecting plot about a mayoral race. Show included jazzy music styles, which were a modern, edgy contrast to the mainstream song and dance styles that audiences had seen on Broadway for the previous two decades. Song included the famous “I’m Just Wild About Harry”

George and Ira Gershwin

George Gershwin born Sept. 26, 1898 Unlike fellow composers like Irving Berlin, George studied music for almost all his life. Taking piano lessons as a child and later studying music and harmony. Never finished high school, but continued to study music. Even after becoming a successes, he still studied with composer Herny Cowell and with music theorist Joseph Schillinger.

George Gershwin In 1916, published his first song; “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em” Was influenced by French composers of the early 20th century, as well as the works of Alban Berg, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravisky, Darious Milhaud, and Arnold Schoenberg.

George Gershwin Scored his first big successes in 1919 with song “Swanee” (lyrics by Irving Caesar) made famous by Al Jolson During the 1920’s he established himself as one of the talented and successful composers. Had ability to manipulate forms of music into his own unique voice.

George Gershwin He took jazz he discovered in Tin Pan Alley into the mainstream by splicing rhythms and tonality with that of the popular songs of the area as well as classical musical he had mastered. most famous work would be “Rhapsody in Blue”, written in 1924

Rogers and Hart

composer Richard Rogers lyricist Lorenz Hart. Rogers and Hart composer Richard Rogers lyricist Lorenz Hart. Worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart’s death in 1943.

Richard Rogers – Composer Demonstrated his musical talent at an early age. First started to play tunes on the piano around age four. Wrote his first song, “My Auto Show Gal”, around the age of 14 While at Columbia University, he was honored to be the first freshmen ever to write the score for the annual varsity show.

Lorenz Hart - Lyrics Attended two private schools and spent two years at the School of Journalism of Columbia University. lyrics were known for being facile, vernacular, sometimes playful, sometimes melancholic, raised the standard for Broadway song writing. His work was slick, breezy, and yet mordant, even morbid, reflecting a sort of disillusionment. Hart was a bachelor who lived with his widowed mother, whom he described as a “sweet, menacing old lady”. A restless world traveler, and especially after his mother’s death, an alcoholic who would disappear for weeks on end to escape a life he felt unbearable.

Rogers and Hart First introduced in 1919 when both were attending Columbia University, and were asked to write an amateur club show. First major success on Broadway was the musical “the Garrick Gaieties” in 1925, which featured their hit song “Manhattan”. tried to raise the standard of the Broadway musical. “a Connecticut Yankee” in 1927 based on Mark Twain’s novel “the Boys from Syracuse” in 1938 based on William Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors”

composer Richard Rogers lyricist Lorenz Hart. Rogers and Hart composer Richard Rogers lyricist Lorenz Hart. First major success on Broadway was the musical “the Garrick Gaieties” in 1925, which featured their hit song “Manhattan”. Shows: “Babes in Arms,” “a Connecticut Yankee” “the Boys from Syracuse”

the Hollywood Exudes Towards the end of the 1920s, many or all of Broadways best, composers, singers, actors all, moved to Hollywood in search of the money offered by the new medium. The reason for the exudes are two fold 1) The Jazz Singer – premiering in the 1927, the Jazz Singer was the first picture with sound. Now Hollywood was in need of new music and new performers. As such, many Broadway shows were converted into movies, some of which with members of the original cast. Many of Broadways greatest composers found new fame writing music for the movies. 2) The Stock Market crash of 1929 forced many of artists to move to Hollywood in search of bigger paychecks.