Analysis Of Gerald MastBefore The Ball : American Musical Theater Before American Musicals

In this essay, I will take a gander at the play of Romeo and Juliet. I will examine how Shakespeare has utilized dialect in the play for symbolic impact. I will also see how Shakespeare has displayed love and the path in which Romeo and Juliet converse with each other, I might choose whether their affection was genuine and discuss their parents differentiating perspectives and conclusions. I will likewise remark on the play's pertinence today and perceive how Shakespeare has utilized dramatic devices and structures to improve the discussion between the youthful lovers. All throughout the play, there is a consistent theme of love and destiny, I will be dissecting this subject and show how it influences Romeo and Juliet.

Compare and contrast the American musical theatre in the 1920s with that of the 1930s. How did each reflect and absorb its era? What forms & styles were dominant, what was the same, what was different and why? Do we see elements from these decades in shows today? Use examples from specific musicals.

William Shakespeare is the world’s pre-eminent dramatist whose plays range from tragedies to tragic comedies, etc. His general style of writing is often comparable to several of his contemporaries, like Romeo and Juliet is based on Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem, “The tragical history of Romeo and Juliet”. But Shakespeare’s works express a different range of human experience where his characters command the sympathy of audiences and also are complex as well as human in nature. Shakespeare makes the protagonist’s character development central to the plot.

When thinking of musical theatre, the most common idea is “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy eventually gets the girl in the end.” This situation is most commonly referred to as, “The original story” The main reasons for this stereotype are the musicals produced and shown in the 1950’s- 70’s. When looking at the story line of more than

At the end of World War I, an excited America was poised for a cultural renaissance; patriotism was on the rise, the strong concept of Manifest Destiny had passed its peak of influence, and, most importantly, there had not been a clear shift in culture for decades. The Jazz Age of the 1920s was about to dawn, bringing with it youthful, risqué morals and a carefree look on life. From these ideals, a new, strongly American form of entertainment would emerge: musical theatre. Most commonly found in New York City on Broadway even to this day, musical theatre became an escape from reality and an entry into the imagination. The grand and splashy components that make up what is considered a classic Broadway musical can ultimately be traced back to Cole Porter. Porter’s writing, albeit at times controversial or raunchy, was able to harness the frantically beating heart of the Jazz Age and turn it into treasured shows. Using his unique melodies, romantic or idealistic lyrics, and his pioneering of writing about the human experience, Cole Porter shaped American music and theatre from the 1920s through the 1940s.

‘Mamma Mia, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked and many more have made the impact. Broadway plays old and new, have been a part of many people’s lives throughout history. Even from its beginnings, Broadway and all of its productions have had a massive impact on society’s art and culture.

Before one can understand why Bob Fosse has had such an indelible impact on the musical theatre community, one must understand the world that existed before he had stepped into the limelight. The American musical comedy gained international significance during World War I, distracting a run-down theatre-going public with light-hearted sentiments and popular songs “at the expense of a plot” (Acuban). Many shows were musical revues, series of sketches or songs with little to no connection between them, or sentimental operettas that were tailor-made for an audience to digest with ease. The appearance of Broadway’s Showboat in 1927 represented a brief respite from the comparatively frivolous productions of the previous decade, but the lighthearted

Much of the text is dated or archaic and is initially unknown to the typical student. Yet upon thorough study, the student will gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare's words and the English language.Despite the difficulty that dated text presents, the passions and emotions described by Shakespeare touch the hearts of his readers and audience, students included. Vivid imagery and poetic descriptions are presented effectively and have a great impact on the audience. Readers are provided with the opportunity to step into the lives of his characters; to feel their emotions and understand their motivations, a rewarding experience for the student.Although Shakespeare's wrote his plays more than 350 years ago, the relevance of their themes and subjects still exists.

displayed of mixed cultural background to represent the arts on the stage, such as black

Jukebox musicals began in film and later shifted to theatre. They had begun to make theatre more popular with the public, which had begun to gravitate towards film and music. By combining the two, they gain some of the same as well as a whole new audience. I will discuss how this came to be by speaking of the shift that occurred.

Bert Williams was born on November 12, 1874, in Nassau, Bahamas. After his family faced some economic issues, they moved from California to the Bahamas in 1884 to for better economic opportunities. Living in California is where his fascination with performances began, mainly medicine shows and seeing the magicians, singers, dancers, etc. Williams worked in the genre of the blackface minstrel show, which was one of the key components of a longstanding attempt by white Americans to degrade Americans of African descent. This project involves discovering the significance Bert Williams had on performances during his era. The goal of this paper is to show how incredible of a performer Bert Williams was and how his performances left such a lasting impact to this day. I argue that Bert Williams utilized performance techniques that were identifiable to typical Broadway audiences of the late 1800s to create opportunities for African-American performers to succeed in show business in the United States. He did this by being a black body using dominantly white performance techniques to subversively make white audiences become used to seeing black bodies doing the same things white bodies do on stage. Williams changed the focused the plots of his performances to situations in which any member of the audience could relate to, no matter their race. Additionally, he proved that minstrelsy shows could feature songs about black characters without containing violent and horrific stereotypes. He used his heritage and platform to be a trailblazer in opening opportunities for African-Americans to succeed in show business in the United States.

He pointed out that at the time he wrote this article, most American theatres are “racially mixed”. Black actors could cooperate with a white playwrights. It was no need to separate which theatres are “black” and which are

The musical film has always held a special place for me. From my time as a drama student in high school, my eyes have been opened to the amazing world of the musical and especially the musical film. The musical film is a film genre in which the characters sing songs that are integrated into the overall story. Since musicals first began in theaters, musical films usually contain similar elements. These elements often simulate that there is a live audience watching. In a sense, the film viewers become the audience members, at a theater production, as the actor performs directly to them. Due to the popularity of musicals in the theater, the style was quickly brought over into film. In 1927, the musical film genre began

has been recognized as a new kind of musical play that denied its Broadway audiences many of their most treasured traditions, says David Ewen in American Musical Theatre. There was no opening chorus line, no chorus until midway through the first act, in fact. There was rather a serious ballet and other serious overtones, including a killing in act two. The story, which was so simple, seemed to engage the audience in more than mere evening diversion. (248) These changes, far from disappointing to viewers, were upheld by a success that had never been seen in the history of musical theatre.

Shakespeare’s characters have universal appeal because they are extremely relatable, the character flaws can be related to real flaws people have in real life, the love and romance are inspiring and captivating by anyone who is searching for or is in a relationship, the story lines accentuate the characters themselves, resulting in deeper characterizations, the character’s motives are direct and logical, and all of the characters are believable; all of these reasons build up the relatability of Shakespeare’s characters. This relatability is exactly why they are so universal and why they represent “common humanity”.