HISTORY AND CONTEXT

PROFESSIONAL STUDIES 1
 LECTURE 1: ORIGINS OF MUSICAL THEATRE

LECTURE 1:
WHAT IS
MUSICAL
THEATRE?
 What is a Musical?
“Musical (noun): a stage, television or film production
utilizing popular style songs to either tell a story or to
showcase the talents of writers and/ or performers, with
dialogue optional.”
(John Kenrick 14)

Elements of a musical:

1. Music and lyrics – the songs

2. Book / libretto - the connective story expressed in
script or dialogue
3. Choreography – dance
4. Staging – all stage movement
5. Physical production – the sets, costumes, and
technical aspects

(Kenrick, 14)
Back to the roots –
Primitive Theatre

• Stone age: 6000 BCE – 2000 BCE

• Imitation as basis for all theatre
• Lack of knowledge about how theatre
evolved during primitive times
• Anthropologists have studied artifacts,
cave paintings to develop theories about
the birth of theatre
• The “re-enactment of the hunt”
• Re-enactments became rituals
Origins of Greek theatre
6th century BCE

• Ritualism theory explains that

eons of religious / quasi religious
rituals eventually birthed drama
• Dionysus: most popular God in
Greece at the time.
• Dionysus is the God of the grape-
harvest, winemaking and wine, of
fertility, orchards and fruit,
vegetation, insanity, ritual
madness, religious ecstasy.
RITUALS CELEBRATING
DIONYSUS
• 6th century BC – women’s
rituals
• Celebrating Dionysis by
running through
countryside, ripping apart
animals
• “The Bacchae” by Eurpides
Rituals celebrating
Dionysus
• 6th century BCE: twice a year there was
a procession from Eleutheria to Athens
• Worshippers lofted a giant phallus and
sang songs called “dithyrambs”

DITHYRAMBS: CHORAL
HYMNS SUNG TO THE
GODS
Dithyrambs evolved
into theatre
• Dithyrambs evolved into “theatre” when
eventually when singers started acting out the
actions rather than just singing it.
• A popular writer of dithyrambs is said to have
stepped stepped out of dithyramb chorus and
started acting out individual characters and
engaging in call and response. This actor was
called: Thespis. (hence, thespians)
• Thespis learned to switch between characters
and to enhance the effect, used masks.
THEATRE OF DIONYSUS

• Ancient greek theatre built on the slope

of the Acropolis hill in Athens.
• Built in the 4th century BC and had a
capacity of 17,000.
• Stone seating surrounded central stone
circular stage (the orchestra)
• 5th century: wooden seats were added
much like we would today e.g. Regent’s
Park Open Air Theatre.
 Greek Tragedy
• Started off with one actor (protagonist) and a chorus
• This developed adding other actors
• Huge architectural advancements for the next 150
years.
• Tradition became: Three actors and a Chorus
• Highly stylized, using masks
• Late 6th Century, Athens institutionalised Theatre
• Equivalent to the Oscars / Theatre Olympics
• Only MALES could perform or vote for the best play
Qualities of Greek
Tragedies

1. Performed for special occasions E.g. Athens

festivals worshipping Dionysus

2. Competitive: prizes were awarded, and Thespis is

believed to be the first theatrical contest winners.

3. Plays closesly related to religion: most stories

focused on Gods, myths and history

4. Involved a chorus: group of actors / singers.

Singing became foundation of the theatre.
Greek Chorus
• As opposed to the writers who
were highly educated
aristocrats, the chorus was
made up of ordinary amateur
citizen youths.
• It is thought that chorus
training was probably part of
military training, because
dancing and acting together
was similar to military drills at
the time
 The Role of the
Greek Chorus
• Role: Offer background info help the audience follow the story.
• Represent population / community in any particular story.
• Fundamentally political.
• Comment on themes, and suggests how audience should react
• Express character’s inner feelings
• Usually expressed in song form but often lines spoken together
in unison
• Added movement, spetacle, song and dance. Most exciting
moment for the audience
• Can you think of other modern interpretation of the greek
chorus?
Greek Chorus in
Contemporary MT
Exercise:
• Create a “chorus” and choose a protagonist
• Find a mundane task: e.g. bob brushes his teeth,
bob makes a sandwich, bob washes his face

