History on Broadway An overview of musicals that coincide with historical events High School General Music Created by: Mr. Wolff

Musicals have been entertaining audiences for over a century. In that time, there have been shows that not only reflect the environment, but the times of its creation as well as the ideals and attitudes of America Sometimes musicals integrate actual events into their shows, allowing the audience to understand how life may have been during a particular era

South Pacific Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II, wrote “South Pacific” in 1949, four years after World War II This musical was based on a book called “Tales of the South Pacific” by James A. Michener The plot of “South Pacific” is derived from two chapters which revolve around two love affairs while still offering lessons in human understanding

South Pacific “South Pacific” went against the stereotype of most musicals by not having a choreographer Without having any choreographed songs, it enhanced the shows realism Hammerstein’s lyrics made the show racial, poetic, and tragic Michener’s stories were dramatic, real and contemporary, which portrayed life in the South Pacific during World War II The show was more about telling the story and less about the music of the show, which is why it won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama

South Pacific The characters’ main problems integrate race, age and class Nellie, a nurse from Arkansas, meets Emile, an older French man ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ is sung by Emile, at the end of his first date with Nellie The song begins appropriately and poetically and is about forgetting everything, such as age and race, while being in love In the meantime, Lt. Joe Cable, who has met a native girl of his own, is on a mission to monitor the Japanese and needs help from Emile

South Pacific At first, Emile declines, but when Nellie refuses to marry him, knowing that he has children of another decent, Emile decides to risk his life to help Lt. Cable Emile sings ‘This Nearly was Mine,’ which is the soul of the record and was the substitute for the reprise of ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ ‘Honey Bun’ helps add musical comedy to the show with its drag act and subtle dancing The photograph of Nellie dressed as a sailor in white became on of the signature pictures for the show

Hair With music by Galt MacDermot and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, “Hair” was the first ‘rock-opera’ ever written It is subtitled as the “American Tribal Love- Rock Musical” The musical questions ethics and ideals of individualism, violence, morality, sexuality, racism, drug use, religion and social acceptance

Hair The music was unfamiliar to most theater-goers The rock-style format went against what traditional musicals in America had been. The director thought of it as being a revival to Broadway, which he considered to be theatrically dead “Hair” started a trend for musicals, adding new themes, styles and an opportunity for more rock-operas

Hair The story line was adapted by actual events from friends the lyricists met on the streets of Greenwich Village The plot revolves around Claude and the group of hippies he meets while sight seeing in New York City, before he goes to basic training for the Vietnam War In the 60’s, hippies were always on the streets, demonstrating their idea of non-conformism and to protest against the war The show contains popular songs, including ‘Aquarius’ as the opener and ‘Let the Sun Shine’ as the closer as well as other songs about the hippies addictions and personalities “Hair” broke boundaries and led the way for more rock-operas like “Godspell” & “Jesus Christ Superstar”

Miss Saigon Claude-Michel Schonberg & Alain Boublil originally premiered the show in London before bringing the score and story to America in 1988 The show is a remake of Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly,” yet reinstated during the Vietnam War “Miss Saigon” is an intense and personal story of the losses we suffer and the sacrifices we make in a world gone mad

Miss Saigon Schonberg & Boublil started designing the show in their minds, when they saw a picture of a Vietnamese girl leaving her mother to join her father, an ex-GI, who she had never seen The creators saw the mother’s silence and the child’s tears as a condemnation of all wars that shatter the lives of people who love each other

Miss Saigon This is an epic and daring musical that is universal in its emotional power even as it deals with controversial, contemporary issues It is a sung-through, pop- inflected score that gives all members of the cast an opportunity to shine “Miss Saigon” includes a cinematic structure, giving the directors and designers a field day The technically complex show requires 266 to work behind the scenes, while only 47 cast members appear on stage

Miss Saigon “Miss Saigon” tells the story of a romance between a strong Vietnamese woman, Kim, and an American soldier, Chris. The couple sing ‘Last Night of the World’ where they express their love for one another before Chris invites Kim to return home to America together Unaware of Kim being pregnant, Chris is forced to retreat without Kim, during the fall of Saigon. Chris returns home and eventually marries

Miss Saigon Three year later, Chris comes back to Saigon with his wife to find Kim, who is determined to make Chris take their son back to the America Their struggles to find each other ends in tragedy for Kim and a fighting chance for the child Chris never knew was born

“Rent” was composed by Jonathan Larson, who spent seven years making a modern rock-opera version of the classic opera “La Boheme” by Puccini The show is inspired by “Godspell” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” Larson wanted “Rent” to be ‘a Hair for the 90’s’ Rent

Rent “Rent” ended up being a reflection of the way Larson lived his life His mission was to celebrate art and art-makers He was intensely passionate about living life, creating music and changing his part of the world, which was Broadway and musical theater Larson wanted to combine Broadway’s traditional music and lyrics with rock by marrying the MTV generation with theater Unlike all musicals, “Rent” is not accompanied by an orchestra, but instead by a rock n roll band The show became so popular, that it had groupies known as ‘Rent- Heads’

Rent The story of “Rent” is Larson’s own singular vision and drive He kept the plot closely related to Puccini’s of “La Boheme” Instead of the characters dying from Tuberculosis in Paris, their disease is AIDS and is set in New York’s East Village, a popular bohemian area All of the characters are faced with situations happening in the 90’s, situations happening in the 90’s, especially life especially life The musical is not about death, it is more so about the celebration of life more so about the celebration of life

Rent Larson makes “Rent” so unique by translating his love for his friends in to the music. He wanted the audience to feel the way he felt about his friends. A few of the characters are named after his friends that have died from AIDS It is ironic that Larson died the night before his show, about life, premiered with such huge success The show ends with the cast singing ‘No Day but Today’ which was Larson’s main theme for his life and the musical

Reference Cook, Anita M. "Why Music?." Triad November 2004: 1. Ganzl, Kurt. The Musical A Concise History. Boston: Northeastern University Press, Larson, Allan S. Rent by Jonathan Larson. New York: Rob Weisbach Books, 1997 Lynch, Richard Chigley. Musicals! A Complete Selection Guide for Local Productions. Chicago: American Library Association, Michener, James A. Tales of the South Pacific. New York: The Curtis Publishing Company, Mordden, Ethan. Beautiful Mornin’: The Broadway Musical in the 1940’s. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1999.