The North American Musical Film

The musical opened to previews on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre with a limited engagement from March 15th , 2012 to march 28 2012. They performed “King of New York “ in the thanksgiving parade for that year. The show has earned Eight Tony awards, and won 3 which were , Best Musical , Best Choreography and Best original

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.

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.

In my paper I will be discussing what makes Rent such an extraordinary rock musical, the care that went into creating it, and how it was different from what came before. I will provide analysis of characters and the plot, plus I will be describing the importance and relevance of certain songs.

In 1951, Frank Loesser’s Guys & Dolls opened and received what were said to be “the most unanimously ecstatic set of reviews in Broadway history” (Block 200). For a show whose development included disappointing librettos from eleven different writers, this feat was truly unbelievable (Lewis 73). The unprecedented success of Guys & Dolls and its ability to remain culturally significant, as a popularly revived piece, is the product of several attributes unique to this show. The unusual writing progression that led to a truly integrated libretto in terms of the relationship of the score to the text, Loesser’s assimilation of a unified, yet distinctive style of speech into his lyrics for the

Rent. To most people it is associated with an apartment, house, or another object. This word rarely conjures pleasant memories, but more often annoyance and stress. However, when someone mentions rent to me, my mind races to some of the most memorable experiences in my life.

AMDA stands for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Their four main majors are acting, musical theatre, dance theatre, and performing arts. There is a campus in Los Angeles as well as in New York. The Los Angeles Campus is nestled right in the middle of the big city and is not too far from the famous Hollywood sign. The campus is relatively small with only fourteen main buildings. These include the Tower building, the Vine building, the Vine residence hall, the Bungalows, the Allview residence hall, the Franklin building, the Yucca street residence hall, the Gilbert, performance theatres, rehearsal studios, film TV and editing facilities, performing arts library, the campus café, and the campus piazza. The Tower Building contains

The 1952 film, Singin’ in The Rain, was directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. Singing in the Rain was a well-known musical, comedy, and romance motion picture. The film was set in Hollywood in the 1920s during the rise of synchronized sound film. The film explores the growing love story of Silent film actor, Don Lockwood and aspiring chorus singer, Kathy Selden. Also, the historical development and on-screen view of synchronized sound being part of the film process.

According to Joseph Swain in his book The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey, there are a number of

While you ponder that I'm going to end by sharing some of the Top Musicals of All Time & Current Ones. The variety of musicals that either went from screen to stage or stage to screen is amazing. Author Michael Hoffman explains in his article titled, "The Musical Film Genre: Capturing the Magic of the Stage on the Screen", that throughout the 1960s, "the adaptation for stage material for screen remained a popular trend in Hollywood due to its success". West Side Story (1961), My Fair Lady (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), and Oliver! (1968) were all adapted from Broadway hits and each won the Academy award for Best Picture. According to newworldencyclopedia.org, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

The movie The Red Violin is a drama written and directed by filmmaker Francois Girard, which follows the history of a mysterious and intriguing musical instrument over the span of 300 years. Francois Girard got the idea for the movie from events involving the legendary red Mendelssohn, a 1720 Antonio Stradivari violin which was purchased in 1990 by the grandfather of celebrated musician and heiress, Elizabeth Pitcairn (Fricke, 2010). The story is artfully and elegantly put together, and although the story is fictional the plot portrays what could be realistic characters, settings and life situations. There are some flaws in the movie however, but the entertaining qualities more than makes up for them.

According to Rick Altman, American folk musicals have essential components: idealized depiction of ‘America,’ merge of past and present, depiction of the family, home, or community, and secondary conflict between two groups. Likewise, the Broadway musical In the Heights depicts the pursuit of “American dreams” and “home” as well. Therefore, audiences and readers start to question that if Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría’s In the Heights is a typical American folk musical that Altman describes or not. Thus, I will use evidence of songs, plots, and lyrics from In the Heights to prove that this musical piece partially fulfills Altman’s definition of American folk musicals.

Country music is constantly changing, an example of this is how women are now viewed in country music. The American form of music became popular in the 1920’s, and continued to grow, artists of this era include the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and Vernon Dalhart. One of country’s most well-known female singers is Dolly Parton, becoming a major country star in the 1970’s. Dolly was one of the first female artists to challenge the gender stereotypes in country music, this major success led to her long career. She has contributed over 35 hits to country and popular music, including her album Coat of Colors released in 1971, by RCA records was the album that changed her career. The 8th solo album made it onto Time Magazine 's 100 Greatest

On Broadway the stars is the only limit and if you can imagine it, you will most likely find it somewhere on a stage. There are many theaters and it is a competitive world of who can put on the better show and performances. It means there are a lot of crazy tricks that are put into use to fool the eyes and make the story being told more real than ever. It is a magical combination of actors, actresses, and the ultimate stage prop.

The release of Gordon Hollingshead and Alan Crosland’s The Jazz Singer in 1927 marked the new age of synchronised sound in cinema. The feature film was a huge success at the box office and it ushered in the era David Bordwell describes as ‘Classical Hollywood Cinema’; Bordwell and two other film theorists (Janet Staiger and Kristin Thompson) conducted a formalist analysis of 100 randomly selected Hollywood films from the years 1917 to 1960 in order to fully define this movement. Their results yielded that most Hollywood made films during that era were centred on, or followed, specific blueprints that formed the finished product. Through this analysis of Hollywood films the theorists were able to establish stylised conventions and modes of