Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician?

An exploratory study into the changing roles of musicians in theatre

Ryan Thomas Green

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of

BACHELOR OF ARTS

Academy of Music and Theatre Arts

Submitted in the Summer Term, 2014
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician?

Ryan Green

Falmouth University, UK

Ryan Green 2
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Contents
List of Figures 5
List of Tables 5
Statement of Originality 6
Abstract 7
Acknowledgements 8
Introduction 9

Chapter One – Histories and Theories 11

Introduction 11
Catalyst for Change 11
The Work and The Audience 15
The Expansive and Reductive Approach 15
Gesamtkunstwerk 15
Theatricalisation and Musicalisation 16
Coda 16

Chapter Two – A Case for Music Theatre 17

Introduction 17
The Music Theatre Performer 17
Einstein on the Beach 18
Eight Songs for A Mad King 19
Ritualistic Music Theatre 19
Bow Down 19
Alltag 20
Studies in Music Theatre 21
Coda 21

Chapter Three – The Title and Role of a Musical Theatre Musician 23

Introduction 23
Spring Awakening 23
Once 24

Ryan Green 3
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Sweeny Todd 25
Hairspray 26
The Performer and Set Design 27
The Absent Performer 28
Coda 29

Conclusion 30

Appendices 32
Definitions 33
Musicians’ Union Theatre Employment Rules 35
The Expansive and Reductive Approach 36

References
Bibliography 38
Webography 40
Videography 41

Word Count: 6,533

Turnitin Report: 4%
This document consists of 41 pages including title pages and bibliography.

Ryan Green 4
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

List of Figures

Figure 1 Music Driven Theatre Art Forms 10

Figure 2 The Music Theatre Performers’ Role Continuum 17

Figure 3 Violinist Performer in Einstein on the Beach 18

Figure 4 ‘Touch Me’ Score Sample 24

Figure 5 Lon Hoylt directs the cut-off of ‘You Can’t Stop the

Beat – Part 1’ 26

Figure 6 Lyrics from ‘Goodbye’, Catch Me if You Can 28

List of Tables

Table 1 The Application of Orchestras & Actor/Musicians in

Musical Theatre 13

Table 2 The differences for performers working in Music Theatre

and Musical Theatre 14

All images and tables by Ryan Green unless otherwise referenced.

Ryan Green 5
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Statement of Originality
This document was submitted to Falmouth University’s Academy of Music & Theatre Arts, forming my
overall module submission for PER320: Dissertation, toward the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours
in Music specialising in Compositional Studies, in the Summer Term (Semester Two) 2013/14.

I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this dissertation and that no part of this dissertation has been
published or submitted for publication.

I confirm that the research and writing of this assignment are entirely my own and I have not plagiarised
any portion of this work. I have not worked with any other person inappropriately by lending notes,
papers, disks, files or other materials. I also consent to this work being stored electronically for use within
plagiarism detection systems in order to check the integrity of assessed work.

First published by Falmouth University in 2014.

This work remains Copyright © by Ryan Green 2014. All Rights Reserved.

Signed:

Digitally Signed – 17/04/2014

Ryan Thomas Green

Ryan Green 6
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Abstract
The orchestra is often the most underappreciated element of a theatre company. This dissertation explores
the role of the musician in both music theatre and musical theatre and aims to discover the extent of their
expanding or contracting roles in both a commercial context, such as Broadway or the West-End, and
non-commercial context, such as (off)-off-Broadway and off-West End. The timeframe of study is between
1969 and the present day. It will also highlight links to artists such as Marina Abramović. This dissertation
asks if the role of the musician working within music theatre and musical theatre becomes one that is so
extended that their job title is no longer appropriate. It outlines the musician’s historical role in theatre
and their differing responsibilities in opera, music theatre and musical theatre. This dissertation also
makes comparisons between musicians working in these two art forms.

Chapter One focuses upon the histories and theories of new music theatre and musical theatre, including
Gesamtkunstwerk and the historic roots from opera. Chapter Two focuses upon music theatre as a hybrid,
versatile art form that allows musicians to play a larger role in the creation and delivery of theatre
performance, while Chapter Three documents how musical theatre performers responsibilities are moving
away from the conventions traditionally found and the title of ‘actor’ or ‘musician’ are no longer
appropriate as the job roles have expanded. The chapter looks at the how writing of performance includes
set design and considers how this impacts on the audience’s experience of seeing a theatre work performed
is changing and musicians and the orchestra are further disappearing making a performance cleaner and
more ‘magical’.

This dissertation concludes that the role of the musician differs between the music driven theatres and that
the future of musical theatre is unclear because there are few new younger writers and producers willing to
invest both their reputation and finance into new performance art which does not fit a working
commercial formula.

Keywords: Music Theatre; Musical Theatre; Gesamtkunstwerk.

Ryan Green 7
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Acknowledgements
There are several people whom I wish to acknowledge for their unwavering support whilst I was writing
this dissertation.

Firstly I would like to thank Dr Mike Rofe for pushing me out of my comfort zone not only as a
composer, but also as an academic writer. I would also like to thank him for the opportunity he gave to me
for allowing my transfer between courses during my second year.

I am most grateful to Dr Falk Hübner for allowing me to read a copy of his PhD thesis and his kind words
regarding my work.

Pandora James and Pam Duggan who, both, sat for countless hours, reading and re-reading my work. I
would also like to acknowledge the help of Rosie Sellwood, for her patience. I am also grateful to the staff
at University of Exeter, Streatham Campus Library who have dealt with my never-ending requests for
material, as well as the many other university libraries up and down the country who have kindly let me
borrow material from their collections.

To all my friends and colleagues: Becky Allman, Craig McKenzie, Cole Baker and Lilly Dahlen et al. for
making me smile and giving their support.

“I did it, Mum.”

Ryan Green 8
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician

Introduction
This dissertation examines the changing role of musicians in music theatre since 1969 and in musical
theatre since 20051. It will argue that music theatre is a facilitator for experimental performance writing
and devising praxis that is not possible in other music driven theatres due to their popularity and their
working commercial formula. This dissertation focuses on music theatre and musical theatre as I feel these
two are the most related music-driven art forms. Through case-study methodology, the dissertation will
examine works where musicians play an extended role in the context of theatre.

