Musical Theatre Theory

Musical Theatre Theory

Wednesday, May 22, 13

The Basics


A musical is a stage, television or film production featuring songs—and possibly dialogue—to either tell a story or showcase the talents of the writers and/or performers.


The Creative Team:

Composer, Lyricist, and Librettist


The Production

Team:

The Producer


Diane Paulus

Julie Taymor

The Production

Team:

The Director

+ Assistant Director


The Production Team:

The Choreographer

+the Dance Captain Twyla

Tharp

Bob Fosse


The Production

Team:

The Music Director

+the Rehearsal

Pianist, the Conductor, & Pit Musicians


The Production Team:

The Technical Director

+ Lighting Designer, Audio Technician,

Costume Designer, Makeup

Artist, Props Master, & Set

Designer


The Production

Team:

Production Stage Manager

+

Assistant Stage Managers & Run Crew


ThePerformers:

Actors, Singers, and

Dancers—but preferably

those who can do all three—

a.k.a. Triple Threats.


Classification of Musicals


Critics often refer to the original incarnation of musical comedies—noted for their linear, climactic plots with happy endings—as classical musicals.


What critics refer to as modern musicals debatably began in the 1950’s with more realistic stories and more complex endings to match the realities of modern life.


Book Musical is a term used to describe a musical that combines dialogue, song, and dance to construct a narrative.


A revue is a collection of musical numbers arranged into a show. Often the pieces are thematically linked or constructed of works by a single composer/lyricist.


Sung-through is a term used to describe musicals containing little or no spoken dialogue; in

other words, nearly all the elements of the storytelling are completed through music and song.


A concept musical is a musical where the show's metaphor or statement is

more important than the actual narrative.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Rock operas are sung-through modern musicals featuring rock music.


A chamber musical is a form containing a small cast and set in one

location with minimal production cost.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Jukebox musicals are a fairly new idea in which a book is written to encompass a series of existing

songs either from one genre or one composer.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Movicals is the term used to describe the recent trend of the musicalization of popular movies.


Song Incorporation


It is called mimesis when a musical’s characters are not "aware" that they are

singing. Some musicals are completely mimetic.Wednesday, May 22, 13

It is called diegesis when songs are presented as a musical occurrence within the plot. Some musicals are

complete diegetic.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Some musicals combine mimetic and diegetic songs.


Types of Musical Theatre Songs


If you are interested in

being a musical theatre

performer, you should prepare the following 7

types of songs for your audition repertoire:


A ballad shows your emotional range and the way you phrase a lyric—your sensitivity

to the words and thoughts. “Suddenly Seymour”


An up-tune shows your sense of rhythm and how exciting and fun you are as a performer. The up-tune and the ballad should work together in

contrast to show a vast range.

“Cockeyed Optimist”


A comedy song is important in order to show audition staff that you can handle comedy. The best

comedy songs are ones in which the character has a huge problem and is trying to explain it. For the character, the

situation is serious. For the listener, it’s hilarious.

“I Cain’t Say No”


It wise to prepare a contemporary Broadway song from a rock or pop opera.

“The Bitch of Living”


A patter song is one that has a

complicated, wordy lyric, with a simple, repetitive melody. This piece will show off the

performer’s diction.

“Everybody Says Don’t”


Female performers should prepare a torch song These are standards, which are essentially focused on the

romantic longings of women in

various states of ecstasy and/or

agony.

“The Man I Love”


And lastly, prepare a rock song. In choosing a piece for yourself, consider how it will work with piano accompaniment at

an audition. Think melody.

“Paradise”


Song Functions


The most memorable show songs tend to gel around three kinds of

character experiences:Wednesday, May 22, 13

Transition: the character has a moment of change or conversion.

“Epiphany”


Realization: the character

reaches an insight or new

level of understanding.

“Rose’s Turn”Wednesday, May 22, 13

Decision: after long

wrangling, a character finally makes up his or

her mind.

“Soliloquy”


Traditional musicals carefully varied the placement of song types, while musicals of the

late 20th Century showed an increasing reliance on placing ballad after ballad after ballad.


If you are writing a musical, give your audiences a variety of song types.


The types of songs commonly required in modern musicals can be illustrated with these examples from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady:


Charm Songs - let a character beguile an audience.

“Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”


Comedy Numbers - aim for laughs.

“A Little Bit of Luck”


Ballads - usually love songs, but they can also philosophize about any strong emotion.

“On The Street Where You Live”


Musical Scenes - seamlessly blend dialogue and song, usually with two or

more characters.

“You Did It”


Bob Fosse said that from a director's point of view there were only three types of show songs:


To illustrate, let's take

examples from Bernstein and Sondheim's West Side

Story:Wednesday, May 22, 13

I Am songs—Any song that explains a character, a group of characters, or a situation.

“The Jet Song”


I Want songs—These tell us what characters desire, what motivates them.

“Something’s Coming”


New songs—This includes any number that does not fit the other two categories, usually because they serve special dramatic needs.

“Gee, Officer Krupke”


From the 1800s on, traditional musicals tried to include at least one or two songs that might find popular

success outside the show.


Many a musical did better business when one of its songs became a hit, but the rise of rock pushed

showtunes out of pop contention by the mid-1960s.


While this made

showtunes less profitable, it also took a burden off composers and lyricists.


Now they can concentrate on the dramatic needs of their shows, rather than trying to

artificially squeeze hits into a score.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Lyrics


The hallmark of good lyric writing is fresh use of language and

surprising, careful word choice, and careful word arrangements.


Word choices are often made based on the sounds that make up the word.


Lyricists think about what they need to say and find the most

amusing or graceful way to say it.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Rhyme is one of a lyricist's most potent tools, giving a song much of its comic or dramatic impact.


It is easy enough to find words that rhyme—the trick is in how a lyricist gets from one of these words to another.


Internal rhymes—rhymes within the lyrical line—can have a powerful impact.

“Her hair is blonde and curly. Her curls are hurly-burly. Her lips are pips. I call her hips whirly and twirly.” — “Honey Bun”, South Pacific


Obvious, tired rhymes, clichéd phrases, or forced non-rhymes are distractions that can ruin the effect of a show song.

"Yeah, just one shell and governments fall like flies, kapow, die They stumble and fall, bye bye Backs to the wall, aim high We're having a ball The tank and bullet rule as democracy dies"


Every lyric must contribute to telling

the story.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Parts of a Song


• Intros: The beginnings of songs.• Verses: A repeating section of a song that usually tells the story.• Pre-Chorus: A lead up to the chorus• Chorus: The focal point of the song— usually expresses the thematic or emotional core of the song. Depending on the type of song, this section is often the most hooky.• Bridge: The musical/lyrical break in a song. Lyrically, it usually gives a new perspective. Often referred to as the “Middle Eight” if it is 8 bars long.• Extros: Lead outs or endings of songs


Showtune Structure


Typically showtunes follow this structure:

A-A-B-A

A is the main melody, and B is the bridge.


A

A

B

A


Other variations:

A-B-A-B,A-B-A-B-C,A-A-A-A,

andA-A-B-A-B-C-B


Song Placement


The opening number must establish the tone for the musical. It often introduces the setting, some of the characters, and the basic situation

prior to the inciting incident.

West Side Story’s “Prologue”


Usually occurring fairly early on in the first act, the main character clarifies his/her

overarching internal dramatic need for the play in the main “I Want” song.

“Maybe”


Reprise: All or part of a song is repeated to make a dramatic point, tie things together, or energize the end of a scene.

“Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee (Reprise)”


Dream Ballet: A fantasy sequence wherein the protagonists dream or nightmare is acted out

through dance—no lyrics.

Oklahoma’s Dream Ballet


Eleven O’Clock Number: This is usually an up-tune, charm or comedy piece mid-way through Act Two to invigorate the audience, leading up to

the climax and resolution of the conflict.

“Hakuna Matata”Wednesday, May 22, 13

Finale: The last song of the play. It must deliver an emotional wallop

and leave the audience with a clear and powerful last impression.

Pippin’s “Finale”


The Book


The book—also called the

libretto—is the manuscript of the

complete musical,

containing stage directions, lyrics

and spoken dialogue (if there

is any).Wednesday, May 22, 13

It is the least appreciated yet most dramatically important element of a musical.


It is the narrative structure that keeps the score from being nothing more than a

disjointed medley of songs—which had often been the case until the 1940s.


The first job of every musical is to tell a good story.


Musicals with great scores and weak books tend to fail, while those with

mediocre scores and solid books have a better chance of succeeding.


Key Book Elements


Keep the story line clear and easy to follow.


Create characters that are easy to relate to, without resorting to stereotypes.


Create situations that call characters into song.


Move in and out of songs as smoothly as possible.


Hand over much (and sometimes all) of the plot and character development

to the songs and choreography.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Make the audience care at all times.


Scene Structure


The ending of each scene in a book musical must project the action forward, pointing the audience's

interest into the scenes to come.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Librettists must work closely with composers and lyricists to determine where songs fit and how to get into song as seamlessly as possible.


Audiences cringe at obvious song cues.

“Tell me about it, stud.”


Ending Act One


The modern musical libretto is almost always written in a two-act format with an intermission.


The first act does not have to end with a cliff-hanger, but we should be curious to see what happens next...


If you have not hooked an audience before intermission time, odds are you

have a flop on your hands.Wednesday, May 22, 13

Ending Act Two


The end of Act Two is even more important. It is what audiences walk out with.


Having a great “finale” song helps—many shows reprise their strongest ballad—but

the book writer must structure the play so that the last scene is dramatically satisfying.


FIN


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Musical Theatre Theory

Education