1 of 33

America’s Musical Landscape�8th edition

Part 5:

Music for Theater and Film

​

Chapter 17: Musical Theater

© 2020 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-1

2 of 33

Music and Theater: Historical and Cultural Perspective

Together, music and theater can create an experience greater than the sum of their parts

    • Long history that dates back to ancient Greek choruses

​

The mutual attraction of music and drama remains as strong today as it was in ancient times

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-2

3 of 33

Music and Theater: Musical Theater in America

America’s earliest professional musical performances

    • Operas and operettas imported from England or Europe
    • Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operettas were favorites

​

Early American productions

    • Some based on British ballad operas
      • incorporated popular songs into melodramatic stage presentations
    • The Black Crook: first notable American musical
    • Little Johnny Jones: first American musical comedy

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-3

4 of 33

Music and Theater: Broadway Musicals, 1

Broadway musicals reflected changing styles and mores

    • George Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing was a political satire
    • His Porgy and Bess offered a sympathetic view of African-American life in Charleston
    • Jerome Kern’s Showboat and Pins and Needles provided social commentary

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-4

5 of 33

Music and Theater: Broadway Musicals, 2

Late 20th-century British invasion

​

Predominantly white and mainstream

​

Popularity of musical revivals

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-5

6 of 33

Music and Theater: Opera

Today’s musicals and operas are sometimes nearly interchangeable

​

Many American operas based on stories about American life, legends, or current events

    • Others based on popular Italian operas

​

Some current Broadway shows are largely sung throughout, as in opera

    • Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-6

7 of 33

Music and Theater: Films, 1

Several outstanding Broadway composers worked on Hollywood films

    • Adapting old musicals
    • Writing new musical scores

​

Movie musicals continue to be made periodically

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-7

8 of 33

Music and Theater: Films, 2

Audiences continue attend live musicals and buy recordings of theater music

    • Despite the glut of entertainment available on video, computers and television

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-8

9 of 33

Chapter 17: Musical Theater: Variety Shows, 1

Vaudeville

    • Originated by Tony (Antonio) Pastor (1837-1908)
    • Shared characteristics of minstrel shows, but involved different performers
    • Featured a variety of entertainment such as circus stunts, jugglers, songs, dances

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-9

10 of 33

Chapter 17: Musical Theater: Variety Shows, 2

    • Team of Harrigan and Hart depicted scenes of everyday life in America
    • Chicago: 1975 Broadway musical that celebrated the vaudeville tradition
    • New or postmodern vaudevillians are younger

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-10

11 of 33

Variety Shows: Burlesque, 1

A type of variety of show that ridicules something important

​

A kind of satire

​

Strip shows were included between acts

​

1920s: burlesque had essentially become strip shows

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-11

12 of 33

Variety Shows: Burlesque, 2

Sugar Babies (1979): Broadway show highlighting the best of early burlesque

​

Burlesque portrayed on television

    • Saturday Night Live
    • The Jerry Springer Show

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-12

13 of 33

Variety Shows: Revues

A form of a variety show in which scenes are related by a common theme

​

Ziegfeld Follies: popular early revue

    • Extravagant staging and costumes
    • Celebrated the American woman

​

Later revues were based on the music of one composer

    • Side By Side by Stephen Sondheim

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-13

14 of 33

Variety Shows: Operetta

A story told in speech and song with an integrated plot

​

Sometimes called “light opera,” operettas usually include songs, dances, and instrumental pieces

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-14

15 of 33

Musical Comedies

These new musical shows were gaudy and boisterous productions

​

George M. Cohan (1878-1942)

    • Child of vaudeville performers
    • Little Johnny Jones (1904): considered the first real musical comedy
    • Composed hits such as Give My Regards to Broadway and Yankee Doodle Boy

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-15

16 of 33

Listening Example 60

Give My Regards to Broadway

(from Little Johnny Jones)

By George M. Cohan (1878 – 1942)

Listening Guide page 304

    • Meter: Duple
    • Tempo: Brisk
    • Form: Verse-chorus
    • Timbre: Male vocalist (Joel Grey) accompanied by theater orchestra and chorus

This piece from Cohan’s first full-length show, Little Johnny Jones, is usually considered to be the first musical comedy. The plot concerns a jockey who is accused of throwing a race.