Within this dissertation, I refer to the ‘musician’ as someone who plays a musical instrument in the theatre
and a ‘singer’ as someone who performs exclusively with their voice. An ‘actor’ is someone who performs a
story-telling role using a range of singing, dancing, acting technique.

It should be noted that musical theatre works are often referred to in the singular as a ‘musical’. It should
also be remembered that musical theatre and music theatre are two different art forms and are referred to
as thus throughout this dissertation. Music Theatre looks to the smaller-scale and experimental styles of
writing and performance whereas musical theatre is a mainstream music driven theatre genre, where
music is used purposely to describe feelings or further the story line.

My research hypothesis is: The role of the musician within music theatre and musical theatre has
become one, which is so extended that their job title is no longer appropriate.

Alongside musicians, actors are beginning to have extended roles. For example to be able to perform in
Pippin the actors must be able to master complex circus skills whilst dancing, singing and acting. Dancer’s
roles too are being expanded and contracted in different ways, for example, in Sasha Waltz’s insideout2
(2003), two dancers perform both a piece of choreography and a piece of sound/music with a singing saw
in-between them (Hübner, 2013: 8).

Throughout this dissertation, I refer to all theatre, in which music is the essential element as ‘music driven

                                                        
1
I will also touch upon musicals prior to this but they will not be the main area of study.
2
With music by musikFabrik.

Ryan Green 9
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

theatre’. The image below shows a continuum of these theatres to which I am referring3:

Figure 1: Music Driven Theatre Art Forms. (Taylor, 2000: 13)

                                                        
3
Ballet, Review, Burlesque and Vaudeville are also music driven theatres but they are not the focus of this
dissertation.

Ryan Green 10
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Chapter One – Histories and Theories

There is little written about the history of musicians’ roles in theatre. It is reasonable to assume that
musicians have always been known to work as ‘performance artists’ in other area of the performance arts,
namely street-performance, where musicians busking would sing, dance and attempt to capture an
audience with acting skills and repartee. It could also be argued that singers in opera and musical theatre
works could be classed as ‘musicians’, although musical theatre singers tend to adopt the title of ‘actor’.
This again is a vague, generic term for someone who, in traditional musical theatre, must be capable of
singing, dancing and acting at the same time, usually in restricting costumes; whilst in opera, stage
performers preserve the title of ‘singer’. The musician and the orchestra generally have a history of being
one which is mainly an accompaniment to opera or ballet and their stage performers.

Catalyst for Change

It is not clear who the first artist was to instigate the change in the role of a musician in the theatre but
there are many other examples in history where a musician has an extended role. For example, minstrels
through the medieval period, and well into the Renaissance, performed mime, poetry, comedy and told
stories as well as performing music. The minstrel culture slowly faded out and their traditions fed into
today’s street performers. Characters within opera also performed with an extended role such as Tamino,
who plays the flute throughout Mozart’s The Magic Flute (1791). Music Theatre works, too, such as
Einstein on the Beach (1976) demonstrate this. Einstein does not sing but plays violin throughout4.

It is important to remember musical theatre was born out of opera lirica (sung work), more commonly
known as ‘opera’. Musicians in opera have often had a close relationship with the stage action although;
they too tend to accompany the action instead of becoming the audience’s main concentration.
Experimentation within opera came about when Wagner became a more prolific composer. Composers
such as Debussy and Britten experimented with pushing Wagnerian harmony5, emphasising a greater use
of dissonance.

Traditional operas contain long overtures and intermezzi’s where the shift of focus went from the stage
action (or non action) to the orchestra and the audience would show their appreciation for the complex
music played. As musical theatre moved away from operetta and became more like modern drama, and its
emphasis switched to storytelling instead of bells and whistles, the overture (which composers loved to
                                                        
4
See Chapter 2.
5
For example: the ‘half diminished seventh’ / ‘Tristan chord’.

Ryan Green 11
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

write) began to seem out of place (Green, 2006).

‘An unscientific survey of 30 recent, current or forthcoming Broadway musicals reveals that only
7 (including “The Producers,” “Wicked,” “Spamalot” and “The Color Purple”) have an old-
fashioned overture’ (Green, 2006).

Many musicals still contain overtures and entr’actes where there is no visual on stage, however audiences
often talk over these. This may be due to impatience (Hischak, 2008) or the fact audiences pay vast
amounts of money to see it, visually on stage.

‘Smaller orchestras, lack of songfulness, shorter running times, all have contributed to the demise
of the overture. […] David Rockwell pointed out that, thanks to MTV, people now expect visuals
with their music. [...] [O]vertures need curtains, and many Broadway shows, including “The
Light in the Piazza,” […] no longer use them. As a result the full “Piazza” overture was only
played at the first few previews. “It seemed silly listening to lovely, lush melodies for five minutes
while staring at the half-lit set, waiting for something to happen”’ (Green, 2006).

Before the second half of the twentieth century, Brecht and Weill’s collaborations took on the presence of
musicians on stage in the work Die Dreigroschenoper (1928). Brecht’s theory of epic theatre - alienation
presented performers as actors to the audience, showing that they were merely to show that they were only
actors performing a role, which had been written (Hübner, 2013: 13).

‘Through alienation Brecht was attempting to remind the audience that what they were watching
was only a production put on by actors and shaped by the director. […] His use of a narrator
broke the imaginary fourth wall of the theatre and made the audience doubly aware of the
storytelling aspect found in theatre. He would also have the scenery changes done au vista or in
front of the audience, and allow the lighting instruments to be seen. Even special effects like
lightning and fog were not disguised’ (Petersen, 2012).

