Compare And Contrast The American Musical Theatre In The 1920's

Thus the Ziegfeld Follies were born. The productions included over the top sets, extravagant costumes and “The Ziegfeld Girls,” a chorus of attractive females. Out of consideration for the sensibilities of theatergoers, the tone of his productions was sexy but never trashy. Ziegfeld considered thirteen his lucky number and thus gave his revue the thirteen letter name Follies of the Day taken from the title of a popular newspaper column penned by librettist Harry B. Smith, who Ziegfeld hired to write the libretto.

All through United States history our country has encountered numerous prosperous time periods where our general public as a whole has changed in a positive way. One particular decade that gainfully effected our nation was the nineteen twenties, which can likewise be alluded to as the Roaring Twenties or Jazz Age. The Jazz Age Positively affected American life and society because people were into this new style of music, jazz. Numerous other innovations during this period also changed the minds of the U.S. individuals, which basically modified the nations norms and ethics. It will become obvious how jazz music impacted life during the economically bloated roaring twenties. This paper will also talk about how music, movies, literature, vehicles, fashion, crime and new ethics brought about the Jazz Age, which basically could be named the most prominent, socially successful decade in United States history.

The Ziegfeld Follies were a group of women who would dance during Ziegfeld’s broadway shows. In the beginning, in order to produce them, Ziegfeld would spend $13000 on them and by the end it would cost him $300000. The Follies were a huge success on Broadway and gave Ziegfeld his spot in the Broadway history books. Another thing he in order to cement his fame, was revitalize the Broadway show, ShowBoat. During the casting of the show, Ziegfeld made the controversial choice at the time which was to cast a black actor in a leading role. Before this, white actors would apply “black face” on them to look like a black person. Despite this choice, the revival was a huge success and Ziegfeld made the show into one of the best and iconic Broadway shows of all

Broadway was one of the first forms of entertainment. Before there were television programs, or movies, there was Broadway. Broadway originated in New York in 1750, when actor-manager Walter Murray built a theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street. A musical would show about once every weekend. The shows were very male based, and would commonly show a relationship between young boys and their fathers. Women were slowly integrated into Broadway, and as society changed its point of view on women, so did theatre.

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.

Before vaudeville even got its name it was called variety shows in previous years. Variety shows had been around for a long time but as years progressed it became more diverse and had more acts included in it. Tony Pastor (known as the father of vaudeville) was one of the men credited for these variety shows. In 1881 Pastor established a variety theater in New York (“Vaudeville”). He had many different acts performed in his theaters, especially for family entertainment. He focused on very high standards of

The 1920s was a time of economic growth, inventions, and spending money. During the 1920s, America was renamed as “new society” and “new standard of living” (Foner, 773). Little did society know was that the 1920s was the reason for the Great Depression in the 1929. This time era had a rough start because there was a prohibition on manufacturing and selling alcohol (Foner, 742). There also an awakening of what America was really like for the immigrants, for example, the convictions of two Italians, Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco. Vanzetti and Sacco were accused of partaking in an armed robbery and murder of a security guard (Foner, 768). This raises about the corruption of the government, and how it destabilized basic American freedom because these men were seen as threats to the American Life (Foner, 769). There were no evidence against Sacco and Vanzetti, yet they still got the death penalty (Foner, 769). The 1920s were also famous for the Jazz Age and Roaring Twenties (Foner, 769, 770). The flappers were women who were young and sexually liberated (Foner, 770). The speakeasies were nightclubs

The 1920s began shortly after World War I when the United States and the allies defeated the Germans in 1918. The 1920’s became known as the “Roaring Twenties,” because of its changes in politics, economics, society, culture and foreign policy. Industries were making their products at an increasing rate; they became richer and more powerful than before World War I. The 1920s were also seen as a decade of contradiction, increase and decrease faith, great hope and great despair.