Exploring
• Create at least 6 lines of dialogue (poetic or normal
language)
• Recreate the scene with your protagonist in the

Greek
centre, performing the actions, which the chorus
narrates in an exxagerated way
• Split lines between protagonist and chorus

Chorus
• Create movements from the chorus / musical
deliveries
EXAMPLE
BIBLIOGRAPHY + FURTHER RESEARCH RESOURCES
David, W. and Wiles, D. (2000) Greek Theatre Performance. Cambridge
University Press.
McLeish, K. and Griffiths, T., 2014. Guide To Greek Theatre And Drama.
London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
McLeish, K. and Griffiths, T., 2014. Guide To Greek Theatre And Drama.
London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
CrashCourse. (2018) Thespis, Athens, and The Origins of Greek Drama. 12
December. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeTeK9kvxyo
(Accessed: 27 August 2021).
Kenrick, J. (2010). ”Ancient Times to 1850 – Playgoers, I Bid You Welcome!” in
Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International Publishing, pp.11-18.
Lecture 2: Italian
Renaissance
Theatre and
Commedia
dell’arte
THE M-TEA OF
THE WEEK
 REVIEWS
• “Diana: The Musical review – a right royal
debacle so bad you’ll hyperventilate” – The
Guardian
• “Netflix’s Diana: The Musical is the year’s most
hysterically awful hate-watch” - Stuart Heritage,
The Guardian
• “Diana: The Musical Review: A Shallow Pop
Tribute to a Complicated Icon” – Variety
• “Diana: The Musical review — kitschy Broadway
show is a right royal disaster” – The Times
• “Why the Netflix musical ‘Diana’ is theme-park
schlock and a bad sign for Broadway” – Los
Angeles Times
 BECOME CRITICAL, INDEPENDENT THINKERS

• Watch it for yourself, form your own

opinions
• Ask why? Why do I like it / what don’t I like
and why not?
• Be analytical
• Be respectful, all art is worthy
• Start with a tweet - your “thesis
statement”
Italian Renaissance
• “Renaisance lasts from 1300s – 1600s
(late middle ages)
• Renaissance: Italian word for ”rebirth”
• Describes transition from medieval
times to the “modern world” in Western
Europe.
• Renaissance: introduced idea of
“humanism”
Ø Encouraged an upsurge in human
achievement: music, medicine, vial arts,
physics and theatre
 • Playwrights sick of Roman Dramas and
Greek tragedies, many performed in Latin
• Neoclassical plays: Performed in the current

Neoclassical vernacular
• Italian writers got rid of choruses, moved

Plays
toward greater realism, and often wrote
tragedies with happy endings which were
now called tragicomedies
• Designed to teach useful moral lessons
Renaissance in Italy - Opera
• Invention of Opera – first recorded performance was in 1594
• Pre 1594 between acts of plays, there would be intermezzi
• Intermezzi – little bits of sing, dance and dialogue.
• In total, audience saw 6 per show, connected with beginning middle
and end
• Eventually, this became the most popular part of the play, so operas
developed
Italian Renaissance
Theatre Advancements
• Italian stagecraft advanced:
• Rigging introduced: lighting etc.
• No electricity yet: so still powered by candles
and oil lamps
• 15th century scenic set design: single point
perspective painting / vanishing perspective
• 17th century: shifting scenery: wing panels
moved on grooves
• “How To” books were published, e.g. how to
create sea scapes, detailed effects how to make
gods and clouds rise above the stage, thunder
machines etc
Proscenium Arch

• 1585 Teatro Olimpico opened as a

permanent theatre venue
• It’s widened arch is said to have
influenced later theatres to use the
“proscenium arch” which is seen in
most broadway theatres
TEATRO OLIMPICO
Commedia Dell’arte