Around 1972, an agreement known as the ‘collective bargaining agreement’ called for a minimum
requirement of twenty-six musicians playing in the largest Broadway theatres and twenty for the smaller
theatres 6 (Meffe, 2011: 100). Composers would request a certain number of musicians with the
understanding that musicians may be dismissed should the show not perform well financially. Shows that
did not fulfill the minimum requirement would be forced to employ non-playing musicians, known as
‘walkers’ who would only visit the theatre to collect their pay-cheques. This impacted heavily upon the
musical theatre community and in 1975, the musicians’ union went on strike. At the end, new and lower
                                                        
6
Please refer to Appendix B.

Ryan Green 12
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

minimums were put in place that were not tied directly to the theatre’s capacity (Meffe, 2011: 102). Big
musicals such as Sweeney Todd (2005) and Once (2011) have gone on to help coin the term ‘actor-
musician7’ which is now a widely accepted term particularly in New York. Other musicals such as The
Wedding Singer; Jersey Boys; Million Dollar Quartet; Rock of Ages and Betty Blue Eyes all use actors as
musicians and vice versa, or use the orchestra as a visual accompaniment essential to the plot of the show:

Musical Application of Orchestra/Actor-Musicians

The Wedding Singer ROBBIE plays the guitar on stage in several scenes.
Jersey Boys Musicians perform on stage and off. The main
characters must also be able to play short segments
of the score.
Million Dollar Quarter All four main characters play live throughout the
90-minute score.
Betty Blue Eyes The orchestra is hidden throughout most of the
show, however in the ballroom scene they play a
Jitterbug to accompany the dance as in real life,
when a bomb explodes the musicians react
accordingly and leave the stage.

Table 1: The Application of Orchestras & Actor/Musicians in Musical Theatre

In new music theatre, the musician and actor tend to be one and the same person, partially due to the
smaller scale production aspects. It is often more economical to blur the lines between the musician and
performer hence the ‘performance artist’ becomes a more suitable title for such performers. This is also
sometimes due to artistic choice (As in Once). The term ‘multi-faceted musician’ is evident most in
popular music, where performers often sing, move and play instruments alongside building rapport with
their audience

The main difference between music theatre and musical theatre tends to be the music. Not all music
theatre works contain ‘music’ as such, but include sonic media, bio music, percussion and/or electronics,
whereas musical theatre works contain solid, mainstream music that tends to be memorable and popular

                                                        
7
Lit.: ‘Actor cum musician’

Ryan Green 13
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

music based. Audiences, always respond differently to all types of music driven theatre. Musical theatre
audiences tend to grow up with certain musical albums passed down from parents to siblings. The most
popular shows such as Joseph... tour all round the country, usually every year, taking theatre to deprived
areas as well as the metropolises.

In regard to the role of musicians, I drew up this table to illustrate the differences for performers working
in music theatre and musical theatre:

Music Theatre Musical Theatre

Musicians are often seen by the audience on stage A musical theatre orchestra generally of between 10
as part of the ‘action’. and 25 desks tends to be placed under the stage or
in an orchestra pit.
There is often interaction between the musicians There is little to no interaction between the
and other performers although, often, they are one musicians and the stage performers, the obvious
and the same person. In some music theatre works exception is between them and the conductor.
musical instruments are programmatically used as However, this is considered necessary, although in
characters within their own right. modern musical theatre cameras are used and
placed in the direct eye-line of performers so cut-
offs feel more natural than the audience being able
to see the conductor’s downbeat.
Experimental and extended technique is extensively Extended technique is rarely employed in shows
used, sometimes just for effect or to create a with quotidian story lines. This being reserved for
soundscape or within the score itself. more extraordinary works.
Usually un-conducted. Cues taken from lighting Usually conducted or directed. There is now a
and other performers. Obvious exceptions include strong use of click-tracks in new musical theatre
durational work. and the musical director plays a synthesiser facing
the stage.

Table 2: The differences for performers working in music theatre and musical theatre.

Musical theatre is probably the last music driven theatre genre to look to experimenting with music,
staging and the dynamics of theatrics. New musicals such as Next To Normal, Spring Awakening and
Wicked are beginning to look towards a new musical revolution, although none of these really push the

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Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

boundaries of acceptability like music theatre works. The question might be asked: has musical theatre
experimented as far as it can before the work becomes more representative of music theatre? The answer is
not clear because of their audience’s expectation and financial risk of experimentation.

‘Off-off Broadway’ – where most experimenting takes place. ‘A complete rejection of commercial
theatre’ (Viagas, 2004: 72).

In New York, there are two divides between work being created, these strands are known as ‘Uptown’ –
where a more traditional culture resides and ‘Downtown’ (Off-Off or Off-Broadway) – where alternative
visual and performative art tends to be developed. These are not necessarily defined by buildings or
geographical locations, however, off-off-Broadway work is more commonly found in lofts and basements
where residence is illegal (Salzman & Desi, 2008: 229-230).

The Work and The Audience

Musicals on Broadway and the West End are limited to using live musicians during performance. Only a
certain amount of numbers may be pre-recorded, if not performable live, and electronic music may not be
used unless a musician is employed to produce those sounds8. Musicals are often confined to proscenium
arch stages, offering a fixed viewpoint for the audience. They, the audience, are removed from the action,
whereas music theatre, which leans toward the smaller scale, can accommodate a more intimate
atmosphere and can allow a more three-dimensional presentation of work, which in some cases can open
up a closer connection to the audience.

The Expansive and Reductive Approach

An approach that I allude to throughout this dissertation is the Expansive and Reductive Approach
fashioned by Dr Falk Hübner. The concept in basic terms, tolerates the expanding role of the musician as
well as the reductive one9.

Gesamtkunstwerk
This theory is one, which links specifically to music theatre. The term refers to an all-embracing art form,
which includes poetry, sonic media, movement and multimedia in a singular performance All elements are
of upmost importance, as in music theatre where the sonic event created is as important as its context. I do

                                                        
8
Broadway theatres to this day have a certain number of musicians that must be employed regardless of the work
playing in the theatre.
9
See Appendix C for more details.

Ryan Green 15
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

not wish to focus upon this concept but I need to have an awareness of it when writing extensively about
music theatre. It is not uncommon also, for new musical theatre works to incorporate new multimedia in
their performances.

