Musical Theatre History Development of the Musical

Primitive Man -Medieval Europe Caveman - explained customs through music, song, dance, and acting 5th Century B.C. - sang (chanted) lines, chorus moved rhythmically to music Rome - pantomimes used a dancer to relate story through movement as chorus sang narration Medieval Europe - wandering performers provided entertainment for castles (nobles) and town festivals (everyone else)

Renaissance - 18th Century Italian Commedia dell’arte used singing and dancing Intermezzo (between acts) used songs, dancers, music, scenery, SFX 1st opera: Dafne 1597 (chanted lines to music)

Renaissance - 18th Century cont’d English Used masques, intermezzos and background musicians for entertainment as well as pantomime (the English version of commedia dell’arte) Burlesques which featured scantily dressed women Ballad Operas which featured plots, dialogues songs with new lyrics to old melodies (A Beggars Opera) Comic Opera which featured original music (Pirates of Penzance)

19th Century - USA Comic Operas and Pantomimes performed Minstrel shows - played banjos, tambourines, “bones”, sang, danced, and made jokes Music Halls and Vaudevilles - unrelated acts, magic, jugglers, acrobats, sketches, animals, singers, and dancers

1st Musical The Black Crook - Sept 12, 1866 in New York Ran 474 performances 5 1/2 hours long Mixture of drama, spectacle, scenery, transformations with ballet and scantily clad dancers Lots of scenic special effects

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Early 20th Century - USA Ziegfield Follies (and other revues) were the main source of entertainment Composers such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Victor Herbert, Richard Rodgers, and George Gershwin got their start in these venues Foreshadowed our demands for glitz, glamour, and expense in entertainment Preproduction expenses topped $250,000 with $123,000 going to costumes alone (the average American earned $19.20 per week in 1920)

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1920s By the time the “Roaring 20s” came around… Melodramas took rise Realism and naturalism were introduces Lots of pressure on technical theatre to accommodate both styles of theatre In reaction to these styles, anti-realistic and anti-traditional modes of theatre began to arise

1920s (continued) “New age of American Musical” Showboat in 1927 by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II Events span 40 years Serious theme with musical #s and plot Represented the departure from standard musicals by introducing new elements including spectacle, details,realism, in depth characters Influenced by Opera, Blues, and current dances (Charleston) Grossed $50,000/wk for 2+ year run Revived in 1966 where it grossed $100,000/wk

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