The History Of Musicals On Stage Is Broad And Extensive.There

There are currently 40 theatres in operation on broadway right now (“Broadway Theatres in NYC”) and there are many shows on tour. People travel to New York from all over to attend a broadway musical, many high schools perform an annual musical, and a movie production of a musical comes out every now and then. During the 2013-2014 season, over 12.2million people attended a broadway musical (“Broadway Season Statistics”). That is a lot more people that the 6.7million that attended an opera ("Quick Opera Facts."). There aren’t as many opera houses and you’ll be lucky to find a high school that performs an opera. There aren’t too many opera movies out there either. Operas are becoming less and less popular while the popularity for musicals is increasing. It may be because people can understand more of what is happening during a musical and they aren’t just listening to the

During this period, musicals (which were labeled “musical comedies” at the time) were in the form of acceptable of guilty pleasures - the appeal of women and their sexuality, silly characters that made fools of themselves, or the goofy country girl dancing through the chores of the day. Ziegfeld’s Follies, Marx brother shows, and Al Jolson playing his character in blackface are great examples of these shows that focused on showing off the stars and gave little care to the

Before the 20th century, people used music and dancing to tell stories, but it had nothing to do with developing musical theater. Musical theatre is a type of play that tells a story through songs, spoken dialogue, and dancing. During the 20th century, there was a lot of change going on in Musical Theatre. Musicals are different from other types of stage works such as opera because a musical would not be a musical without the music, story line, or dancing. European operetta was becoming more popular than American Musical Theatre. The two main types of opera that were being made were called ballad operas and comic operas which had romantic plots. American composers sought to come up with something new, since Musical Theatre was not very popular with the general public. There were a lot of components that helped shape musical theatre in America , but most think that it was mainly developed because of the different tastes developing, likeable styles, spirit and energy by composers in America, it was not. Although musical theaters origins are not certain, Musical theatre gradually developed using influences of ballad opera, comic opera, operetta, vaudeville, and burlesque.

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.

There’s a reason that English classes have students study Oedipus the King, A Raisin in the Sun, The Crucible, and many other titles in schools across the globe. Adding music to a story focused on a serious issue doesn’t impact the message that it carries to audiences. Musicals like Next to Normal, and South Pacific carry themes of extreme social struggle like racism and mental illness all with soundtracks that stand the test of time. What I love most about how theatre affects people is that most theatre kids are well adjusted due to the exposure to these wide ranges of themes, making them the best people to be around; theatre kids are well adjusted because of the awareness of theatre, and not necessarily juggling education and stage productions.

the training ground and inspiration for the birth of the American musical. As the primary

Movies were becoming one of the biggest businesses during the 1920s and most people would spend their leisure time going to the theatre to watch the silent films. They were becoming huge in the popular culture and Hollywood was the place to be. Roughly by 1922, 40 million people a year in attendance over the entire country for the movie theatres and in 1930 over 100 million people would attend the movies every year. By 1927, the movie industry became the fourth largest industry in the country. “The Great Train Robbery” which was released in 1903 was the beginning of the film industry and would eventually change everything. “Jazz Singer” was the first movie that had synchronized sounds throughout the entire film. The popular genres during this decade were western,

In the 1920‘s they started experimenting with musical theater by taking popular vaudeville songs and connecting them into one story. When Showboat opened in December 1927, it was unlike anything Broadway had ever seen. Showboat featured dramatic themes and the first-ever completely integrated book and score.

The Golden Age began the tradition of transforming classic literature into musical theater. During the 1950s, directors and collaborators took a central role in integrating movement and dance fully into musical theater productions. Many productions emphasized the storytelling power of dance. West Side Story (1957), a musical where dance held an integral part in, was a retelling of Romeo and Juliet to modern-day New York City. Guys and Dolls (1950), My Fair Lady (1956), The Music Man (1957), and Gypsy (1959) were all very influential and successful musicals of that time. The 1950s ended with Roger and Hammerstein’s last hit, The Sound of Music, and with its extremely successful film version, it became one of the most popular musicals in history.

It has been a very long road in the Theater District to get Broadway to where it is now, dating all the way back to the 1800s. The journey begins with writers and directors coming to America from Europe. The three major countries that influenced the success of Broadway were France, Germany,

Professor Wolf is the author of Changed for Good: A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical (Oxford University Press, 2011), A Problem Like Maria: Gender and Sexuality in the American Musical (University of Michigan Press, 2002), and the co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of the American Musical (with Raymond Knapp and Mitchell Morris, 2011). She has published articles on theatre spectatorship, performance pedagogy, and musical theatre. Professor Wolf also oversees the Lewis Center’s Music Theater Lab and has experience as a director and dramaturg. Wolf holds a B.A. in English from Yale and an M.A. in Drama from the University of Virginia. She received her Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Recent publications include

. Broadway which was the king of entertainment for such along time became replaced by the musical once the country became settled and well appointed after the war. Musicals became part of the American culture and also increased its boundary lines past the Theatre District. Technology also had a major impact on the musical, because it made it easier for folks to see their favorite Broadway performers right from their own living rooms. One of the reasons why I think the musical replaced Broadway is because shows before were focused on the musical comedy, but then all of a sudden musical comedy was dropped which then allowed for their to be a focus on the character development.

Musicals could reflect the uglier, coarser sides of human nature and warn us of the consequences of not just personal immorality but also larger social issues. This musical included several dance numbers, which were innovatively choreographed and set and also had strong links between themselves. I felt West Side Story is about many such as rage and power, belonging and frustration; but most of all it’s about the scourge of prejudice, and its implications for love. West Side Story’s dark theme, sophisticated music, electrifying integrated dance, and no-holds-barred reflection of social problems marked a turning point in American theater. The musical style combines symphonic and jazz styles and Bernstein has focussed on dissonant, chromatic and syncopated elements to create musical tension suitable for the story and its setting. The musical ran for 732 performances before going on tour. The production received a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical in 1957, but the award went to Meredith Willson's The Music Man. The play spawned an innovative 1961 musical film of the same name, directed by Robert Wise and Robbins. The film won ten

In 1750 when Walter Murray and Thomas Kean decided to open their theatre company on Nassau Street, is when the origin of Broadway began. Their theatre was only large enough to hold 280 audience members and mostly put on ballad operas and Shakespearian plays because he was popular during that time. Musicals and theatre moved to Broadway in the middle of the century