A musical film is a genre of movie where songs sung by characters are added into the storyline, occasionally complemented by choreography. The musical numbers in these films do not always develop the plot and characters, but they do give the films a more exciting quality. The primary difference between musical theatre and film musicals is the use of extravagant scenery that would be extraordinarily unreasonable for a stage performance. While making movies, the individuals involved have the luxury of being able to shoot multiple takes and have the time to move backgrounds around or change their entire location. Stage performances, on the other hand, must have scenery that can be easily and efficiently moved on and offstage when it is needed. In order to be able to thoroughly comprehend this relatively recent- in the grand scheme of things- form of entertainment, one should understand the history behind these musical films, be aware of some of the “big names” that are well-known, and recognize major titles that revolutionized musical film forever (Scaruffi, P., 2005).
Before being able to completely appreciate musical films, one must be aware of their remarkable history and how they came into existence. According to an article written by Cara Schreffler:
Since the days of the ancient Greeks, music has been an integral part of drama and theatre. Many composers wrote music to accompany plays, and sometimes the music became more well-known than the play it was written for … It
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.
There are many great musicals that the world has ever seen in the past years. Some have often brought us to tears while some may have brought to us to a world far beyond our imagination’s reach. In a world where television and the internet have often given us too many options to choose from as a form of entertainment, the soul and level of perfection still brought about by the broad way musicals are still one of the best for some of us.
Music is an important feature in Renaissance plays. The music is often moveable and changeable along with only prologues and epilogues of
Musicals are a wonderful experience for everyone involved. Whether someone is watching the musical, preforming in the musical, or working behind the scenes of the musical, it really turns out to be a magical experience all around. My project was to help out the directors of the musical by guiding students working backstage and by operating the backdrops for the musical. The project is extremely significant to me because I have been volunteering to help out with Middle School East’s musical for years and it feels so great to be able to help out the directors while working with my friends. In this paper I will be touching on what the project is, why I chose to do this project, and what I have learned from completing the project.
What I found interesting about the early Rock music genre is that despite the negativity upon the musicals and productions, rock music was still able to heard and inspire people into shows in Broadway. Many composers tried to bring rock 'n' roll in a new direction while taken the past experience with rock 'n' roll into account. Like for instance, Bye Bye Birdie had many songs that didn't reflect any rock 'n' roll influence and had lyrics that didn't sound impressive. It had reinforced that for critics, the fusion of musical theater fare and rock 'n' roll is just loud and ridiculous noise and was by no means a bold departure from previous theatrical forms. However, it brought attention
The musical theatre scene of the 1980’s was dominated by the emergence of the “mega-musical,” on the West End and Broadway alike. These elaborate shows usually featured a pop-influenced score, consisted of both large casts and sets to match, and were heavily characterized by their sizable effects and budgets. Many of the mega-musicals were based on beloved literature or other previously existing works, a formula meant to guarantee success. The big budget mega-musicals redefined everyone’s expectations for commercial success on both Broadway and the West End. “In earlier years, it was possible for a show to be considered a hit after a run of several hundred performances, but with multimillion-dollar production costs, a show must run for years
Ever since the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and 1930s, the film musical has been a prominent genre. However, up until the end of the “Golden Age” of the film musical, the majority of these musical films produced were geared towards an adult audience to help raise morale during the depression, World War I, and
For many, musical theatre is an experience that not only posses the power of entertainment, but the power of transformation. Masters of music such as Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Berstein, and George Gershwin used music as a theatrical element by which intense emotions and ever changing moods could be expressed. Their beautiful scores are regarded as the most impressive and moving in musical theatre history. Joining them at the top is Andrew Lloyd Webber, a man who through his compositions has enchanted millions of theatre goers not only on West End but around the world.
Film star and director Gene Kelly once said: “There is a strange sort of reasoning in Hollywood that musicals are less worthy of Academy consideration… it’s a form of snobbism” (Levy par. 16). In the modern generation where drama or action-packed and computer generated imagery (CGI) motion pictures persist to prevail the box office, it is conspicuous that the musical genre has been regarded as obsolescent -- iconic Hollywood musical films like Stanley Donen and Kelly’s Singin’ In The Rain (1952) were a thing of the past. However, in recent time Damien Chazelle’s La La Land (2016) persevered to be a tremendous success, winning six Oscars and seven Golden Globes amidst the 2017 award periods (Roschke sec. 2). Inspired by the vintage Hollywood
Now a quick history lesson, Musical Theatre technically was created in 5th Century BCE Ancient Greece, when staged comedies and tragedies would be told with a bit music and dance…but Musicals didn’t fully emerge into the world until the early 20th Century when the art form went to London, England, and then to America, which formed the famous theatre district, Broadway. Now that the basics are covered of where Musical Theatre came from, this paper is more about how Broadway Musicals evolved into what they are in present day, how people have reacted to such performances, and how musical theatre has impacted not only America, but also the world.
Although not yet an independent art, music probably gained very nearly as much as it lost in this respect, by being made an essential part of the literary and dramatic genius of Greece. Thus, the Greek play resembled more an opera than a play, however, with the music strictly subdued in favour of more dramatic interest. Perhaps the simplest way of making clear the musical aspect of the Greek drama would be to say that a Greek play was like an opera of which the composer wrote the libretto and the librettist wrote the music.
Watching Musical Theatre as a kid always excited me. Especially watching "Cats", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Lion King", and "Grease".watching musicals always took me to another world and always made feel positive after watching them. Musicals are an important part of the theatre tradition as stated by Wilson, " Proof of its significance and universal appeal is the fact that it is now imitated-often quite successfully -and performed throughout the world," (267). Musicals have a lot to offer to audiences as conveyed by Wilson in this excerpt, "beyond their value of entertainment, singing, and dancing possess an unmatched ability to capture the beauty of sound and movement and to communicate a wide range of emotions...In the same way, there
complex. Music, dancing, and costumes all play crucial roles in creating a spectacular performance. In all musicals, music is an obvious essential. Besides being necessary, it’s what makes up a musical. Through the use of music also comes dancing. Dancing and music go hand and hand and it is the dancing in the musical that makes it visually appealing and interesting to the audience. The costumes also help define musical theater. They allow the audience to better understand the setting, place, and time. Although music, dancing, and costumes contribute a lot to the musical, the stories and plots musicals contain also play a role in defining musical theater. Musicals
Musical theatre is a genre of drama in which singing and dancing play an essential part. The word “musical” originates from the Latin root, “musica”, of or related to music. The word “theatre” originally comes from the Greek word theasthai, which
In our modern generation, many types of film have emerged and became popular. We have fantasies, that make our imaginations do wild, horror, that makes us experience many mini heart attacks, even detective kinds of films, that pushes our mind to the limit, and also the typical romance films, which can make our hearts flutter. Those are just examples of films, there are more types. But these days, we can not help but wonder why classic musical films are still relevant and popular. Yes we do have modern musical films, like the teen oriented movie Camp Rock and High School Musical. But why do people still want to watch classic musical films like Phantom of the Opera , Les Miserables, Sound of Music, and Miss Saigon.