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 dialogueMusical parody - Late 18th, early 19th century Satire of famous story or performer –

burlesques Pantomime with songs and dances for

entertainment and variety 1828 – Hamlet 

The Beggar’s Opera – 1728 by John Gay & John Christopher Pepusch

Music Clip "Fill Every Glass"

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

1929 audio recording that follows the classic format of a minstrel show

“Camptown Races” by Stephen Foster - Al Jolson performing

Blackface performer The Cakewalk

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

Christy Minstrels - 1847

Part 2 – The Olio

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

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

1893

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

Musical Theatre

A Brief History – Part 2

American Influence

American Influences – 1918-1929

U.S. was the economic world leaderU.S. was victorious after WWIOptimistic society – an American not

European culture was developingDevelopment of American Writers and

PerformersWomen and Black performers allowed

onstageRevues/Follies were dominant form of

entertainment

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

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”

Songs of Tin Pan Alley

1911 Irving Berlin

1919 George Gershwin

1911 George M. Cohan

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-Marie 1924, The Vagabond King 1925

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)

American Musical Comedy

Showed a picture of contemporary America

Had a shallow insubstantial lookHad happy endingsMusic 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.

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!