1. Musical Theatre History
Development of the Musical
Musical Theatre History

2. 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)

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

4. 19th Century - USA Comic Operas and Pantomimes performed
Minstrel shows - played banjos, tambourines, sang, danced, and made jokes in Blackface.
Music Halls and Vaudevilles - unrelated acts, magic, jugglers, acrobats, sketches, animals, singers, and dancers.

6. 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

7. The Black Crook Synopsis
Evil, wealthy Count Wolfenstein seeks to marry the lovely village girl, Amina. With the help of Amina's scheming foster mother Barbara, the Count arranges for Amina's fiancé, Rodolphe, an impoverished artist, to fall into the hands of Hertzog, an ancient, crook-backed master of black magic (the Black Crook). Hertzog has made a pact with the Devil (Zamiel, "The Arch Fiend"): he can live forever if he provides Zamiel with a fresh soul every New Year's Eve. As innocent Rodolphe is led to this horrible fate, he discovers a buried treasure and saves the life of a dove. The dove magically transforms into human form as Stalacta, Fairy Queen of the Golden Realm. She rewards Rodolphe for rescuing her by bringing him to fairyland and then reuniting him with his beloved Amina. Her army defeats the Count and his evil forces, demons drag Hertzog into hell, and Amina and Rodolphe live happily ever after.

8. 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)

9. 1920s By the time the “Roaring 20s” came around… Melodramas took rise
Realism and naturalism were introduced
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

10. 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

11. Showboat Synopsis
When it comes to music on the Mississippi river, the Cotton Blossom show boat is the place to go. When musical main attraction Julie Laverne and her husband are suddenly forced to leave the show, Cotton Blossom owner Andy Hawks’ own daughter, Magnolia, takes center stage. She soon falls madly in love with roguish gambler Gaylord Ravenal, and the two leave the Cotton Blossom on a honeymoon, only to enter into a tumultuous marriage.

12. No matter what we do, or what happens to us; the river keeps flowing.
Ol’ Man River
No matter what we do, or what happens to us; the river keeps flowing.

13. 1930s
The public became more aware that quality theatre was more important than it being cheap, thoughtless entertainment.
By the time the Great Depression too hold of NY, theatre in general began to suffer. More than 1/3 of the 68 commercial theatres in the Broadway district closed by the end of the 30s.
The only other time in American history this many theatre companies closed at one time was right after 9/11.

14. 1930s Technically: 1st Pulitzer Prize for Best Play of the Year
Spectacle and razzle-dazzle OR
Realistic details
1st Pulitzer Prize for Best Play of the Year
Of Thee I Sing
1931
George and Ira Gershwin, Geory Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind
Raised the status of what musicals should be

16. 1930s 1st Innovative Operatic Musical Other 30s Hits Porgy and Bess
1935
By Gershwins and Heyward
Other 30s Hits
The Bandwagon 1931
Anything Goes 1934
Dead End 1935
The Boys from Syracuse 1938
DuBarry Was A Lady 1939

17. Recent revivals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8EvkVVpg0A
Porgy and Bess revived twice, 2012 earned 10 nominations and 2 wins.
Anything Goes revived twice, won Best Revival both times.

18. 1940s As the Depression ended, so did the falling economy.
WWII left an impression on Broadway - one of pride and nationalism.
This was reflected in Theatre of this decade
1st Book Musical - Oklahoma! Rogers and Hammerstein - 2 year run
Reflected foundations previously set by Show Boat
New Element - Opening Number
Emphasis on character and book rather than spectacle.
Plot progressed through songs closely integrated w/book.
Full Orchestra, large cast of singers, dancers, and actors.

19. Opening number

20. My Favorite Opening Number

21. 1940s Other 40 hits Carousel - 1945 Annie Get Your Gun - 1946
Kiss Me, Kate
South Pacific
Brigadoon
State Fair

22. 1950s War was over - economy healthy
Average ticket price for a show - $6.00-$8.00 (Average ticket price today is $100 for standard seat)
Musicals during this decade were a strong mix of script and music
Movie versions of live musicals start to happen
Focus - less on spectacle and more on Dance
West Side Story
Specific dancing as a means to advance the plot and reveal characters (Jerome Robbins)
Based on Romeo and Juliet

23. Cool- West Side Story

24. 1950s Other 50s Hits Guys and Dolls - 1950 The King and I - 1951
My Fair Lady
Gypsy
The Sound of Music

25. 1960s Broadway money-making machine
Went from Artistic to business-driven
The Rock Musical is born
1st Rock Musical - Hair 1968
Minimal plot - sharp political commentary (anti-Vietnam war)
Simple scenery and props
Actors change costumes and roles in front of audience
Informal and spontaneous
Full frontal nudity
Amplified sound

26. 1960s Hits of the 60s Bye Bye Birdie - 1960 Camelot - 1960
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Hello Dolly
Funny Girl
Fiddler on the Roof
Man of LaMancha
Mame

27. Telephone Hour- Bye, Bye, Birdie

28. 1970s Undertones of the 60s carried over to the 70s
Pushing the limit technically
Large-scale musicals and spectacle sets
Emphasis on concept - idea or theme not“boy gets girl” plots.
Not melodic/singable tunes
Episodes = illustrate concept
Songs reveal character’s feelings, comment on action and are tailored for the situation
Workshop method
Writers and Composers write with performers
Potential backers go to the workshops

