Musical Theater History Essay
“ The Click”
Musical Theater Research: Ancient History
Musicals have had many different names throughout time: comic operas, operettas, opera bouffe, burlesque, burletta, extravaganza, musical comedy, etc. Musical Theater is a form of performance that combines songs, dancing and spoken word to tell a story.
Musical theater has grown and developed from simple songs used for entertainment on the streets. However, the real purpose of a musicals is to aim or transport the audience into a different world and to help people escape the reality of the world and take a break.
The term musical theater originated from the ancient Greeks. A lot of the ancient Greeks songs were fun and up beat. The ancient Greeks have included music and dance in …show more content…
their stage comedies and tragedies as early as the 5th Century B.C. They would perform on stage in huge amphitheaters! The musicals that took place featured mainly sexual humor, political, and social satire. Masses and masses of people came from all over to see these musical performances. The songs are a huge part of the plot and often meant for the chorus to comment on the actions taking place. Back then Musical solos were not even heard of! . Even though the Musicals had no direct change on the way modern musical theater is expressed and presented, it at least demonstrated that show tunes have been around for hundreds almost thousands of years.
After a while, the Romans began to copy and strengthen the traditions of Greek Theater. The 3rd Century
B.C. comedies of Plautus included song and dance routines performed with orchestral accompaniment. Since they performed a lot, the Roman actors attached metal chips called “sabilla” to make the dance steps more audible. The Romans were the first to create tap shoes. The Romans performed in wooden structures, much more smaller than the Greeks theaters. Today, we keep the trend of special effects in our own time.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, The Play of Herod and The Play of Daniel taught a form of public worship
(These are Religios Dramas). These plays developed into its own form of musical theatre, with many poetic forms. The poetry was provided with modified or completely new melodies. By the time of the Renaissance, the poetic forms had turned into commedia dell 'arte. Commedia dell 'arte is an Italian tradition where many performers improvised their way through familiar stories. A man named, Moliere turned several of his comedies into musical entertainments with songs. By the 1700s, two forms of musical theater were popular in
Britain, France and Germany: ballad operas, like John Gay 's The Beggar 's Opera (1728), and Michael Balfe 's
The Bohemian Girl (1845). Broadway 's first "long-run" musical record was a 50 performance hit called The
Elves (1857). Laura Keene 's "musical burletta" Seven Sisters (1860) shattered this record with an unpredictable run of 253 performances.
The very first theater piece that joins to the modern idea of a musical is considered to be The Black Crook – by
Charles M. Barras and Giuseppe Operti. “The Black Crook” premiered at Niblo 's Gardens in New York on
September 12, 1866. The production was amazingly five-and-a-half hours long, but yet it still ran for 474 performances. Musicals were also influenced by light opera and operetta. Most likely, the best known composers of the operetta were Jacques Offenbach, Johann Strauss II, and Franz Lehár.
In the 20th century, the operettas of Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus became popular in Europe and
America..They became a legacy as an inspiration for the likes of Victor Herbert, Sigmund Romberg, George
Gershwin, Noel Coward and other composers of musical theater after the turn of the 20th century, Later on in the century, this influenced the musicals of Rodgers, Sondheim and many, many others.
In the twenties, Musicals The musicals of the Roaring Twenties, tended to ignore plot to keep the star actors happy with what they do. Many shows had little plots. During this time there were lighthearted productions like Lady Be Good, Sunny, Tip Toes, No, No, Nanette, Oh, Kay, and Funny Face. There were unforgettable books based off of these plots.
Leaving these lighthearted productions behind, and taking an order from Herbert and operetta, Show Boat, which premiered on December 27, 1927 at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York was a complete hit with all the dramatic themes. Show Boat, with a book and lyrics presented a new concept that was embraced by audiences immediately. Despite some of its startling themes, the original production ran a total of 572 performances.
Encouraged by the success of Show Boat, creative teams began following the "format" of that popular hit. Of
Thee I Sing (1931), a political satire with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Morrie
Ryskind, was the first musical to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize. It was a little hard to perform or write something around this time that would be a popular hit.
Surprisingly, 1976 brought one of the great contemporary musicals to the stage. A Chorus Line emerged from recorded group therapy-style sessions Michael Bennett conducted with Gypsies. Gypsies are those who sing and
dance in support pf the leading players from the Broadway community. This is one of the songs that my group
“The Click” are dancing to.
It took a while for James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nick Dante to create a book about an audition for a musical, incorporating many of the real-life stories of those who had sat in on the sessions with the Gypsies. With music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, A Chorus Line first opened at
Joseph Papp 's Public Theater in lower Manhattan. Becoming popular by spreading the word they knew this would be something extraordinary! After Chorus Line was performed for the very first time it boosted box office sales, and it mad critics run out of superlatives to describe what they witnessed on opening night, which was done on purpose. Eventually The large group had to be moved to the Shubert Theater uptown for a run that seemed to last forever. The show swept the Tony Awards and won the Pulitzer Prize, and its hit song, What I
Did for Love, became an instant standard and obsession for many.
To conclude, Musical Theater is full of surprising things you wouldn 't even think of. Although there are many more stages of Musical Theater I can still come to comprehend that from what I have researched and read the best musicals have three essential qualities: Brains- intelligence and style, Courage- genuine and
believable emotion, and Courage-the guts to do something creative and exciting.
