Musical Theatre Midterm

Bubble Formula

In theatre, when words can no longer express the emotion, the body sings; when song isn't enough, the body dances/moves.

The Golden Triangle

Music, words, and action working together to tell a story (an integrated musical)

Score

music and lyrics (the printed page filled with musical notes and lyrics)

Lyricist

The person who writes the words to music

Lyrics

The words to the songs

Composer

the person who writes the music

Libretto (AKA Book)

The story, characters, script and spoken dialogue

Librettist

the person who writes the libretto

Choreography

designed dance steps or movement on stage

a capella

vocal music sung without accompaniment

Soprano

highest pitched female voice

Alto

the lower pitched female voice

Tenor

the high, natural male voice

Bass

the lowest or deepest male voice

Contrapuntal

musical number in which several characters sing separate melodies simultaneously, the number is structured so that each melody or voice is given the same weight

Patter Song

musical number with lyrics made up of many words sung at a very rapid tempo ex. Modern Major General

Ballad

a slow, romantic song

Recitative

a sung speech in opera that drives the action forward (typically used in shows without dialogue)

Orchestrations

the arrangement of music for the orchestra

Ancient Greek Theatre

- 4th and 5th BCE - major influence for western theatre - introduction of chorus - spectacle - theatre for whole community

Opera

- 16th and 17th century - began in Italy, spread though Europe in Renaissance - dramatic pieces about nobility or mythology - sung-through - arias and recitatives - highly trained company - elitist

Ballad Opera

- 18th century England - parodies or social satire - popular tunes with rewritten lyrics - spoken dialogue instead of recitative - popular entertainment - banned in England but popular in US

Operetta

- simple comic, romantic, plots - escapist happy endings - both elite and popular - dialogue instead of recitative - original score - presentational acting style

Presentational Acting Style

presenting the performance to the audience

Representative Acting Style

representing real life

W. S. Gilbert

lyricist/librettist of Gilbert and Sullivan Fame

Sir Arthur Sullivan

composer of Gilbert and Sullivan Fame

Gilbert and Sullivan

- Operettas - English but worked in US - book first then music - known for: patter song, reflective song, active song - The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance - public domain

Reflective Song

a character reflects on what just happened or how they're feeling about what just happened

Active Song

a characters undergoes a significant transformation during the course of the song

Melodrama

- 'music drama'- spoken text and action with musical underscoring - stock characters - elaborate stage spectacle - simple morality and poetic justice - popular entertainment

Stock Characters

standard or cliched character types: the hero, villain, damsel in distress, etc.

Simple Morality

who is good and who is bad is very clear

Poetic Justice

escapist plot where the good guy wins and the bad guy loses

The Black Crook (1866)

- may be the first musical - written by Charles M. Barris - man sells his soul to devil, fairies, etc. - included random ballerinas - escapist and spectacle - extremely successful but 5.5 hours

Minstrelsy

- early 19th century - blackface - negative stereotypes and stock characters - oleo - solo in minstrel show - most popular form of entertainment 1850-1870

Victor Herbert

- composer - both popular and classical music - American operetta (english words, european style) - formed A.S.C.A.P.

A.S.C.A.P.

- American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers - formed by Victor Hebert and John Philip Sousa - Hebert took restaurant to Supreme Court in 1917 - publisher 50% and author/composer/lyricist 50%

Revue

series of songs and sketches linked by a theme

Florence Ziegfeld Jr.

- Sandow "muscle display" at World's Fair - successful producer of 21st century - Follies revue - "sex sells" and glorifying the American Girl - "Star Maker" - Ziegfeld Theater

The Follies

- Ziegfeld revue - elaborate production numbers, novelty acts, and chorus girls - theme: glorifying the American Girl - show girls became famous - "sex sells"

Sandow

- beginning of Ziegfeld's career - 1893 Chicago World's Fair - "muscle display performance" - very successful, sex sells

Tableau Vivant

a life size replica of some famous piece of art in which there was scantily clad or naked women (used in the Ziegfeld Follies)

Bert Williams

- Vaudeville and Minstrelsy before hired by Ziegfeld for the Follies - wrote musicals ex. "Two Real Coons" - controversy from white performers - "Shuffling Coon" and "Nobody"

