The Wiz Play Analysis

Over 46 million people have seen a play or musical this year in a theatre, many people even come from around the world just to experience watching the performing arts. The people who come from around the world are at a disadvantage, most of them do not know where the musical/play that they are seeing came from, or why we have them today. History has influenced plays/musicals, changing the actors, topics, and audiences.

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.

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

Vaudeville, the forgotten type of theatre. During the mid-1800’s, people from across the world were starting to settle in the United States. The newly found ‘spike’ of the diversity of cultures and population, vaudeville quickly became the central point for the American cultural life.

American plays. According to the author Ann Corio "The Beggar's Opera, John Brougham, Adah Isaacs Menken and The Black Crook were just a prelude."(Corio, 14) Burlesque at that time was small time show business. One historian asserted "The girl whom everyone credits with the establishment of burlesque as an American institution was about to arrive."(Corio, 14)

The dynamic partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein are often considered to have fathered of the “golden age” of musical theater; a distinct and radical departure in musical story telling that had not previously been conceived. Their first venture, Oklahoma!, was inspired by the 1931 stage play, Green Grow the Lilacs, by Cherokee author, poet, and playwright, Rollie Lynn Riggs. Despite the success of this musical adaptation, one must consider Oklahoma! in relation to its source material; although Rodgers and Hammerstein proved to redefine the genre, the eventual product was radically different from the play on which it was based. The changes made by the duo induce an entirely different tone, presenting the audience with a whitewashed display, rather than Rigg’s childhood observations of the social, legal and cultural changes that took place in the midst of Oklahoma’s impending statehood.

When I first read about Ithaca’s Musical Theater Program, I had just watched a clip on YouTube Aaron Tveit’s performance in the 2009 Broadway cast of Wicked. Blown away by his performance, I researched his education and fell in love a program that taught artistic expression as well as solid training as an actor and not just as a musical theater performer. Having just been to London and visiting the West End I was very excited about the opportunity to study abroad and learn British drama and culture. I was also thrilled to find that this program included private voice lessons, basic piano skills, critical analysis of plays, all things I feel I have a foundation in and grown and improve in college. Finally, a Showcase in front of industry professionals

Berkeley’s showgirls, although they may have the appearance of most of the showgirls of that Hollywood era, certainly had something special in them to be able to perform Berkeley’s choreography in such a precise manner. Berkeley took the Hollywood musical and put it in the sky, on the floor, and everywhere in between, all by changing the lens through which the viewers witnessed his musical

People obivously think of Opera as fancy and classy for rich people to enjoy the music. Opera is in a foreign language which makes it a cultural experiences. On the other hand, music theater is very much like American style like Broadway shows which it is hugely popular in America and it is form of entertainment. I do think entertainment is more representative than the other of American society's culture because Americans love it. The musicals are all across the country like Cats, Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. Opera is typically foreign and most Americans don't understand what is the mainly about. I believe Broadway is a huge American entertainment because people know all the songs and really love the shows. They understand better than

On February 21st Friday at 8pm, I went to watch an amazing play called Our Country’s Good which was written by British Screenwriter Timberlake Wertenbaker and directed by Jack Young. It was performed at Jose Quintero Theatre inside of Cynthia Woods Building at University of Houston. The theme of the play was human ability to overcome hardships by uniting and feeling sense of self-worth and hopeful for the future through the power of theatre as it was greatly portrayed through the protagonist and antagonist motivation, performers’ acting, design and lastly but not least the reaction of the audience.

1. An opera is a drama that is heavily supported with instruments and music. An opera seria is a more serious type of opera and was popular in Itally.

Now, musicals aren’t necessarily everyone 's forte, however the majority of the population has at least some history with them. Anyone who has seen a Disney film can tell you the simple workings of a musical’s plot — the protagonist is introduced, the protagonist has to overcome an antagonist, the antagonist almost wins, the protagonist comes out the victor — all sprinkled with

What is musical theatre you ask, well Musical theatre is a form of a theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. Musical theatres combine emotional contents such as humor, pathos, love, anger etc. which combine together and are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects to integrate the storyline and musical aspects as a whole. Although a musical theatres may have a hybrid genre most are categorized into a specific style of musical theatre which leads me to my next point.

It is not Shakespeare, nor is it Opera. It has been called Minstrel Show, Burlesque, Vaudeville, Extravaganza, Operetta, Musical Comedy, Musical Revue, Musical Theatre and it has been described in a variety of terms including “Low Brow” and “Middle Brow” but never “High Brow.” It had also been praised and condemned for its broad cultural connections and appeal. Although Musical Theatre is not a Shakespearean or Operatic subcategory. It was highly inspired by many Operas and theatrical iambic pentameter and phrases of the great Shakespeare himself. For example, Rent was inspired by La Boheme and Miss Saigon was inspired by Madame Butterfly. As a result, They sparked the beginning of the amazing cultural phenomenon of Musical Theater. Vaudeville is a type of show and entertainment that was very popular within the United states during the early 20th century, that had a mixture of special acts such as burlesque comedy and song and dance. Burlesque is a comical work that is usually something highly embellished, or a pastiche of some kind. It is often found that many Burlesque works usually had a striptease of some sort. In the beginning- showing legs was considered profane and highly scandalous yet was highly entertaining for many people. Minstrel shows were a shameful form of entertainment that had begun to rise in the 1840’s. With this came the creation of “Black Face.” Black face is when white men would

They say music is one of the biggest stress relievers while acting gives you a chance to engulf yourself into a character and be someone else for a change. Together these two create Musical Theater, possibly one of the best two combinations known to man. Musical Theater is a worldwide form of entertainment that has been around since ancient times and exhibits emotion through a series of acts which include singing, dancing and scripted acting. Different areas of the world follow unique storylines which are relevant to their past and current events.