Theatricalisation and Musicalisation

There is a fine line between absolute music theatre10 and the theatricalisation or musicalisation of a work.
Theatricalisation refers to adding theatrical elements to an already existing, autonomous piece of music,
likewise, musicalisation implies adding music to an already existing theatrical work for example a
composer creating music for a Shakespearian play, or music as a response to theatre (Cole, 1972). David
Roesner suggests in his book that a better name for these ‘-isations’ could be ‘Composed Theatre’
(Rebstock, & Roesner (eds.). 2012).

Coda
Already, from this chapter, it is obvious that a musician’s role within the theatre arts is constantly
changing. Most extra work given by directors and producers tends to be within the field of music theatre.
As I previously wrote, opera has also undertaken several new dramatic changes in the way musicians are
deployed as stage performers. There is a fine line between the theatricalisation or musicalisation of a work
and absolute music theatre where material is created specific to one particular production. Music Theatre
and the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk are closely linked and it is often the practice for composers to aim
for this while writing new works.

                                                        
10
Absolute music theatre is a term I propose for music theatre that has been devised or created using entirely fresh
material by a composer or devising group. It does not contain music by ‘external’ artists. All the material is created
anew for the production.

Ryan Green 16
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Chapter Two – A Case for Music Theatre

Music driven theatre is relatively slow in developing. Pantomime dates back to the ninteenth century and
is probably the least developed of these art forms, mainly because of its entertainment value. They tend to
only be performed during one period of the year, traditionally during the winter months. Opera still has a
fairly standard theatrical ‘layout’ although we have seen some development towards experimentalism since
Cage and Glass’s time. Music Theatre is a new, experimental, hybrid art form that exists by creating a
sonic event in a context, more specifically ‘sound’ in the context of ‘theatre’. Adlington writes that ‘Music
Theatre frequently reconfigures the classical performance space by placing instrumentalists and actors on
the same stage’ (Cook (ed.), 2005: 236-237). He also proposes that sharing a stage allows a type of
interaction that is not possible while instrumentalists are working in the orchestra pit (ibid. 237). Other
examples of where actor/musicians are employed include Kagel’s Sonant (1960), which transforms the
playing of musical instruments into theatrical action and Sur Scene (1960) presenting musical performance
within a quasi-theatrical context (Heile, 2006: 35).

The Music Theatre Performer

Music Theatre works are the best examples of where composers/directors choose to integrate the role of
the musician with that of a stage performer. German composer/director Heiner Goebbles’11 Schwarz auf
Weiss (1996) is a work, which became a milestone in experimental music theatre. Goebbles’ works are
primarily music driven and he gives assignments to his actors and musicians to achieve the effects and
expressions he wants. Weiss combines elements of instillation art, music and performance (Hübner, 2013:
16).

Figure 2: The Music Theatre Performer’s Role Continuum

This continuum puts into practice Hübner’s concept of the correct title given to a music theatre
performer. At the far left the musician is found to have an accompanying role only, with no additional

                                                        
11
Interestingly, Goebbles is a fellow of Dartington College of Arts.

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Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

responsibility, they are working solely as a musician. As the responsibility given increases, the musician
adds titles to his primary title for example: Musician/Actor, until they have so much extra responsibility
that they become a performance artist in title and in role.

Einstein on the Beach

Einstein… (1976) is a durational music theatre work12. Although this work is referred to as an opera, other
than its length, and act structure, there are few other traditional operatic characteristics. There is no
discernable plot; all the instruments used are amplified, as are the vocalists, both in the orchestra pit and
on stage (Salzman & Desi, 2008: 243). Einstein is scored for Flute/Piccolo/Bass Clarinet; Soprano
Saxophone/Flute; Tenor Saxophone/Alto and Keyboards I-II13, there is also a Violin part, which represents
Einstein throughout. The piece does not programmatically tell a story however there are strong uses of
dramaturgical devices such as a ‘finale’. Glass writes that the work itself ‘remained resolutely abstract’
(Glass, Jones ed., 1987: 33). The work has a structure of a traditional opera i.e.: four acts and a prologue,
however, being durational (to an extent) there is no clear button or divide between the acts.

Figure 3: Violinist Performer in Einstein on the Beach. (Smith, 2012).

The violinist’s part is most interesting here, as the performer who plays this is the representation of
Einstein himself. The performer must be able to memorise the entire score and perform through four acts
whilst remembering choreography and wearing full costume.

                                                        
12
I use the term music theatre work here in the same way Glass does, however, the full score describes the work as
an ‘opera’.
13
‘/’ implies doubling of instruments.

Ryan Green 18
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Eight Songs for a Mad King

The Pierrot Players first performed Eight Songs in April of 1969 in London. Davies wrote the piece
specifically for Roy Hart, a South African performance artist. The piece pushed the musicians to their
limits as artists. The musicians are birds originally staged in birdcages. Hart says that ‘[the] extended
technique [used] is only part of the natural, if neglected human vocal repertoire’ (Salzman & Desi, 2008:
275). Eight Songs’ musicians have only a slightly extended role within this work. They are primarily and
foremost musicians but are asked to wear bird masks and are also given bird whistles, which are played
most predominantly in Song 3. In Song 7 the King grabs the violin and smashes it to pieces on the stage
representing the killing of the bullfinch. There is only one movement performed by a musician, which is
directly after the climax of the killing of the bullfinch and the King’s final soliloquy where the
percussionist beats a steady beat on the bass drum and drives the King offstage.

Ritualistic Music Theatre

Adlington writes that ‘music theatre may expose the theatre of conventional classical performance rituals
[…] to which we more usually turn a blind eye’ (Cook (ed.), 2005: 236). It is not uncommon for music
theatre works to be based on ritualistic events particularly as music theatre is the earliest of art forms,
which could be evidenced in prehistoric times where this was the most basic and popular form of
entertainment. A ritual could be described as a tradition of a community idiosyncratic to certain groups or
settlements. These events are evident today in the form of graduation ceremonies or during court
proceedings. Many of the music theatre works I have been involved with have drawn upon these rituals
and brought them into a theatrical context. Here, I feel it is important to acknowledge Abramović’s
ritualistic performance art, which often involves putting herself in dangerous situations, which may result
in her cutting or burning herself. She views her work as pseudo-sacrificial or religious rites (Marina
Abramovic, nd.). It is this type of quasi-quotidian ritualistic action that is comparable as a dramaturgical
device in Bow Down.