Tin Pan Alley

- in NYC, West 28th St. between Broadway and 6th - 20th century where most music producers were located

Song Plugger

the person whose job it was to sell music to performers/managers, playing songs for them (both great musicians and charismatic)

Stooge

a person who would pretend to be very fond of the song plugger's song to create interest

Vaudeville

- a series of unrelated acts (variety shows) - most popular form of entertainment 1890-1920 - started in unsavory saloons - appealed to immigrants - difficult life for performers

Tony Pastor

- "Father of Vaudeville" - family friendly vaudeville in 1865 - rules for audience and performers - door prizes and cheap tickets

"Turns"

an act in a vaudeville show

"The Circuit"

how vaudeville acts would travel from theatre to theatre across the country

George M. Cohan

- Father of American Musical Theatre - started as an infant in vaudeville in The Four Cohan's - extremely patriotic - Little Johnny Jones - "the Yankee" stock character - "You're a Grand Old Flag" "Yankee Doddle Dandy" "Over There"

Little Johnny Jones (1904)

- written by George M Cohan - racist and pro-American - horse jockey Johnny travels to England for derby, is a good old faithful American boy

Jerome Kern

- the other father of musical theatre - composer - princess musicals - Show Boat - helped legitimize musical theatre

Broadway

500+ seats in NYC

Off-Broadway

499-100 seats in NYC

Off-Off-Broadway

99 seats or less in NYC

Princess Musicals

- The Princess Theater wasn't doing well so they created a new style of musical - Jerome Kern as composer - small scale - modern, believable comic situation

overture

the orchestra plays a melody of the songs shows, introducing the musical themes and setting the mood

Reprise

a song played earlier, performed again with for a different purpose with differences

Leitmotif

a musical theme related to a person place or idea

ABBA Song Structure

typical song structure of about every pop song, a melodic phrase is played, repeated, changed, and then repeated again

Source Material

most musicals are based on an existing piece on source material

Show Boat (1927)

- Jerome Kern composer - Oscar Hammerstein II lyricist and librettist - source material by Edna Ferber - first integrated musical

Oscar Hammerstein II

- of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame but also worked with Jerome Kern - lyricist and librettist - extremely liberal and progressive - sweeter composition with integrated lyrics - not "self-expressive"

Metatheatre

theatre about theatre, play within a play

Quasi-Love Song

a song in which characters talk about what it would be like if they were in love but they're not (but the audience know they totally are)

Trunk Song

a song written for another musical that wasn't able to be used and then inserted into another musical

Miscegenation

the idea that one drop of African American blood makes you African American (major plot point in Show Boat)

Golden Age of Musical Theatre

1940s-1950s

George Gershwin

- of the Gershwin Brothers fame - composer - child prodigy pianist - social/charismatic player - classical and popular music - "Rhapsody in Blue"

Ira Gershwin

- of the Gershwin Brothers fame - lyricist/librettist - quiet/bookworm - couldn't read music = Dummy Lyrics - self-expressive lyricist - "The Jeweler"

George and Ira Gershwin

- collaborative, music first then lyrics - won first Pulitzer Prize for a music - Of Thee I Sing and Porgy and Bess

Dummy Lyrics

a technique used by Ira Gershwin where he would make up fake lyrics to memorize a melody and then replace them with the actual lyrics

Of Thee I Sing (1931)

- George (composer) and Ira Gershwin (lyricist/librettist) - 1st musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama - satire of the White House, political process and elections

Pulitzer Prize in Drama

1. Of Thee I Sing (1931) (The Gershwin Brothers) 2. South Pacific (1950) (Rodgers and Hammerstein) 3. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1962) (Loesser and Burrows)

Richard Rodgers

- of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame - also worked with Larry Hart - composer - youngest person to have a song on Broadway

Lorenz "Larry" Hart

- of Rodgers and Hart fame - lyricist - deeply closeted and cynical = showed in his lyrics - self-expressive lyricist - hard to work with

Self-Expressive Lyricist

they show off with words using rhyme scheme, word play and colloquiums, the impressive nature of the words is more important than how they connect to the plot