• Started in Venice, 16th century, flourished til 18th

century
• Meaning: “artful comedy” or “Comedy of players”
• Grittier and lustier than previous theatre in Italy
• From 1560 women were allowed on stage in Italy.
(Women not allowed for another century in
England)
• Relies on stock characters and improvised situations
using use prearranged lines / ”bits” called “lazzie”
• Lazzo: gags (think banana skin gag)
• Books list hundreds of them, food, butts, etc.
• Mix of improv and script: an audience never knew
how stock characters would react.
Stock Characters AN ACTOR WOULD
GENERALLY PLAY ONE
•H STOCK CHARACTER
THROUGHOUT THEIR
WHOLE CAREER.
Each character had
Stock phrases, stock
“lazzi” and stock
“speeches up their
sleeve”

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL

PLAYING ONE CHARACTER FOR
YOUR WHOLE CAREER?
INFLUENCE OF
COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE
• Popular in Italy throughout
the 16th – 18th century
• Also very popular in France
(Comédie Italienne)
• Elements used in England
“Harlequinade,” Pantomime,
and Punch and Judy Show
(puppet show using “Punch”
a character from CDA.
1. 2. 3.
MASTERS LOVERS SERVANTS
MASKED UNMASKED MASKED
SLAPSTICK
• Now known as a genre of comedy, farce,
silly heightened, Mr Bean etc.
• A “slap stick” – Arlequin's wooden
sword.
• Key component in Commedia dellarte
• When stuck, a loud smacking noise is
made without physical damage.
• Early “whoopee cushion”
• Music Hall in 1800s, Punch and Judy
Shows, Pantomimes, Charlie Chaplin
COMMEDIA
DELL’ARTE AS
TOLD BY FRIENDS
JOEY - HARLEQUIN (ARLECCHINO)

• Lovable by all woman for his

charm and good looks
• Not very bright
• Harlequin is also amorous, this
sometimes gets him into trouble
as he is usually quite selfish
• The most comedic character in
the troupe
 • She is an efficient, carefree servant who is
intelligent enough to have achieved a higher
status
• Flirtatious and sometimes a capricious
• Beautiful and extremely graceful
• Can be cunning and can use her body to get
her way.
• Usually seen in a fashionable dress revealing
her higher status.
• Her stance is a slight tilt from the hips to try
and show off her best features.
• She is loved by both the Harlequin and
Pierrot Stock Characters.
 • He is often a braggart and a swaggerer
• Common lazzi: Capitano gloats
to Arlecchino about his expertise with
the ladies and then proceeds to
demonstrate on Arlecchino how he
would make love to a woman
• When frightened / shocked he often
screams in a high and “womanly”
falsetto or faints
• Plot function: To be exposed or 'de-
masked'. He exists to be stripped of his
excessive confidence and shown in a
moment of panic / humility.
• Chandler’s wisecracker remarks are also
very Arlecchino-esque
• Il Dotore: Highly educated, and
bores the other players into
leaving the stage
• Often speaks nonsense (a
crowd favourite)
• There is also precedence for Il
Dottore to be cuckolded
• Ross also shows elements of
the buffoonish Pierrot: known
for his naivety, dreaminess,
often the butt of pranks
although still trusting of others.
• One of the lovers (innamorata)
• Isabella changed from being
mainly tender and loving in the
16th century to a more sexy
and strong-willed woman with
a "lively, picturesque wit" by
the end of the 17th century.
• Headstrong, dramatic intensity
• Hot and cold, prone to mood
swings
• Lazzi: losing temper and
screaming and shouting until
she gets her way, rolling eyes I
disbelief, long dramatic sighs
Phoebe?
Innamorati, or the
young lovers
• Generally the focus of the story.
• Primary purpose is to fall in love and, as
a result, they tend towards melodrama.
• Generally face several obstacles
throughout the story, but their love
wins out in the end.
• Ross and Rachel best example from
Friends, whose on-again-off-again
relationship provided comedy fodder
throughout the show’s ten-year run.
Commedia dell’arte Emotions Exercise
•Exploring: zanni
vs magnifico
 ZANNI
• The longer Zanni's nose, the more stupid he is.
• Has a lowered center of gravity; either because
he comes from the earth, or as a result of
carrying heavy bags and sedan chairs.
• Arched back
• Knees bent
• Support knee is bent and other leg extended
and toe pointed
• Changes feet repeatedly
• Very small eye holes so you have to use your
head a lot, mask looks great in profile.
• Leg click out to the side made famous by Zanni
• Big, outward energy
• ARLECCHINO is one variation of Zanni
 MAGNIFICO
• AKA Pantelone
• Generally an “old man”
• Animalistic quality: Eagle
• Looks down from his nose
• Pure evil
• When angry he opens his mouth like a
vampire and snarls.
• Demanding and dominating
• Loud booming voice
BIBLIOGRAPHY + FURTHER RESEARCH RESOURCES