Bow Down
Bow Down (1977) is a music theatre work, composed by Harrison Birtwistle. Within this work it has often
been suggested that the actors ‘are just as much musicians as the musicians are actors’ and that there is
only ‘a relatively slight difference in the emphasis’ between the two (Adlington in Beard, 2012: 302).

The piece is easy to stage, because it requires very few resources, and was devised during a strike at the
National Theatre. The score is a notation of the work created at the time but performers have much

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Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

freedom over how the piece is performed.

‘Bow Down tells the classic folk-talk [sic] of two sisters in love with [the] same man. The Dark
Sister drowns the Fair Sister, but the Fair Sister's body is found and turned into a musical
instrument which accuses the Dark Sister. As such it is akin to the folk-tale […] Mahler used in
Das Klagende Lied. Harrison's text conflates a variety of variants of the story including one in
Middle English which, sung by a blind harper, sort of starts and finishes the show’ (Planet Hugil,
2012).

The piece can be described as a macabre folk tale. The instrumentation reflects that of a ritual: Bamboo
flutes (tranverse & end blown); Oboe; Penny-Whistle; Claves; Wood Block; Sand Block; Afuche; Maracca;
Crotales; Sistrum; Tambourine; Chinese drum and Bodhran.

I would like the music to lay bare something of the history of the instrumentalists, which belongs
to the history of the working people. I would like the instrumentalists to interpret themselves
consciously, and to extend their scope, so that they see themselves as inhabiting a realm of
increased possibilities – possibilities of self-realization [sic] and self-liberation […] (Schmitt in
Adlington in Cook (ed.), 2005: 238).

There is much use of repeated rhythmic motifs with rhyming text. There are five actors and four
musicians, although, each performs from a collection of fourteen different instruments; the musicians
(numbered: 1, 4, 6 & 9) play between six and nine instruments each, the actors (numbered: 2, 3, 5, 7 & 8)
between three and five. No instruments are wholly dictated for the actors, but all nine players are given a
set of claves and a set of set of sand blocks. The musicians never leave their seats and actors 3 and 7 play
the roles of the Fair and Dark sisters and 8: the blind Harper (Beard, 2012: 302).

Alltag
Falk Hübner’s music theatre completely immerses the actor into the role of a ‘music-creator’14. He has
written many pieces where the musician is the primary performer and holds the audience’s attention
throughout the work.

Alltag (2007) as a piece, focuses upon the quotidian habits of a working musician. Hübner writes that he
was interested in the ‘phenomena […] of [their] profession in a self reflective view of the musician’
(Hübner, 2013: 26). The piece begins with an empty stage, not conventionally lit for a performance. The
audience enters and takes their seats and the musicians begin to enter the room, carrying their

                                                        
14
N.B. As a performer not a composer.

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Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

instruments, they head toward the stage and begin putting together their instruments. These elements are
those which are traditionally absent on a professional concert stage, all tuning and assembly of
instruments are carried out backstage and out of sight of the audience. The piece mixes spoken text with
musical performance, movement and comedy 15 . Here the musician truly has become the theatrical
performer by having their role expanded to encompass these non-traditional responsibilities not usually
expected of a concert musician. This technique could also be described as mimesis, which is the imitation
of real life in art (Salzman & Desi, 2008: 13).

Studies in Music Theatre

In 2006, Dr Tim Coker carried out a study with a group of young students where he would show a piece
of music theatre or experimental opera and gauge their reactions. First of all, he showed a Covent Garden
performance of Adés. The students remarked upon the set design and the lighting but as the recording
progressed the students would lose focus, not making it to interval before they lost interest completely.
The students talked about a ‘lack of contrast’ and not being able to differentiate between character’s voices,
which Coker found to be ‘in tune’ with a review in the Telegraph. Coker concluded that new music theatre
work failed to capture people’s imagination thus making it inaccessible, particularly to younger audiences.
For this reason, I believe that musical theatre has greater scope for capturing audiences’ attention as little
is being left to the imagination, making it easier to watch and comprehend, everything is spelt out in a
clear way that is interesting and accessible (Coker, 2006).

Coda
Overall, I believe that music theatre has the greatest potential for development. Musicals tend to have a set
stylistic genre that composers are limited by due to the popularity of the genre and the financial risk at
stake in producing a show. It costs millions of dollars to produce a musical on Broadway making
experimentation very difficult. Music Theatre works are produced on smaller scales, usually (off-)off-
Broadway and off-West End, where there is a more accepting audience and less financial input is required
from investors.

I believe that new music theatre is a catalyst for experimental praxis, whereas musical theatre, opera and
pantomime have clear defined parameters, in which a commercial formula has been fashioned and one
which audiences respond positively and enthusiastically to. Music Theatre has no limits; it can be as large

                                                        
15
Which could also be known as Gesamtkunstwerk.

Ryan Green 21
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

or as small as it likes16.

                                                        
16
Although it is important to remember that music theatre works to experiment with, combine and incorporate
with the two elements ‘music’ or ‘sound’ and ‘theatre’ or ‘drama’ along side other multimedia elements such as
radio, projection, mime, magic and lighting.

Ryan Green 22
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Chapter Three – The Title and Role of a Musical Theatre Musician

Since the twentieth century, there has been a seismic shift in the role of musicians in new theatre work. I
have previously written about the synonymic problems with the ‘job’ title given to theatre performers17. I
found that giving or removing responsibility from a musician could transform them into a performance
artist by title. For example, removing the musician’s instrument makes them not a musician any more but
adding movement, choreography and dialogue to their roles also makes them no longer just a musician.

Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening (2006) is a musical written by Duncan Shiek and Steven Sater. This musical is of
particular interest as the characters, Georg and Ilse, move from their roles as actors to musicians. These
two characters are marked in the computerised score to play piano on certain songs. In ‘My Junk’, it is
obvious that Georg should play as he is in a piano lesson with his tutor. In ‘Mirror Blue Night’, Ilse is
instructed to play, whether this is an artistic choice or not is unclear however, in this particular song the
musical director/main pianist is playing the harmonium. This might mean that the producers of the show
stipulated to the orchestrator that it would be un-economical to employ two full-time keyboardists,
therefore the actors must ‘swing18’ as necessary.