At the start of the 20th century, the popular vaudeville shows that crossed the nation became

Research paper Thesis : The 1920's brought much advancement to today's society especially in technology the most important of which were music . be music important to you ? Music doesn't repel to everyone . Music has a huge impact on society even beginning of the Harlem Renaissance to today . Music has an immense impact on society even beginning of the Harlem Renaissance to today . Music is important to adolescents as well as adults . It is a way to run away from their problems . There are many styles of music . The 20's was known as the " Jazz Age " . This decade was known as the " Jazz Age " because jazz was very popular and just set out showing off the skills in jazz music . Jazz is a popular term to be described as miscellaneous events in life . In the 1920's jazz was entertainment . Jazz also represents rebellious behavior and biracial culture . The 1920's was the time of Prohibition . The Prohibition Amendment of the 1920's was ineffective because it was unenforceable , it caused the explosive growth of crime , and it increased the amount of alcohol ingestion . The crime rate increased because the Prohibition destroyed legal jobs , created black market violence , diverted resources from enforcement of other laws and increased prices people had to pay for prohibited goods . Jazz was not just music ; it was a pattern of communal expression . Jazz was different because revealed the rules-musical and social . It featured improvisation over a traditional structure . The

The 1920s was a very interesting era. The era of the audacious and daring. There was no other era like this one. The 1920s had the greatest musicians and poets. For example, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Langston Hughes. The 1920s also had the best actresses and models. For example, Josephine Baker, Cecil Beaton, and Dorothy Parker. It was also the era of flappers, where young women expressed discontent with traditional social roles by adopting the appearance and behaviors of men. (The 1920s: Introduction). Music in the 1920s definitely inspired many to be bolder, and inventive. Music helped people express themselves in a frolicsome way. Fashion as well, inspired people to be more original and free-spirited, especially women. Fashion in the 1920s paved the way for women to be more untroubled and blissful. The American personality became exceedingly inventive and

The 1900’s were a time for great transformations and growth within the theatrical community. Of all types of theater that were developed during that period, musical theater matured into a more respected and widely desired form of entertainment. Musical theater transformed from blackface minstrel shows with gag productions into pieces of reputable theater. One of the most influential productions in making that turn into sophistication is Showboat. Based on the novel by Edna Ferber Showboat was written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II (Smith 627). Showboat was premiered in the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 27, 1927 (Smith 627). The 1926 novel chronicled the lives of a musical and racially

On December 27, 1927 when the premiere of Show Boat opened in the spectacular new Ziegfeld Theater, producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. had brought something new to Broadway. As Katherine Leigh Axtell writes, the show was “neither an operetta nor a musical comedy, neither a vaudeville nor a revue.” For the first time, composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II seamlessly integrated plot, character, music, and dance into a modern musical production -- starting a new genre of musical, which is often called “musical theater” or “book musical.”

1920’s Broadway was booming! Due to the changes in song formatting, the modernization of plot line, and with a variety of dance style, The Jazz Age catapulted Broadway to a higher dimension than ever before. Like most hits, the Jazz Age fizzled out due to unforeseen circumstances. The Jazz Age ended with the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression. The country suffered, investments dropped, banks failed, and crashing companies caused massive unemployment rates. Along with the rest of the country, Broadway was negatively impacted by The Great Depression. However, despite the loss of jobs and struggling venues, the decade of the thirties proved to be an enlightening and rich experience for Broadway. Through research, we will open the curtain with the negative effects that The Great Depression had on Broadway during the 1930’s, then venture into the rising action where we will be begin to see the turning point, and finally end the show in the final act with the light at the end of the tunnel.

Two great writers of American musical theatre, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, had one idea in common. They wanted to present to the American public a new and revolutionary musical that would stand out above the rest. They wanted to make an impact on the societies of the era. They wanted to be creative and do something that was considered rebellious. When they finally combined their ideas together they created an American masterpiece in musical theatre: Oklahoma!. It was the first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration, starting the most successful creative partnership in the history of American musical theatre.