How The Musical Changed In The 1960's
1. Lyricist Alan Jay Lerner got the inspiration for the musical Camelot from the idea based on the King Arthur Legend as adapted from the novel The Once and the Future King. Lerner also wrote the music with Frederick Loewe in the 1960’s. The musical faced criticism because some say it wasn’t as good as My Fair Lady, and the musical did suffer from structural problems, but it still was able to tour around the country.
2. There were two ways that the economics of producing Broadway musicals changed in the 1960’s. In the mid 1960’s shows such as High Spirits and Golden Boy, which had great reviews and respectable runs, missed getting into the black-ink column. Musicals had gotten much more expensive to produce and they took longer to recoup. …show more content…
In the 1960’s events such as the Vietnam War, civil rights, the generation gap, sexual revolution, drug use, political representation, were nearly impossible to find on a musical stage. When they were found, they were the butt of the jokes. During this period Hollywood lifted the self imposed Production Code and one by one films such as The Pawn Broker and The Graduate, with adult language themes, sex and violence appeared.
4. The new medium through which performing artists were commenting on current events was done through films, not plays and certainly not musicals. Films were speaking most incisively and proactively to the American public.
5. The composer for the musical Gypsy was Jule Styne. Styne was born in London England. Styne made his Broadway debut in 1947 with High Button Shoes. Styne was one of the most prolific composers of the postwar era, he penned hits such as Peter Pan and Bells Are …show more content…
The Broadway musical that attempted to address the race issue was Golden Boy. During the musical Golden Boy, it was the first time a Broadway audience had heard Malcolm X being mentioned in a musical. It was also the first time that an audience has been confronted with real anger in a musical for the first time. At times there were moments in the show where the anger spilled out into the audience. In the original story, Joe Wellington has a love affair with the mistress of his manager. In the tryouts of the show, Joe kissed a white woman named Lorna and the whole crowd erupted which resulted in the cops being called. Despite the shows socially conscious message, the showed wowed audience members with its performance
2. There were two ways that the economics of producing Broadway musicals changed in the 1960’s. In the mid 1960’s shows such as High Spirits and Golden Boy, which had great reviews and respectable runs, missed getting into the black-ink column. Musicals had gotten much more expensive to produce and they took longer to recoup. …show more content…
In the 1960’s events such as the Vietnam War, civil rights, the generation gap, sexual revolution, drug use, political representation, were nearly impossible to find on a musical stage. When they were found, they were the butt of the jokes. During this period Hollywood lifted the self imposed Production Code and one by one films such as The Pawn Broker and The Graduate, with adult language themes, sex and violence appeared.
4. The new medium through which performing artists were commenting on current events was done through films, not plays and certainly not musicals. Films were speaking most incisively and proactively to the American public.
5. The composer for the musical Gypsy was Jule Styne. Styne was born in London England. Styne made his Broadway debut in 1947 with High Button Shoes. Styne was one of the most prolific composers of the postwar era, he penned hits such as Peter Pan and Bells Are …show more content…
The Broadway musical that attempted to address the race issue was Golden Boy. During the musical Golden Boy, it was the first time a Broadway audience had heard Malcolm X being mentioned in a musical. It was also the first time that an audience has been confronted with real anger in a musical for the first time. At times there were moments in the show where the anger spilled out into the audience. In the original story, Joe Wellington has a love affair with the mistress of his manager. In the tryouts of the show, Joe kissed a white woman named Lorna and the whole crowd erupted which resulted in the cops being called. Despite the shows socially conscious message, the showed wowed audience members with its performance