America’s Musical Landscape 5th edition PowerPoint by Brenda Leach Towson University Part 5 Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater2 Variety Shows Vaudeville Invented by Tony (Antonio) Pastor ( ) Shared characteristics of minstrel shows, but involved different performers Featured a variety of entertainment such as circus stunts, jugglers, songs, dances Team of Harrigan and Hart depicted scenes of everyday life in America Chicago – 1975 Broadway musical that celebrated the vaudeville tradition

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater3 Burlesque A type of variety of show that ridicules something important – a kind of satire Strip shows were included between acts 1920s – Burlesque had degenerated to strip shows Sugar Babies (1979) – Broadway show highlighting the best of early burlesque

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater4 Revues A form of a variety show in which scenes are related by a common theme Ziegfeld Follies – Most popular of all revues Extravagant staging and costumes Recent revues are based on the music of one composer – Ex. Side By Side by Stephen Sondheim

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater5 Operetta A story told in speech and song with an integrated plot Sometimes called “light opera” Includes songs, dances, instrumental pieces Gilbert and Sullivan – Gilbert’s patter songs ridiculed politics in humorous rhyming words Sullivan’s music poked fun at opera

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater6 Musical Comedies These new musical show were gaudy, boisterous productions George M. Cohan ( ) Child of vaudeville performers Little Johnny Jones (1904) considered the first real musical comedy Composed hits such as Give My Regards to Broadway and Yankee Doodle Song

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater7 Black Musical Theater African Americans were influential in Broadway Will Marion Cook ( ) – composed for several black shows including In Dahoney (1903) Shuffle Along (1921) – Broadway hit which included Josephine Baker, who was later a star in Paris, in the cast Show Boat – landmark show by Jerome Kern which focused on interracial relations

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater8 Golden Age of Broadway Musicals ( ) Irving Berlin’s Watch Your Step (1914) Famous dance couple Irene and Vernon Castle sparked a dance craze George Gershwin’s Lady Be Good (1924) – featured great song and dance After 1929 sound movies became popular

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater9 Rodgers and Hart Richard Rodgers ( ) – songwriter Lorenz Hart ( ) – lyricist On Your Toes (1936) – Rodgers and Hart musical featuring choreographer, George Balanchine, who designed dance steps to integrate with the drama Pal Joey (1940)

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater10 Rodgers and Hammerstein Oklahoma! – The product of a new collaboration between Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II Carousel (1945) King and I (1951) South Pacific (1949) The Sound of Music (1959)

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater11 Expansion of Broadway Frank Loesser ( ) – composer of Broadway shows that required a heightened sense of singing Lerner and Loewe – famous Broadway theme (lyricist and composer) Brigadoon Camelot My Fair Lady

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater12 Leonard Bernstein ( ) Pianist, composer, conductor Adapted On the Town from ballet Composed Broadway masterpiece West Side Story (1957) featuring heightened use of dance with choreography by Jerome Robbins Ensemble – several characters present their own point of view, singly and collectively

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater13 Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930) Intended to compose concert music, but turned to Broadway A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) Follies (1971) – parodies the Ziegfeld Follies A Little Night Music (1973) Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979) – a musical about murder and cannibalism Company – a “concept musical” which addresses controversial subjects

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater14 More Black Musicals 1970s and 1980s The Wiz – a black interpretation of The Wizard of Oz A black version of Guys and Dolls Bubbling Brown Sugar – all black revue featuring music by “Fats” Waller, Duke Ellington and Eubie Blake Dream Girls – a show based on the experiences of the Supremes.

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater15 The Music of Musicals Use of jazz, country-western, blues Use of rock music Hair Jesus Christ Superstar Godspell Grease Mama Mia Movin’ Out

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Musical Theater16 Current Trends Revivals of shows including Cabaret (1998) and Oklahoma (2002) From film to Broadway The Producers The Lion King Effects other than music Increasing interest in multi-media shows Audience involvement Dance Concern for addressing children (Cats, Beauty and the Beast)