Rodgers and Hart

- difficult, Rodgers would write music first and then push Hart to write the lyrics - The Garrick Gaieties, On Your Toes, Pal Joey

The Garrick Gaieties (1925)

- Rodgers (composer) and Hart (lyricist) - Revue - "Manhattan" theme

On Your Toes (1936)

- Rodgers (composer) and Hart (lyricist) - George Abbott (director/librettist) - George Balanchine (choreography) - first integrated dance: "Slaughter on 10th Avenue"

George Balanchine

- first credited choreographer on the program - On Your Toes - first integrated dance "Slaughter on 10th Avenue"

Pal Joey (1940)

- Rodgers (composer) and Hart (lyricist) - realistic characters and directly addresses sex and complicated affairs - legitimized musical theatre as a "serious art form"

Anti-Hero

a protagonist who lacks the characteristics that would make them a hero

Oklahoma! (1943)

- Rodgers (composer) and Hammerstein (lyricist) - Agnes De Mille (choreographer) - first full cast album - extremely successful, 2212 performances - longest running musical until My Fair Lady

Agnes De Mille

- choreographed Oklahoma! - ballet influence - opium ballet represents sexual awakening

"I Am" Song

A song that establishes a characters identity from there own perspective. Delivering exposition through "I Am" phrases.

Carousel (1945)

- Rodgers (composer) and Hammerstein (lyricist) - "Bench Scene" - Carney comes back to life for his daughter

Rodgers and Hammerstein

- Rodgers (composer) - Hammerstein (lyricist) - good relationship, score first then lyrics

Bench Scene

- Rodgers and Hammerstein - Carousel - Julie and Billy falling in love - Bubble Theory - Active song

South Pacific (1949)

- Rodgers and Hammerstein - "Tales of the South Pacific" by James Michener - progressive about race? - 1950 Pulitzer Prize - "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught"

Irving Berlin

- Born in Russia as Izzy Baline - Annie Get Your Gun (music and lyrics) - opened publishing house and the Music Box Theater - This Is The Army and Yip! Yip! Yaphank! revues - could only play in F#

Yip! Yip! Yaphank!

- revue by Irving Berlin - satire about military life, included minstrelsy and blackface - "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning"

This is the Army (1942-1945)

- Irving Berlin - commissioned in 1942 - first racially integrated unit in the army because he didn't want blackface

Dorothy Fields

- lyricist and librettist - first successful female Tin Pan Alley artist - first female Oscar winner for Best Song - "The Way You Look Tonight" - Annie Get Your Gun

Herbert Fields

- brother to Dorothy Fields - co-wrote book fro Annie Get Your Gun

Star Vehicle

a role written with a specific star in mind or when an unknown actor becomes famous after starring in this musical

Ethel Merman

- biggest star in the history of Broadway - debuted in Gershwin's Girl Crazy - Anything Goes and Annie Get Your Gun Star Vehicle - "Trumpet Voiced" and a "shouter" - 1972 Lifetime Achievement Tony

Annie Get Your Gun (1946)

- Irving Berlin (music) - Dorothy and Herbert Fields (book) - Star Vehicle for Ethel Merman - based on the life of Annie Oakley

Annie Get Your Gun (1999 Revival)

- Annie played by Bernadette Peters and then replayed by Reba McIntyre - set as Big Top Traveling Circus - cut "I'm a Bad, Bad Man" and "I'm an Indian Too" - final shooting ends in tie - successful revival

Cole Porter

- composer and lyricist - List Song - self-expressive lyricist - star vehicles - Anything Goes

Anything Goes (1934)

- written by Cole Porter - star vehicle for Ethel Merman - cruise ship shenanigans - Patti LuPone and Sutton Foster - not well integrated but fun, escapist plot and songs

Frederick "Fritz" Loewe

- of Lerner and Loewe fame - composer - German and very serious

Alan Jay Lerner

- of Lerner and Loewe fame - lyricist/librettist - serial monogamist/wildcard - dominant partner in Lerner and Loewe - lyrics had Hammerstein's passion/sentiment and Harts wit