•
References ( 3 sources):
•
www.musicals101.com
•
www.scaruffi.com
•
www.theatrehistory.com
Musical Theater Research: Ancient History
Musicals have had many different names throughout time: comic operas, operettas, opera bouffe, burlesque, burletta, extravaganza, musical comedy, etc. Musical Theater is a form of performance that combines songs, dancing and spoken word to tell a story.
Musical theater has grown and developed from simple songs used for entertainment on the streets. However, the real purpose of a musicals is to aim or transport the audience into a different world and to help people escape the reality of the world and take a break.
The term musical theater originated from the ancient Greeks. A lot of the ancient Greeks songs were fun and up beat. The ancient Greeks have included music and dance in …show more content…
their stage comedies and tragedies as early as the 5th Century B.C. They would perform on stage in huge amphitheaters! The musicals that took place featured mainly sexual humor, political, and social satire. Masses and masses of people came from all over to see these musical performances. The songs are a huge part of the plot and often meant for the chorus to comment on the actions taking place. Back then Musical solos were not even heard of! . Even though the Musicals had no direct change on the way modern musical theater is expressed and presented, it at least demonstrated that show tunes have been around for hundreds almost thousands of years.
After a while, the Romans began to copy and strengthen the traditions of Greek Theater. The 3rd Century
B.C. comedies of Plautus included song and dance routines performed with orchestral accompaniment. Since they performed a lot, the Roman actors attached metal chips called “sabilla” to make the dance steps more audible. The Romans were the first to create tap shoes. The Romans performed in wooden structures, much more smaller than the Greeks theaters. Today, we keep the trend of special effects in our own time.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, The Play of Herod and The Play of Daniel taught a form of public worship
(These are Religios Dramas). These plays developed into its own form of musical theatre, with many poetic forms. The poetry was provided with modified or completely new melodies. By the time of the Renaissance, the poetic forms had turned into commedia dell 'arte. Commedia dell 'arte is an Italian tradition where many performers improvised their way through familiar stories. A man named, Moliere turned several of his comedies into musical entertainments with songs. By the 1700s, two forms of musical theater were popular in
Britain, France and Germany: ballad operas, like John Gay 's The Beggar 's Opera (1728), and Michael Balfe 's
The Bohemian Girl (1845). Broadway 's first "long-run" musical record was a 50 performance hit called The
Elves (1857). Laura Keene 's "musical burletta" Seven Sisters (1860) shattered this record with an unpredictable run of 253 performances.
The very first theater piece that joins to the modern idea of a musical is considered to be The Black Crook – by
Charles M. Barras and Giuseppe Operti. “The Black Crook” premiered at Niblo 's Gardens in New York on
September 12, 1866. The production was amazingly five-and-a-half hours long, but yet it still ran for 474 performances. Musicals were also influenced by light opera and operetta. Most likely, the best known composers of the operetta were Jacques Offenbach, Johann Strauss II, and Franz Lehár.
In the 20th century, the operettas of Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus became popular in Europe and
America..They became a legacy as an inspiration for the likes of Victor Herbert, Sigmund Romberg, George
Gershwin, Noel Coward and other composers of musical theater after the turn of the 20th century, Later on in the century, this influenced the musicals of Rodgers, Sondheim and many, many others.
In the twenties, Musicals The musicals of the Roaring Twenties, tended to ignore plot to keep the star actors happy with what they do. Many shows had little plots. During this time there were lighthearted productions like Lady Be Good, Sunny, Tip Toes, No, No, Nanette, Oh, Kay, and Funny Face. There were unforgettable books based off of these plots.
Leaving these lighthearted productions behind, and taking an order from Herbert and operetta, Show Boat, which premiered on December 27, 1927 at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York was a complete hit with all the dramatic themes. Show Boat, with a book and lyrics presented a new concept that was embraced by audiences immediately. Despite some of its startling themes, the original production ran a total of 572 performances.
Encouraged by the success of Show Boat, creative teams began following the "format" of that popular hit. Of
Thee I Sing (1931), a political satire with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Morrie
Ryskind, was the first musical to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize. It was a little hard to perform or write something around this time that would be a popular hit.
Surprisingly, 1976 brought one of the great contemporary musicals to the stage. A Chorus Line emerged from recorded group therapy-style sessions Michael Bennett conducted with Gypsies. Gypsies are those who sing and
dance in support pf the leading players from the Broadway community. This is one of the songs that my group
“The Click” are dancing to.
It took a while for James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nick Dante to create a book about an audition for a musical, incorporating many of the real-life stories of those who had sat in on the sessions with the Gypsies. With music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, A Chorus Line first opened at
Joseph Papp 's Public Theater in lower Manhattan. Becoming popular by spreading the word they knew this would be something extraordinary! After Chorus Line was performed for the very first time it boosted box office sales, and it mad critics run out of superlatives to describe what they witnessed on opening night, which was done on purpose. Eventually The large group had to be moved to the Shubert Theater uptown for a run that seemed to last forever. The show swept the Tony Awards and won the Pulitzer Prize, and its hit song, What I
Did for Love, became an instant standard and obsession for many.
To conclude, Musical Theater is full of surprising things you wouldn 't even think of. Although there are many more stages of Musical Theater I can still come to comprehend that from what I have researched and read the best musicals have three essential qualities: Brains- intelligence and style, Courage- genuine and
believable emotion, and Courage-the guts to do something creative and exciting.
•
References ( 3 sources):
•
www.musicals101.com
•
www.scaruffi.com
•
www.theatrehistory.com