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Musical Theatre

Musical Theatre. A Brief History – Part 1 Early Influences. Early Influences - English ballad opera. The Beggar’s Opera – 1728; Flora – 1735 No historical scenery or costumes Spoken play with preexisting popular songs amid dialogue

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Musical Theatre

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  1. Musical Theatre A Brief History – Part 1 Early Influences

  2. Early Influences - English ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera– 1728; Flora – 1735 • No historical scenery or costumes • Spoken play with preexisting popular songs amid dialogue Musical parody - Late 18th, early 19th century • Satire of famous story or performer – burlesques • Pantomime with songs and dances for entertainment and variety • 1828 – Hamlet

  3. The Beggar’s Opera – 1728 by John Gay & John Christopher Pepusch Music Clip "Fill Every Glass"

  4. Early Influences - Minstrel Show • First major contribution to theatre by blacks in America • Product of black slave culture mingled with white colonial potpourri • Dan Emmet, composer “Old Dan Tucker”, “Blue-Tail Fly”,1843, brought Virginia Minstrels to NY – touring show • Three part show performed in “blackface” 1- Fantasia - The Walkaround (Cakewalk) singing & dancing 2 - Olio – snappy banter, jokes, solo musical (banjo, fiddle, tambourine, singing, bone castanets) 3 - Burlesque (parody) – one-act vignette; satire of plays or carefree life on the plantation

  5. Blackface performer The Cakewalk 1929 audio recording that follows the classic format of a minstrel show “Camptown Races” by Stephen Foster - Al Jolson performing

  6. Early Influences - Minstrel Show • Ed Christy Minstrel Show – featured Stephen Foster, composer “My Old Kentucky Home” – touring show • Olio grew into variety or vaudeville show • Fantasia became Broadway Revue • Satire became used as themes for later musicals

  7. Christy Minstrels - 1847 Part 2 – The Olio

  8. Early Influences – New York City • Shift from rural to city life created a demand for permanent theatres and pleasure gardens • 1866 – The Black Crook – used theatrical effect and sensual pleasures to become a theatre extravaganza • Showed producers and investors that frivolity could substitute for dramatic and musical substance (as in European opera) • 1874 – Evangeline was first to use an original musical score – first musical comedy • 1879 – The Brook used a common locale or event to interweave stories (like a sitcom/serial) – first desire for meaningful story • Mulligan Shows – 1880’s was a burlesque on the common people of NY – tales of the ordinary became important

  9. The Black Crook – 1866 First American Acting Troupe Using Women - 1893

  10. Early Influences - Operetta • 1890’s – 1920, European Operetta was an instant success as it toured U.S. • Gilbert & Sullivan’s satirical operetta was especially popular • Gave way to American imitations (Sousa) HMS Pinafore “Captain of the Pinafore” 9:30

  11. Musical Theatre A Brief History – Part 2 American Influence

  12. American Influences – 1918-1929 • U.S. was the economic world leader • U.S. was victorious after WWI • Optimistic society – an American not European culture was developing • Development of American Writers and Performers • Women and Black performers allowed onstage • Revues/Follies were dominant form of entertainment

  13. American Songwriters • Wrote for major music publishing houses in New York City (“Tin Pan Alley”) – before the phonograph, people used to purchase sheet music to sing around the piano • The rise of Tin Pan Alley—as music and institution—depended on the mass immigration of East European Jews to New York beginning in the early 1880s Tin Pan Alley 1910

  14. Birth of American Songwriters • Also the historical shift of America's black population from South to North where cultures interacted informally in neighborhoods, music halls and businesses created a new American sound • Wrote swinging optimistic melodies – “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, “In the Good Old Summertime”, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon”

  15. Songs of Tin Pan Alley 1911 George M. Cohan 1919 George Gershwin 1911 Irving Berlin

  16. Early Composers • Victor Herbert – Irish/German - continued American Operetta style – Babes in Toyland 1903 • George M. Cohan – Little Johnny Jones 1904 • Irving Berlin – Russian/Jewish songwriter • George Gershwin – American born songwriter • Rudolf Friml – Austrian - brought European Opera style – Rose-Marie1924, The Vagabond King 1925

  17. American Revues – the Follies • Featured stars of the day and a chorus of beautiful women in elaborate costumes and scenery such as in the Ziegfeld Follies (1907-1931) and George White’s Scandals (1919-1939)

  18. American Musical Comedy • Showed a picture of contemporary America • Had a shallow insubstantial look • Had happy endings • Music and plot were not integrated - Songs were recycled and moved from one revue to another • In 1924, ASCAP (co-founded by Herbert, Cohan, Berlin, Kern and others) won a long battle to give American composers creative control over their stage scores.

  19. Vincent Youmans 1898-1946 • Influenced by popular music; worked as a rehearsal pianist for many songwriters • Wrote the most produced musical in the 1920’s “Tea for Two” and ” I Want to Be Happy” from: No, No Nannette - Opened 1925 on Broadway – 321 performances!

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