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-16

17 of 33

Black Musical Theater

African Americans were influential on Broadway

​

Will Marion Cook (1869-1944): composed for several shows including 1903’s In Dahoney

​

Shuffle Along (1921): Broadway hit which included Josephine Baker in the cast

    • Revived interest in black musical theater
    • Baker later became a star in Paris

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-17

18 of 33

Jerome Kern’s Show Boat, 1

Jerome Kern: Tin Pan Alley songwriter

​

Wrote several successful Broadway shows

    • Collaborated with Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-18

19 of 33

Jerome Kern’s Show Boat, 2

Show Boat (1927): landmark show with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, focused on interracial relations

    • Had an integrated plot based on a novel by Edna Ferber
      • Literature-based musicals didn’t become commonplace for years
      • Considered both a musical and an operetta

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-19

20 of 33

Golden Age of Broadway Musicals�(1930-1955)

Irving Berlin’s Watch Your Step (1914)

​

Dance couple Irene and Vernon Castle sparked a dance craze

​

George Gershwin’s Lady Be Good (1924) featured song and dance

​

After 1929: sound movies became popular

​

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-20

21 of 33

Listening Example 61

Ol’ Man River (from Show Boat)

Composer Jerome Kern (1885-1945)

Lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960)

Listening Guide page 307

    • Meter: Verse: Triple. Chorus: Quadruple.
    • Texture: Homophonic
    • Timbre: Bass voice (Paul Robeson) accompanied by string orchestra

Singers including Robeson altered the original lyrics of this song to avoid the racial terms commonly used in the composers’ time.

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-21

22 of 33

Rodgers and Hart

Richard Rodgers (1902-1979): songwriter

​

Lorenz Hart (1895-1943): lyricist

​

On Your Toes (1936): Rodgers and Hart musical featuring dances choreographed by George Balanchine, who designed dance steps to integrate logically with the drama

​

Pal Joey (1940)

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-22

23 of 33

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Oklahoma! (1943): a collaboration between Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II

​

Carousel (1945)

​

King and I (1951)

​

South Pacific (1949)

​

The Sound of Music (1959)

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-23

24 of 33

Expansion of the Broadway Musical

Frank Loesser (1910-1969): composer of Broadway shows that required proficient, heightened singing

​

Lerner and Loewe: famous Broadway lyricist-and-composer team

    • Brigadoon
    • Camelot
    • My Fair Lady

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-24

25 of 33

Leonard Bernstein�(1918-1990)

Pianist, composer, conductor

​

Adapted musical On the Town from the ballet

​

Composed Broadway masterpiece West Side Story (1957) featuring heightened use of dance; choreography by Jerome Robbins

​

Ensemble production: several characters present their own point of view, on their own and collectively

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-25

26 of 33

Listening Example 62

Tonight (from West Side Story)

Composer Leonard Bernstein (191801990)

Lyricist Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930)

Listening Guide page 313

    • Meter: Changing
    • Texture: Homophonic/polyphonic
    • Timbres: Vocal soloists, solo and choral ensembles, and orchestra
    • Notice how sophisticated rhythms and changing meters lend excitement to the finale.

West Side Story, based on Romeo and Juliet, is set in New York City in the 1950s.

​

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-26

27 of 33

Stephen Sondheim �(b. 1930), 1

Intended to compose concert music, but was drawn to Broadway

​

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962)

​

Follies (1971): parodies the Ziegfeld Follies

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-27

28 of 33

Stephen Sondheim �(b. 1930), 2

A Little Night Music (1973)

​

Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979): about murder and cannibalism

​

Company (1970): a “concept musical” which addresses controversial subjects

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-28

29 of 33

Listening Example 63

Every Day a Little Death

(from A Little Night Music)

Composer and Lyricist Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930)

Listening Guide page 315

    • Meter: Quadruple
    • Form: A B A
    • Texture: Homophonic
    • Timbre: Female vocal duet, accompanied by orchestra

Although a critical success, audiences criticized A Little Night Music for not having enough “good” songs.

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-29

30 of 33

More Black Musicals

The Wiz: modern African-American interpretation of

​

The Wizard of Oz

​

Bubbling Brown Sugar: all Black revue featuring music by “Fats” Waller, Duke Ellington and Eubie Blake

​

Dream Girls: a show and film based on the story of The Supremes

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-30

31 of 33

The Music of Musicals

Use of jazz, country-western, blues

​

Use of rock music

    • Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease, Mama Mia

​

Use of indie rock

    • Spring Awakening

​

Use of Latin music and hip-hop

    • Def Poetry Jam
    • In the Heights

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-31

32 of 33

Current Trends, 1

Revivals of shows including Cabaret (1998) and Oklahoma (2002)

​

Adaptations of films

    • The Producers
    • The Lion King

​

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-32

33 of 33

Current Trends, 2

Other trends

    • Increasing interest in multi-media shows
    • Audience involvement
    • Dance
    • Shows catered toward children: Cats, Beauty and the Beast

​

© 2020 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. � All rights reserved.

Part 5: Music for Theater and Film�Chapter 17: Musical Theater

17-33