Oreglia, G. and Edwards, L., 1982. The Commedia dell'arte. New York:
Octagon Books.
Rudlin, J. and Crick, O., 2001. Commedia dell'arte. London: Routledge.
Commedia dell’Arte: Emotion (2011). Youtube. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlIFR6c7NZc (Accessed: October
4, 2021).
Commedia dell’Arte: A Historical Overview (2011). Youtube. Available
at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqlfTG40RUI (Accessed:
October 4, 2021).
LECTURE 3:
ACADEMIC
ESSAY WRITING
The assessment task is to find a moment of revolution/change in performing arts showing a critical and not merely descriptive
approach.
Specifically, you should evaluate:
The Context of the change (what was going on before);
The Catalyst (people, cultures or organisation);
The Impact (what happened afterwards).
Consider that: the development of theatre and the performing arts is marked by both gradual organic change and moments of
revolution. The catalysts for revolution can be the work of an individual artist or company, a dramatic change in social political
environment, or the convergence of a number of creative and other factors. In your essay, you should provide an analysis and
evaluation of at least one piece of work, which exemplifies this period of change.
The essay should be structured with:
Introduction
Literature review / state of art (500 words)
Case study
Conclusion
Bibliography / Reference list (Harvard method)
The essay must be a minimum of 1500 words (maximum 1750). Essays must be written in Helvetica font 11 and using 1.5
spacing. This assessment will be marked anonymously so you should not include your name, but instead use your student ID
number, programme of study and the title of the assignment in the top, left-hand corner. For example:
Student ID Number
BA Acting/Dance/
Musical Theatre Professional Studies 1 AS History Essay
 STRUCTURING THE ESSAY
• Introduction (200)
• Literature review / state of art (500 words)
• Case study (600)
• Conclusion(200)
• Bibliography / Reference list (Harvard method) (not included)

The essay must be a minimum of 1500 words (maximum 1750)

 LITERATURE REVIEW

The purpose of a literature review is to provide a review of writings on

the given topic in order to establish the reviewer’s own position in the
existing field of scholarship on that topic. A literature review provides a
reader with a comprehensive look at previous discussions prior to the
one the reviewer will be making in his/her own research paper, thesis, or
dissertation. In short, a literature review shows readers where the
reviewer is entering the academic conversation on a particular topic in
the context of existing scholarship.

Writing a Lit Review

 LITERATURE REVIEW

• You are simply stating what different researchers have written in regards to your
topic.
• This is a mini version of a literature review, a thorough literature review would be as
long as the essay itself
• Think of the literature review as similar to an annotated bibliography.
• If you read a book / article and you cite it in your essay at all, put it in the
bibliography. Aim for around 10-20 sources in your bibliography.
• If you use the article / book as a major part of your research– discuss it in your
literature review.
• You might choose to discuss the main 5 or so articles/ books in your literature
review, spending about 100 words on each. Include an overview of the topic, an
explanation of how these publications differ from one another, and an examination
of how each publication contributes to the discussion, and how it relates to your
question.
 LITERATURE REVIEW/ STATE OF ART
1. Once you have a clearly defined question, start to search for relevant
sources:
Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful
databases to search for journals and articles include:
• LJMU library catalogue/ Library at IAB
• Google Scholar
• JSTOR
• EBSCO
• Drama Online

Make a list of key words about your topic and use these to search for
sources.
 Key Words / research phrases

• “Moment of revolution / change”