The orchestra is set to the back of the stage, the actors must pass through the musicians to gain access to
the stage, other than this there is no acknowledgement between any member of the orchestra and the cast,
with the exception of when the named characters must leave their roles on stage and play the piano. Both
Georg and Ilse are suddenly no longer just musical theatre actors but have taken on the role of a
‘performance artist’.

                                                        
17
Green, R. 2014. Page 6.
18
A ‘Swing’ refers to an actor who must be able to cover anything up to six different parts and can be called at a
moment’s notice to go on stage. In this instance I refer to Ilse as a swing between musician and stage actor.

Ryan Green 23
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Figure 4: ‘Touch Me’ Score Sample. (Sater, Sheik, 2006: 51)

During the actors’ down time, they sit to stage right in full view of the audience although, like the
orchestra, it is not lit constantly. Again, it is not clear whether the actors are to break character whilst off
stage, and it also comes down to different interpretations of the material by different
directors/performance companies.

Once
Once (2011) completely removes the separation between actor and musician. The musical relies entirely
upon its novelty of using actor/musicians throughout the show. In the layout of a bar, the set is also
remarkable as it is minimal and stays static throughout; it is also used (on Broadway) as a real bar during
the act interval and for pre-show drinks. Thirteen performers, twelve playing instruments play the Irish-
folk score composed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglova. The performers, here, are given character
names, costumes, movement and choreography, their transition between spoken word ‘acting’ and playing
of instruments is seamless.

Once has very strong music theatre inclinations. The music is not stylistic of musical theatre and the show
it is small in scale when compared to other Broadway musicals. The music is written for an
unconventional instrumentation combination, it is experimental in the way that the audience are invited
onto stage to drink pre-show and during the interval and the profession of musicians as performers is
blindingly obvious. Conversely, Once fits the musical theatre genre by having a two act structure with
interval and the performers sing, dance and act as in traditional musical theatre, also it is a very easy work
to replicate as seen in London. However, the songs do not always drive the story making me feel that this
work is more of play with songs.

Ryan Green 24
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Sweeney Todd
John Doyle is a Scottish theatre director, currently working on Broadway. In 2005 he directed a
production of Sweeny Todd. The production consisted of actor/musicians with the exception of Sweeny
himself. David Lennon19 said: ‘all the actors are the orchestra. They’re producing all the music for the
show. [...] [W]e see it as an opportunity to address future situations on Broadway where an actor would be
acting as a valid musician, [...] playing a part integral to the musical score’ (Lennon in Armburst, 2005).
Due to Equity rules, the agreement set the criteria under which the actors could be counted towards the
minimum requirement of musicians working in the Eugenen O’Neil Theater [sic].

‘We may not usually think of musical performance, apart from opera and musical theatre, as
entailing characterization in the conventional dramatic sense. Nevertheless, we must be
suspicious of any supposition that musicians are simply ‘being themselves’ on stage. [...] But two
other layers are imposed on that one because popular musicians […] enact both a star personality
(their image) and a song personality, the role that each lyric requires, and the pop star’s art is to
keep both acts in play at once’ (Auslander, 2004: 1).

There are several major differences between the London 2004/Broadway 2005 (both directed by Doyle)
and the London 2012 Production20, the main differences being the cast size and orchestration. Broadway
used a cast of ten actor/musicians who were the only performers in the show, whilst London used nine
principal characters and an ensemble of twenty-one, totalling thirty on stage alone21. The Broadway
production was more subtle in its orchestration, but relied heavily on the piano which didn’t suit the
atmosphere trying to be created.

                                                        
19
Local 802’s president at the time. (American Federation of Musicians).
20
The production’s tryout was at Chichester Festival Theatre.
21
I could not find one electronic source that listed the musicians in the orchestra, which still astounds me, this
implies to me that musicians are not considered as important to the production as the cast, unlike opera where a
position such as first violin is a much coveted one.

Ryan Green 25
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Hairspray

Figure 5: Lon Hoyt directs the cut-off of ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat – Part 1’. (You Can't Stop The Beat –
Hairspray (Conductor Cam), 2013)

The conductor too plays an important extended role in new musical theatre. A keyboard part is more
commonly played by a pianist/conductor as in Hairspray (2002) on Broadway. With new methods of
communication they must conduct into a camera, which is relayed backstage for off-stage vocalists; it is
also relayed to most music desks within the pit. The band play to click tracks, also controlled by the
conductor, and the microphone to the conductors left, shown above, is linked to the orchestra’s
headphones to enable him to count in numbers and control vamps. In Hairspray, the pianist-conductor
also puts on a ‘sparkly’ jacket during the finale: ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat – Part 2.'

Ryan Green 26
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

The Performer and Set Design

Amongst the previously mentioned elements, set design is having a major role in the way musicians are
seen by an audience and how it is influencing their changing roles.

Orchestras in traditional opera and musical theatre were placed below the stage apron where occasionally
only the conductor could be seen to direct the stage performers whilst performing arias and ballads and
other numbers crucial to the story-telling of the show. In more recent years the orchestra pit has been
disappearing particularly in productions such as Cats, where a stage design dictated that a pit would create
a barrier between the stage performers and their audience22. This was therefore removed so that the stage
design – in this case a junkyard, spilt out of the proscenium and into the first few rows of seating, thus
allowing the work to feel more immersive. New contemporary musical theatre productions such as We
Will Rock You and Blood Brothers have the orchestra hidden within the set design to stage right and left,
suspended above the wings to prevent removing seats thus creating more tickets to sell. This also allows
more room for musicians who previously would have been in cramped and very hot quarters below the
stage. This placement also allows for the use of air conditioning, helping to keep instruments in tune
throughout the act. The conductors communicate with the orchestra and the cast via television monitors
placed above the musician’s desks so as to reduce strain on performers’ necks. Having monitors in stage
performers’ eye lines is also cleaner for the audience to watch; their view is not hindered by a conductor
waving their arms about, instead, cut- offs or buttons23 are more spontaneous and sharper, creating a more
unified sound.

