1. Musical Theatre’s Essentials Ms. Lirette Fall 2014

2. Structure  Shows since Rogers and Hammerstein Succeed due to their structure Even when the audience doesn’t know it.  Until Show Boat (1927), musicals were mostly revue-style shows  Librettos with stock characters  Cliché situations  Songs and plots not necessarily linked

3. Tin Pan Alley

4. Vaudeville

5. Spice of 1922

6. Shuffle Along Broadway 1921 first financially successful Broadway play to have African-American writers and an all African-American cast

7. Songs and Theatre  Intellectual and emotional response  Connected to the plot?  What is the aim of a song?

8. Possible aims of a theatrical song  Pleasant musical interlude  In integrated musicals  Tell something about the character  Create the proper mood for a scene  Advance the plot  Disadvantages to this model? Songs may NEED the context of the show to succeed.  Sell the show “production number”