• “Influence”
• “benchmark”
 LITERATURE REVIEW/ STATE OF ART
2. Evaluate and Select Sources
You probably won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on the topic—you’ll have
to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your questions.
For each publication, ask yourself:
Ø What question or problem is the author addressing?
Ø What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
Ø What are the key theories, models and methods? Does the research use established frameworks or
take an innovative approach?
Ø What are the results and conclusions of the study?
Ø How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or
challenge established knowledge?
Ø How does the publication contribute to your understanding of the topic? What are its key insights
and arguments?
Ø What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?
Make sure the sources you use are credible, and make sure you read any landmark studies and major
theories in your field of research.
 LITERATURE REVIEW/ STATE OF ART
Take notes and cite your sources

• As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that
you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.
• It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid
plagiarism. It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography, where
you compile full citation information and write a paragraph
of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember
what you read and saves time later in the process.
 LITERATURE REVIEW/ STATE OF ART
3. Identify themes, debates, and gaps

To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, you need to
understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read.
Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:
Ø Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less
popular over time?
Ø Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
Ø Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
Ø Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of
the field?
Ø Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?
• This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if
applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.
 LITERATURE REVIEW/ STATE OF ART

Step 4: Outline your literature review’s structure

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature
review. You should have a rough idea of your strategy before you start
writing. E.g. Chronological / thematic / methodological / theoretical.

Because yours is so short, you may want to work in a chronological order,

starting from the earliest writings to the more contemporary research, or
simply in a thematic order. Remember to link them together and
compare and contrast the research.
 LITERATURE REVIEW/ STATE OF ART

5. Write your literature review

• Like any other academic text, your literature review should have
an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. What you include in
each depends on the objective of your literature review.
• Because of the nature of this assignment, it will most likely be
structured as a series of bullet points based on the relevance to your
argument.
 ACADEMIC WRITING
“I believe that Neville Longbottom is one of the
greatest Musical Theatre composers ever. His
works have been performed at Hogwarts over
5,000 times and he has done more for the LGBTQI
community at Hogwarts than any other
playwright.”
Neville Longbottom is widely considered one of
Hogwarts’ “finest Musical Theatre composers” of
the 21st Century (Dumbledore, 2007). It is
estimated that Longbottom’s musicals have been
performed over 5,000 times (Potter, 2010).
Hermione Granger (2018) famously argues that
Longbottom’s musical compositions have done
“more for the LGBTQI+ community at Hogwarts
than any other composer.”
IMPERSONAL, OBJECTIVE WRITING STYLE
WHILE STILL ARGUING A THESIS

“In this essay I will”

“I believe”
”my favourite”
“in my opinion”
Creme and Lea (1997) identified four types of writer: you may recognise
yourself in one of these, or may find you use a combination of
approaches.
 The diver leaps straight in and starts the writing process early
on, in order to find out what she wants to say. The diver starts
The Diver Writer
anywhere to see what emerges, before working towards a
plan.

The Patchwork Writer The writer works on sections (perhaps using headings) quite
early in the process, and combines with linking ideas and
words later

The Grand Plan Writer

This person reads and makes notes, and leaves writing a plan
or beginning writing until they have an almost complete
picture of the essay ready in their head

The Architect Writer The architect has a sense of the structure (perhaps before the
content) and could produce a complex plan or spider diagram
early in the process
Stages in an academic writing process
1.PREWRITING
Everything you do before you start writing; choosing
your topic, research, note taking, brainstorming,
reading, watching, listening.
2. WRITING
Writing / drafting flowing prose in sentences and
paragraphs
3. REVISING
Evaluating, rethinking, reordering, removing, rewriting
and revising what you have written.
4. EDITING
Proofreading, checking citations, creating bibliography
formatting
 FEATURES OF WRITING THAT ASSESSORS VALUE
1. That you reveal your knowledge and understanding of the subject
2. That you show your work is original in the sense that you are not
copying word-for word someone else’s writing.
3. That you are using scholarly method i.e. you reveal the sources of
your research by citing (referring to sources in the text) correctly, and
referencing (listing full entries for your sources in your bibliography).
You are expected to demonstrate critical analysis, which considers the
strength and weaknesses of your sources.
4. A clear, easy to follow structure. Usually with an introduction, main
body and conclusion.
SCHEDULING YOUR ESSAY
 ACADEMIC RESEARCH RESOURCES
• Library at IAB
• Books
• Journal articles
• LJMU Online Library -
• Google + Google Scholar
• Drama Online
• Jstor
• ProQuest
• Newspaper articles / reviews
BIBLIOGRAPHY (HARVARD STYLE)
Creme, P. and Lea, M. R. (2008) Writing at university: A guide for
students. 3rd ed. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.