Lerner and Loewe

- "Last of the Romantics" - Lerner (lyricist/librettist) and Loewe (composer) - integration 2.0 - character driven writing - librettos with titles, then music, then lyrics - romanticized past with modern ideals - Brigadoon, Camelot, My Fair Lady

Pygmalion

- play by George Bernard Shaw - inspired My Fair Lady - Fabian Socialism - The entire show takes place in Higgins' office

George Bernard Shaw

- playwright, social philosopher, and critic - wrote Pygmalion - Fabian Socialism - didn't want Pygmalion to become a musical but he died

Fabian Socialism

each person has a life force within them that if, nurtured through education, not handouts, we can achieve our true self (used in My Fair Lady)

My Fair Lady

- source material: Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw - Lerner (books and lyrics) and Loewe (music) - passed Oklahoma! for longest running musical - integration 2.0 - Higgins makes a bet that he can change Eliza's status by changing her speech - Fabian Socialism

Rex Harrison

- My Fair Lady - Henry Higgins in original Broadway and 1964 movie - Shakespearean actor - Sprechgesang: speak singing

Julie Andrews

Eliza in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady

Integration 2.0

- character driven song writing - used by Lerner in My Fair Lady

Audrey Hepburn

- Eliza in the My Fair Lady 1964 movie - her voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon without knowing about it

Marni Nixon

- dubbed singing for actresses - Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady - Natalie Wood in West Side Story - some parts for Rita Moreno in West Side Story - often wasn't given credit - "Ghostess with the Mostess"

Frank Loesser

- composer AND lyricist - also librettist, producer and publisher - self-expressive lyricist - Frank Music Corporation - Hollywood "Baby it's Cold Outside" - Guys and Dolls - How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying

Guys and Dolls (1950)

- Loesser (music/lyrics) Abe Burrows (book) (also by Joe Swerling) - source material: short stories by Damon Runyon "The Idyll of Sarah Brown" - "A Musical Fable on Broadway" - The one where the gambler bets on dating a missionary

Abe Burrows

- librettist - Guys and Dolls, with no help from Joe Swerling - How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying

Damon Ranyon

- wrote "The Idyll of Sarah Brown" which is the source material for Guys and Dolls - short stories about gamblers, thieves, prostitutes, and gangsters

11 o'clock number

Last or second-to-last song in a musical, usually sung by the entire ensemble, designed to rouse the audience

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961)

- Loesser (music/lyrics) Abe Burrows (book) and Bob Fosse (choreography) - 1962 Pulitzer Prize - satire of corporate culture - 11 o'clock number: "Brotherhood of Man"

George Abbott

- producer, director, playwright, librettist, screenwriter - directed lots of Rodgers and Hart musicals - "Abbott Touch" - The Pajama Game - Damn Yankees

Leonard Bernstein

- composer - classical AND popular music - conductor of New York Philharmonic - West Side Story

Damn Yankees (1955)

- Abbott (book/director) Richard Adler and Jerry Ross (music/lyrics) - Faust legend but with baseball

Script Doctor

an uncredited individual called in to do rewrites or polish a musical (George Abbott was always credited)

Jerome Robbins

- director and choreography - trained in ballet - terrible to work with - HUAC - Fancy - West Side Story

"Gypsy Dancer"

make their career in dancing in different choruses

Triple Threat

dancer, singer, and actor

"Fancy Free"

- a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins - three sailors exploring New York City on shore leave during WWII - set design by Oliver Smith

On the Town (1944)

- Bernstein (music) - Conrad and Green (librettist/lyricist) - Jerome Robbins (choreography) - adaptation of Fancy Free - the "urban" partner to Oklahoma's Americana - "New York, New York"

Betty Comden and Adolph Green

- lyricists and librettists - not a couple - On the Town, Singin' in the Rain, Wonderful Town

Wonderful Town (1953)

source material: My Sister Eileen - Bernstein (music) - Comden and Green (lyrics) - directed by Abbott then later Robbins - Two sisters move to New York, one is beautiful, one isn't

Arthur Laurents

- playwright, director, and screenwriter - wrote the book for West Side Story

Stephen Sondheim

- lyricist for West Side Story