Musical theatre has been around since the time of ancient Greece.
Development of musicals followed different paths in Europe & USA.
American musical theatre originally borrowed heavily from Europe, importing popular new music, but this changed after WW1 when Europe imported American musicals to the point of excluding home-grown shows completely.
Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice changed this in the 1970s when British musicals became popular again.
Early American musical theatre.
The following all influenced development of early-twentieth century American musical. Extravaganzas
Variety shows that included all forms of entertertainment from singing and dancing through to magicians. They were popular from the 1860s through to 1900.
Minstrelsy
Popular form of entertainment in 2nd half of 1800s. Consisted of white people made up in ‘black-face’ to imitate black people in general parody & exaggeration of character traits. Style was popular before the civil rights movements or concept of political correctness.
Melodramas
Popular at time of minstrelsy. Were dialogue driven but made use of music in a stage play.
The Libretto
This is the story arranged into a form that can be sung.
The libretto needs to suit the target audience so must be witty, serious, comical etc & include references to current issues.
From 1900 the libretto took on a very important role, linking all of the different that make up the show with a common theme.
By the 1920s Americans really cracked the combination of lyrics & music, incorporating risqué themes with the elements listed above & the new American popular music-jazz.
1930-60
British musical stuck in a rut! Censorship stopped any reference to monarchy or any living person.
References to sex also frowned upon.
Americans worked under much more liberal conditions & when their shows hit London after WW2 were a great hit. Most important composers were Rodgers & Hammerstein (Oklahoma), Irving Berlin (Annie Get Your Gun) & Cole Porter (Anything goes, Kiss Me Kate)
It wasn’t until the 1960s that the show Oliver (Lionel Bart) revived the British musical. It was a huge in America too!
Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice
The musical that really changed he face of the British musical was Jesus Christ Superstar in 1970. Music by Lloyd Webber & lyrics Tim Rice.
It was controversial as it showed the life of Jesus through the eyes of Judas, it was sung-through (all of the text was sung) and it became a large-scale visual extravaganza.
It was also 1st marketed as a concept album rather than being staged.
LW & TR then went on to create the hits Evita (1978) which was 1 of the most successful to hit the West End, Cats (1981) & many more. All of a sudden theatres that were facing bankruptcy became very successful.
Rock Opera
Rock Opera refers to the way the text is set to the music, which has more in common with rock music than Western Classical traditions.
One of the 1st was Hair, 1967, which took USA by storm & included swearing, drug references & homosexuality.
A lot more raucous than other musicals of the time.
Others include Tommy by The Who, Grease (1978) and Rent; which also pushed the boundaries of acceptability & included issues such as sexuality, drug abuse, youth culture & rebellion.
Recent versions of rock musicals include Mamma Mia, based on Abba songs, & We Will Rock You, celebrating Queen. These don’t have very well structured libretti but concentrate on major hit songs.
Disney shows and shows adapted from the screen
The Lion King (1997), written by Elton John and Tim Rice, has had a very successful transition from the screen to the stage. It has run in the West End since 1999 and is still running at the time of writing. The music introduces an African flavour to the stage along with the Elton John hits from the original film (padded out with some additional, specially written numbers).
The introduction of music from other cultures has been very successful in musicals (notably with the Latin feel introduced into West Side Story (1957) by Leonard Bernstein) and may be a contributory factor in The Lion King's success. The songs themselves can also contribute to the musicals popularity. The main track in The Lion King, 'Circle of Life', was a major success in the mainstream charts on its release, so it is likely to draw people in to see the show.
Other Disney classics have been adapted for the stage, for example Beauty and the Beast (1994) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), but few have matched The Lion King so far in popularity.
In the past, shows have often made their way onto the big screen after a successful run in the theatre (for example, The Sound of Music (1959), West Side Story and Oliver), but there is an increasing trend for successful films to be adapted for the stage (such as the Disney classics and Saturday Night Fever (1997).
In general, shows that have been adapted for the stage from successful films have been less successful than the transition in the opposite direction (generally because the glitz of Hollywood does not transfer so well to the stage), but these adaptations are becoming more popular.
Origins
Early American musical theatre.
The following all influenced development of early-twentieth century American musical.Extravaganzas
- Variety shows that included all forms of entertertainment from singing and dancing through to magicians. They were popular from the 1860s through to 1900.
Minstrelsy- Popular form of entertainment in 2nd half of 1800s. Consisted of white people made up in ‘black-face’ to imitate black people in general parody & exaggeration of character traits. Style was popular before the civil rights movements or concept of political correctness.
MelodramasThe Libretto
1930-60
- British musical stuck in a rut! Censorship stopped any reference to monarchy or any living person.
- References to sex also frowned upon.
- Americans worked under much more liberal conditions & when their shows hit London after WW2 were a great hit. Most important composers were Rodgers & Hammerstein (Oklahoma), Irving Berlin (Annie Get Your Gun) & Cole Porter (Anything goes, Kiss Me Kate)
It wasn’t until the 1960s that the show Oliver (Lionel Bart) revived the British musical. It was a huge in America too!Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice
The musical that really changed he face of the British musical was Jesus Christ Superstar in 1970. Music by Lloyd Webber & lyrics Tim Rice.It was controversial as it showed the life of Jesus through the eyes of Judas, it was sung-through (all of the text was sung) and it became a large-scale visual extravaganza.
It was also 1st marketed as a concept album rather than being staged.
LW & TR then went on to create the hits Evita (1978) which was 1 of the most successful to hit the West End, Cats (1981) & many more. All of a sudden theatres that were facing bankruptcy became very successful.
Rock Opera
- Rock Opera refers to the way the text is set to the music, which has more in common with rock music than Western Classical traditions.
- One of the 1st was Hair, 1967, which took USA by storm & included swearing, drug references & homosexuality.
- A lot more raucous than other musicals of the time.
Others include Tommy by The Who, Grease (1978) and Rent; which also pushed the boundaries of acceptability & included issues such as sexuality, drug abuse, youth culture & rebellion.Recent versions of rock musicals include Mamma Mia, based on Abba songs, & We Will Rock You, celebrating Queen. These don’t have very well structured libretti but concentrate on major hit songs.
Disney shows and shows adapted from the screen
The Lion King (1997), written by Elton John and Tim Rice, has had a very successful transition from the screen to the stage. It has run in the West End since 1999 and is still running at the time of writing. The music introduces an African flavour to the stage along with the Elton John hits from the original film (padded out with some additional, specially written numbers).The introduction of music from other cultures has been very successful in musicals (notably with the Latin feel introduced into West Side Story (1957) by Leonard Bernstein) and may be a contributory factor in The Lion King's success. The songs themselves can also contribute to the musicals popularity. The main track in The Lion King, 'Circle of Life', was a major success in the mainstream charts on its release, so it is likely to draw people in to see the show.
Other Disney classics have been adapted for the stage, for example Beauty and the Beast (1994) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), but few have matched The Lion King so far in popularity.
In the past, shows have often made their way onto the big screen after a successful run in the theatre (for example, The Sound of Music (1959), West Side Story and Oliver), but there is an increasing trend for successful films to be adapted for the stage (such as the Disney classics and Saturday Night Fever (1997).
In general, shows that have been adapted for the stage from successful films have been less successful than the transition in the opposite direction (generally because the glitz of Hollywood does not transfer so well to the stage), but these adaptations are becoming more popular.