3/21/13- History of the American Musical Theatre

Musical Theatre: form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance

Book Musical: Music, Lyrics, and Book

Broadway today: mostly musicals
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The Beggar's Opera- 1728

• A ballad opera (new words written for musical tunes) by John Gay for London theatre. The satire (made fun) of Italian opera with characters who are common criminals
• Source of Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera"- 1928

The Black Crook- 1866

• 5 1/2 hour melodrama, loosely based on Goethe's Faust
• spectacular scenery with music and dance

Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas

• Pirates of Penzance

The Merry Widow- 1907

• Non-English comic operettas such as Austrian Franz Lehar's "The Merry Widow" also were imported to the United States

Shuffle Along- 1921

• African-Americans developed their own form of musical theatre, such as this show by Eubie Blake
• Most American Theatre was, and would remain for some time, segregated

Show Boat- 1927

• First serious epic narrative in Broadway history. Has what many believe to have greatest score ever. First time for Black and White characters held stage together as equals

Porgy & Bess- 1935

• First great American opera- George Gershwin
• Series of vignettes in Black Charleston
• ghetto called Catfish Row where a cripple named Porgy falls in love with a woman named Bess

Oklahoma- 1943

• First musical to integrate songs and dances to extend the narrative and the debut of the collaboration between Rodgers & Hammerstein

Kiss Me, Kate- 1948

• Cole Porter's play-within-a-play
• based on "Taming of the Shrew"

Guys & Dolls- 1950

• based on Damon Runyan's short story
• celebrated and made fun of New Yorkers

West Side Story- 1957

• Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim
• Romeo and Juliet

The Fantasticks- 1960

• longest-running production in the world (50 years)
• Based on Edmond Rostad's "The Romancers"
• sophisticated premise- reality of life
• can be bare-bones with just a platform, chest, and crazy costumes

Cabaret- 1966

• Mixed cabaret numbers with narrative
• Brought conflicted world of Nazi Germany to the Broadway stage

Hair- 1968

• First musical to transfer from Off-Broadway and to feature a rock score and fully nudity
• No real plot; revue of song and dance
• showed counterculture during the Vietnam era

Company- 1970

• first collaboration between Sondheim and Harold Prince
• sophisticated/theatrical series of vignettes

A Chorus Line- 1975

• represented triumph of director-choreographer

42nd Street- 1980

• first successful stage adaptation of movie musical

Cats- 1982

• Longest-running Broadway show of all time
• first of British megahits to conquer Broadway
• Based on writings of T.S. Eliot

Les Miserables- 1987

• longest run in West End history

The Lion King- 1997

• Julie Taymor being Julie Taymor
• Creatively innovative; groundbreaking costumes