Day, T. (2013) Success in academic writing. 2013th ed. Basingstoke,

England: Macmillan Education.
REFERENCING RESOURCES

BIBGURU REFERENCING GUIDES

Intro to Harvard Referencing
ESSAY DUE: 14 JANUARY 5PM
You must submit your essay using your
University email address. You should
email your AS1 essay to:
4567mt@iabarcelona.es
LECTURE 4:
18th Century Broadway
• In 1750 Thomas Kean and Walter Murray opened
the first formal theatre in New York on Nassau
Street (prior to American Independence, a
number of the streets in Manhattan were named
by the British Crown).
• The majority of shows were Shakespearian plays
and Ballad Operas
• The Beggars Opera by John Gay was one of the
most popular productions up until the
Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783). The theatres
reopened in 1798.
• This was believed to be the first known
performance of a Musical in New York City.
• Listen to the musical, 1776 and then
Hamilton for context on this subject.
19th Century USA
• Many comedic operas and pantomimes performed
• Regrettably, America’s first original form of national entertainment
came in the racist tradition of the minstrel show.
• 1820s saw the rise in popular Jim Crow Minstrel shows: banjos,
tambourines, song and dance, frequent use of blackface
• Minstrel shows died out in the 1920s but blackface lived on for
many years in movies e.g. “The Jazz Singer” 1927 movie.
• To further separate themselves from British culture after the war of
1812, Americans looked to the music of slaves to create a national
identity.
• Popularity of Thomas Rice’s 1828 hit song “jump jim crow” helped
spark further interest in minstrel shows
• White performers used blackface to portray black characters, anf
then later, black entertainers blackened their own faces to portray
white entertainers portraying black characters..
• The precurser to Vaudevill
• TW for next page
Minstrel Shows
• By the end of the civil war in 1865,
minstral shows began to shift away from
blackface routines slowly, and in 1876,
callander’s minstrels presented the first
all black minstrel troupe to perform
without make up.
• Musical Theatre as we know it today is a
direct evolution of this art form. They
provided these structures for MT
• Three act structure
• Stock characters
• Dialogue, dance and singing in one show
• The “opening” and “finale” number of a
show
Introduction
to Minstrelcy
VIDEO about
minstrel shows
2015 “The
Minstrel Show
Revisited"
Examining “Minstrel
Shows” Today
The Minstrel Show Revisited – Donald Byrd
2014

• performers in blackface singing and dancing while acts of

police brutality take place in the foreground. The 2014
version of Byrd’s show was inspired by the killing of Trayvon
Martin.
• “This revival of The Minstrel Show importantly reveals the
extent to which we have outgrown these racist caricatures,
and the ways we have not.” – The New York Times
• Goal: “offending and enlightening an audience at the same
moment.”
• People walk out in a huff. And the performers admit they can
see us bristling indignantly in our seats
Vaudeville Theatre
• Similar to minstrel shows without
blackface entertainment and less
racist content.
• Theatrical genre developed out of
minstrelcy, freak shows, dime
museums, burlesque.
• More family oriented shows
• First chain of “vaudeville” theatres
owned by Ziegfield Follies.
• Watch film: Funny girl starring Barbara
Streisand
Vaudeville
• In the UK – known as Music Hall.
• Separate acts: musicians, singers, actors,
dancers, comedians, impersonaters, athletes,
trained animals.
• Known as “the heart of american show
business” and was the most popular form of
entrainment until motion pictures came on.
• Many Broadway stars started out in Vaudeville,
Fred astaire, Ginger Rogers, Micky Rooney, Judy
Garland.
• It mid – late 19th century vecame more known
as “Variety Shows” well into the 20th century.
INTRO TO
VAUDEVILLE
SHOWS
The “First musical”
• The Black Crook - Sept 12, 1866 in New York
• Ran 474 performances
• 5 1/2 hours long

Evil, wealthy Count Wolfenstein seeks to marry the

lovely village girl, