Traces of Musical Theatre go as far back as Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, however this was more a play was done with songs and dances added in rather than revolving around.
“The ancient Greeks had plays with songs, and Roman comedies included song and dance routines. But the music of these eras disappeared long ago, so they had no real influence on the development of modern musical theatre and film.” – John Kendrick
However this had little impact upon musical theatre but despite this, it is well to know this due to how it is part of the origins of musical theatre. (1)
However come the 18th Century forms of Musical Theatre were on the rise, especially in Britain with the introduction of Operetta which was a light form of the Italian art, Opera. They were performed a lot and they often had original scores or borrowed melodies that would fit the story-line, most story-lines were taken from popular works of fiction. It is believed that The Beggars Opera (1778) by John Gay was the first musical. Musical Operas were also incredibly popular at the same time, they would often be comedic storytelling with plenty of singing and dancing to go along with the humor, this would help with the appeal of middle class and above meaning a big market for the musical comedies! (2)
Fast forwarding a hundred years (give or take) musical theatre welcomed in The Golden Age. This was a time period where classic musicals came out and cemented musical theatre as a modern art form which everyone went to go see. The time period took place between 1943 – 1959, some musicals included: Oklahoma (1943); Carousel (1945) and West Side Story (1957). The musicals are still performed today and are incredibly popular, they really shaped the world of musical theatre from the strong male in Oklahoma to the intense dance routines from West Side Story. The impact from these musicals are still felt today. (3)
Modern Musicals often take influence from past musicals or sometimes use music from artists, meaning they become jukebox musicals.
Juke box musicals are often very interesting as they can be huge successes or absolute flops. This is apparent with examples such as Mamma Mia (1999) or American Idiot (2009) being absolute success in contrast to Viva Forever (2012) and Desperately Seeking Susan (2007) being failures and even ceasing to exist due to their critical failure.
Juke Box musicals include:
- American Idiot – Green Day.
- Jersey Boys – Jersey Boys.
- Mamma Mia – ABBA
- Viva Forever – The Spice Girls
- Lennon – John Lennon
(4)
Jersey Boys – 2005. (5)
Viva Forever – 2012. (6)
In Contrast to this some musicals are so popular that they become films, most notably. Chicago, Dreamgirls and Hairspray.
Musical influence is apparent today as the love for it keeps growing and quite literally anything can be made into a musical, such as a spelling bee (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) or a dystopian world where you pay to pee (Urinetown) or in the most weirdest case a musical about Pokemon starring Andrew Rannells (Pokemon Live).
Musical Theatre itself.
In Musical theatre, it is essential for a very clear story that can be presented in the three main aspects: singing, dancing and acting. The performance needs so much emotion and power that when acting doesn’t explain the message the dancing and singing need to take over as to me that is what musical theatre is about. Portraying your feelings in more than one way, by using all your talents and abilities to do so. For instance, in The Wizard Of Oz when the Cowardly Lion wants to express his sadness over being such a coward he sings about it or when the principles set off down the yellow brick road, they show their excitement by singing and skipping down the yellow brick road. In Rvelations by Alvin Ailey when the slaves are freed and they dance Rocka ma’ Soul it is just beautiful and incredible as they are dancing their souls out and you can see the beauty and excitement and love they are portraying through the dance!
I believe musical theatre needs emotion portrayed through every aspect and a whole lot of singing and dancing.
Bibliography.
http://www.musicals101.com/stagecap.htm (1)
https://prezi.com/m/wuufnqul2thp/ (2)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/timelines/1943-1959/ (3)
https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/arts/2016/12/02/jukebox-musicals-best-flops/94755610/ (4)
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/reviews/11-2005/jersey-boys_7052.html (5)
https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2013/viva-forever-not-a-legendary-flop/ (6)
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