In musicals such as Catch Me if you Can (2011, Broadway), the orchestra is set to the back of the stage and
act, purely as a concert band, the story is shown in ‘flash-back’ and performed as if the performers are
there purely to tell a story. In the final song of the show, Frank Abagnale Jr, the show’s protagonist, says
‘Goodbye’ to the audience; the lyrics are sung as if the whole performance is exactly that, a performance,
as if the show is purely for entertainment. Furthermore, the audience are not invited into the show’s
‘world’ but remain alienated throughout and the fourth wall is often broken. By having the orchestra
visible to the audience throughout, they are further reminded that they are watching a performance.

                                                        
22
In Cats the fourth wall is often broken.
23
A ‘button’ is a chord (usually the final chord progression would follow a pattern similar to this: IV, V, I - I) at the
end of a song that signifies to the audience it’s over and prompts them to applaud.

Ryan Green 27
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Figure 6: Lyrics from ‘Goodbye’, Catch Me if You Can – (Shaiman & Wittman, 2011, 14)

The Absent Performer

One area, which I have not touched upon so far, is the absence of a performer, instrument or audience.
While the absence of specific elements may enhance a performance there are some which bring about the
failure of performance altogether. There is a specific relationship between the performer and their
instrument or the extended work they might be required to perform. In John Cage’s 4’33” the absence of
music intensifies the experience of the performance for the audience, the expectation of sound and the
livening of the senses (Hübner, 2013: 146). This piece still requires performers but they have no
responsibility other than to sit in silence and observe the environment they are placed in. There is no such
entity as complete silence, there will always be shuffling, rustling and the sound of noise uncontrollable
from outside the performance space.

Shawn Emamjomeh writes that ‘A live Broadway show […] breaths and changes on a nightly basis due to
myriad reasons,’ and ‘we have a remarkable medium in which performances are taped, edited, and frozen;
it’s called film’ (in Meffe, 2011: 110).

The question Hübner asks in his PhD thesis (2013: 141) is ‘does a theatre without performers mean the
end of theatre?’ My answer here is ‘possibly’. I believe that there is a fine line between an ‘art installation’
and ‘theatre’. I believe that in order for a theatre work to exist, it must engage live performers whereas an

Ryan Green 28
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

art installation requires no live performance24. The presence of the ‘human element’, even if it is not seen,
still makes a work ‘theatre’. On the other hand, fine art installations are works where there is no human
presence, music and design will already be prepared and left to run during the work, which is usually a
durational, static display which its intended audience may enter, and leave.

Coda
From this research it is clear that musicians do have a widening role in all music driven theatre genres
including opera, musical theatre and music theatre and directors and producers are asking more and more
of musicians and pushing them further towards becoming multi-disciplinary practitioners. It is also clear
that the title of ‘musician’ is no longer appropriate but is clearer to laymen who might not understand the
concept of a contemporary ‘performance artist’. Furthermore, the title ‘performance artist’ is one which
confuses people as it has connotations and links to experimental artists rather that those working in
mainstream media. It is also evident that the musician is still considered secondary to actors within
musical theatre even though music is considered the most important aspect of a musical show. However,
in opera and music theatre musicians as performance artists are very much in the forefront of the ‘action’
and remain the driving force behind works, especially where experimentation is prevalent and budgets are
tight. The concept of the orchestra pit is fast disappearing and cleaner, more modern methods of
conductor-orchestra-actor communication are suitable and more popular, nay becoming common
practice.

                                                        
24
By live performers I refer to the presence of all those involved in putting a performance work on –
sound and lighting technicians, out-of-sight musicians and alike.

Ryan Green 29
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Conclusion

My research hypothesis was: The role of the musician within music theatre and musical theatre has
become one, which is so extended that their job title is no longer appropriate. From my research, I
believe this is proven. Musicians, in this work, are given so much extra responsibility that their initial
working title of ‘musician’ is no longer appropriate. This new hybrid performer is a singer, a dancer, an
actor, a musician and in some cases a circus performer and much more, which creates the title of
‘performance artist’. This is true of all music driven theatre, but it is in fact in music theatre the musician’s
role has been seen to be expanded or reduced the most.

From this dissertation, it is clear a musician is no longer just a musician when working in new music
theatre and some new musical theatre works. Theatre musicians already spend years training, honing their
craft, usually from a very young age. They sit examinations in theory and practice then study on university
level courses. Conductors and musical directors may even attend further education, however, Broadway
composers and directors are looking for even more from them. Musicians often have less time to learn
their books and there is often limited ensemble rehearsal time, which is often reserved for notes and
synchronisation not for learning parts (Jacobson, 2012).

In new music theatre, we are seeing that performers are working as multi-disciplinary artists, very much
like musical theatre. However, here, we are seeing that musicians are also having less responsibility over
control of their instruments or the sound that they produce. In musical theatre the orchestra were more
inclined to follow the singers who had more creative control over the way their arias or ballads were
performed. Historically, the orchestra or musicians would have the ultimate control over the overall
performance of an opera.

Although Hübner’s expansive and reductive approach is interesting, we must be weary of removing all
responsibility from the musician as we then change their professional identity. Music driven theatre
cannot exist without ‘music’. Actors and singers rely upon those who compose, orchestrate and perform
music. A music driven theatre work cannot exist without these major elements in place.

The future of musical theatre is unclear. There are few young British artists writing new work and the
West End is relying on revivals such as Miss Saigon as well as long running productions such as Les
Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera in order to keep attracting visitors. There are currently five big

Ryan Green 30
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Broadway-transfer musicals playing in London including: Once, The Book of Mormon and Wicked whereas
only one new British musical opened last year (2013) - Stephen Ward. The West End is struggling for new
work and currently straight plays are becoming more and more popular. Music Theatre too has an
uncertain future. This slightly confused art form tends not to be at the top of peoples’ choice of theatre,
mainly due to its experimental nature but also because of its links to opera and the ‘high-class’ perception
that theatre goers sometimes attribute it to. ‘Music Theatre’ is a phrase, which is commonly used
incorrectly as an umbrella term, and because of this, is often confused with musical theatre. For music
theatre to be fully accepted as a ‘household’ name: either the syntax needs to be clearer or a solid
explanation needs to be universally applied.