29. 1970s Cabaret - 1972 - Bob Fosse choreographer
Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince take control
Company
A Little Night Music
Sweeney Todd
Sunday in the Park With George
Into the Woods

30. Fosse style dancing.

31. 1970s Other 70 Hits Jesus Christ Super Star - 1971 Godspell - 1971
Grease
Pippin
The Rocky Horror Show
A Chorus Line
Chicago
Annie
Evita

32. Pippin Still using Fosse style dance.

33. 1980s Lots of musicals being imported from England
Costs continue to rise, making it more difficult to recover investments.
Decline was so sharp in only 31 new productions were mounted (compare to the 34 new musicals and 57 plays that opened in 2009)

34. 1980s 80s Hits Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - 1982
Cats (grossed over $915 million by April 1991)
Phantom of the Opera ($8 million initial investment - grossed $413 million by 1991)

35. 1980s Other 80 Hits Les Miserables - 1980
Little Shop of Horrors
Sunday in the Park
Big River
Into the Woods
Fame
Miss Saigon

36. I’d Give My Life for You- Miss Saigon

37. 1990s Lots of Technical Overkill The Corporate Musical is created
Hits of the 90s
City of Angles
Jekyll & Hyde
Kiss of the Spider Woman
The Lion King
Rent
Titantic
Ragtime

38. The Lion King

39. 2000s
Musicals run the gamete between technical overkill and very simple.
Movies are becoming sources
“Jukebox” Musicals arrive.
A jukebox musical is a stage or film musical that uses previously released popular songs as its musical score. Usually the songs have in common a connection with a particular popular musician or group — because they were either written by, or for, the artists in question, or at least covered by them.
“Disneyfication of Broadway”

40. Jukebox Musical Examples
All Shook Up
Jersey Boys
Rock of Ages
American Idiot
Beautiful- The Carole King Musical
On Your Feet

41. American Idiot

42. 2000s Hits from this era include: Aida - 2000 The Full Monty - 2000
The Producers
Urinetown
Mama Mia
Hairspray
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Wicked
Avenue Q
25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee
Mary Poppins

43. 2000s Continued Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - 2004 Billy Elliot - 2005
Spamalot
Jersey Boys
The Drowsy Chaperone -2006
Spring Awakening
The Wedding Singer
Legally Blonde
Next to Normal

44. 10’s on Broadway
The teens of 2000 had their up’s and downs on Broadway.
Tickets became too expensive.
People would rather go to movies or watch television.
Many shows opened, and didn’t last very long.

45. 2015/2016 and Hamilton An unreal amount of shows open on Broadway.
Making Live Theatre important again.
Hamilton is nominated for a record breaking 16 Tony Awards, and wins 11.
Ticket prices $849.
Sold out.
Saves Alexander Hamilton in currency change.

46. Wait For It- Hamilton

47. This upcoming season… Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Spongebob Squarepants the Musical
Miss Saigon- Transfer from West End
Dear Evan Hansen
Singin’ In the Rain- Revival
AND…....

48. Most Importantly Hello, Dolly!- Starring Bette Midler
Anastasia- Starring Derek Klena

49. More from Derek Klena

50. Tony Award
The award was founded in 1947 by a committee of the American Theatre Wing, headed by Brock Pemberton. The award is named after Antoinette Perry, nicknamed Tony. She was an actress, director, producer, and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing. She died in 1946.

51. Tony Awards cont. First ceremony, 1947.
Lots of rules that categorize “Broadway Play.” Such as seat numbers, production opening, new vs. revival, etc.
Usually at Radio City Music Hall or Beacon Theatre.

52. Categories Performance categories
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

53. Categories Show and technical categories Best Musical
Best Revival of a Musical
Best Direction of a Musical
Best Book of a Musical
Best Original Score
Best Orchestrations
Best Choreography
Best Scenic Design in a Musical
Best Costume Design in a Musical
Best Lighting Design in a Musical
Best Play
Best Revival of a Play
Best Direction of a Play
Best Scenic Design in a Play
Best Costume Design in a Play
Best Lighting Design in a Play

54. Fun Facts Play productions with the most Tony nominations:
Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia (2007) and August Wilson's Fences (2010 revival) - 10
Play production that has won the most Tony Awards:
Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia (2007) - 7
Musical productions with the most Tony nominations:
Hamilton (2016) - 16
Musical production that has won the most Tonys:
The Producers, the new Mel Brooks musical (2001) - 12
Musical revival with most Tony Awards:
South Pacific (2008) - 7
Musical revival with most Tony nominations:
Kiss Me, Kate (2000) - 12
Performer with most Tony nominations:
Chita Rivera - 10

55. Fun Facts Performers with the most Tony Awards:
Audra McDonald – 6; Julie Harris – 6 including one Special Tony Award
Individual who has received most Tony Awards:
Harold Prince - 21
Composer with most Tony Awards:
Stephen Sondheim - 8
Choreographer with most Tony Awards:
Bob Fosse - 8 (plus one for direction)
Host of most Tony Awards telecasts:
Angela Lansbury - 5
Longest-running Best Musical:
The Phantom of the Opera ( )
Theatre that housed the most Tony-winning Best Plays and Best Musicals:
Richard Rodgers Theatre - 11
Number of ties in Tony history: 10

56. Best performance EVER.