This dissertation agrees with, and confirms research already carried out by Dr Hübner. It will hopefully
feed into new, younger music theatre and musical theatre practitioners’ work, and will serve as a body of
research for reference. New music driven theatre is constantly looking for ways to change and develop.
Practitioners are endlessly searching for fresh ideas and ways to deliver effective performance that is
relevant to contemporary audiences. This dissertation has looked towards past and current practices but
can only speculate as to what the future holds for these exciting and dynamic art forms.

Ryan Green 31
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Appendices

This dissertation contains three appendices:

A. Definitions of Music Driven Theatre Art Forms

A concise, academic description of Music Driven Theatre Art Forms and un-common/new terms

referred to within this dissertation.

B. Musicians’ Union Theatre Employment Rules

A few sample rulings from the American Musicians’ Union regarding minimums required for

Broadway theatres and the use of electronic instruments within musical performances.

C. The Expansive and Reductive Approach

Facsimiles of pages from Dr Falk Hübner’s PhD thesis regarding this approach.

Ryan Green 32
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Appendix A: Definitions

This appendix details definitions of terminology used within this dissertation. There is often much
confusion between music theatre and musical theatre. Reasons for this include not just the syntax of the
title given to such theatre works, but the often indistinct definitions of the two.

Music Theatre
Music Theatre is a small-scale, highly experimental, avant-garde art form. The term ‘music theatre’ is
relatively new to the art world. The term comes from a bastardisation of the German ‘Musiktheater’.
Walter Felsenstein coined this phrase in the 1940s (Bawtree in Watson, 2005: 11). The problem with this
phrase could be particular to the English language. The French inclinations of our language lead us to
consider ‘theatre’ to be syntactically foremost (Watson, 2005: 11). In simple terms music theatre could be
said to be a ‘desired sonic event’ involving the elements of music such as pitch; timbre; rhythm and
duration in a certain context such as ‘theatre’. This again can be broken down into gesture; text;
place/space or harmonic space (Vella, 2003).

Music Theatre is often wrongly used as an umbrella term where ‘theatre music’ or ‘music driven theatre’
should be used instead.

‘[‘T]heater music’ […] [T]he music one hears in accompaniment to a piece of theatre.’

(Watson, 2005, 12)

Music Theatre is often created for idiosyncratic ensembles, which is often a barrier to revivals or repeat
performances (Devlin, 1992: 41) Music Theatre works don’t necessarily have to include ‘music’, but must
‘breathe a musical energy’, works are often devised with all production elements such as lighting, music,
movement, chorography thought about before performance. Within music theatre there tends to be no set
roles for performers to play. Actors become musicians and musicians become actors, although this is not a
significant or specific trait.

Ryan Green 33
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Appendix A: (Continued).

Absolute Music Theatre

A term that describes music theatre that contains only material created for one specific work. The music,
text and movement are particular of that one specific piece. There is no previously written material.

No higher precedence is given to music or theatre and capitalisation for one, means capitalisation for both,
i.e. ‘Music Theatre’ or ‘music theatre’.

Musical Theatre
Musical theatre has very clear boundaries, the work is based on popular music, ‘mainstream music’ if you
will, where the ‘show’ is driven by music, more specifically songs. The songs are only included to further
the story line or to show the development of a character’s dramatis personae. Very much like opera works,
musicals usually consist of two acts with an overture or a prologue and an entr’acte. It is not unusual for a
musical to contain only one act such as The Last Five Years, or First Date. In a musical, there is a clear
dramatic framework and they tend to lean toward contemporary subjects and quotidian characters
(Taylor, 2000: 332). Musical theatre first developed in the 1960s alongside music theatre, since then it has
incorporated the use of electronic instruments, but still very much relies upon using memorable melodies
and lush orchestrations which will encourage audiences to keep attending the theatre and buying the cast
recordings.

Gesamtkunstwerk
Gesamtkunstwerk is a Wagnerian concept meaning ‘all embracing art-form’, which some music theatre
works are described as, practically those whose composers, which take a multi-disciplinary approach to
creating work. The concept is similar to Autaud’s theory of ‘total theatre’ where all elements of theatre are
of upmost importance. Gesamtkunstwerk includes: poetry, music/sound, dance, movement, multimedia
such as radio, projection and any other creative material known.

End of Appendix A

Ryan Green 34
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Appendix B: Musicians’ Union Theatre Employment Rules

Rule A
In the 1950s, it was common for every Broadway theatre, hotel and nightclub or entertainment
establishment to have a contract with the musicians’ union that dictated the minimum number of
musicians that must be employed in their ‘space’. In the earliest Local 802 collective files (dated 2nd
September 1963, minimums were based on the size of the theatre:

1. Where the theatre has between 1000 and 1100 seats, the orchestra shall consist of a minimum of
sixteen men.
2. Where the theatre has over 1100 seats, the minimum shall be twenty-five men.
3. Where the theatre has less than 1000 seats, the minimum number of men shall be fixed by the
union’s Executive Board.

(Moriarty in Meffe, 2011: 101)

‘The position of conductor too counted toward the minimum.’ (Meffe, 2011: 100)

Rule B

Electronic instruments such as the Moog, RCA Synthesizer, etc., shall not be used without the
express permission of the Local 802 Executive Board, Such permission shall be granted if use of
electronic instruments does not displace or diminish the earning capacity of any musician.

(ibid.)

End of Appendix B

Ryan Green 35
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Appendix C: The Expansive and Reductive Approach

I have decided to include these facsimiles of Hübner’s PhD thesis, as it is not yet published,
therefore unavailable for public view. These three facsimiles detail the expansive and reductive
approaches.

(Hubner, 2013: 23)

(ibid, 101)

Ryan Green 36
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

Appendix C: (Continued).

(ibid, 144)

End of Appendix C

Ryan Green 37
Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

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Actor, Singer, Dancer and Musician? BA Music

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Ryan Green 41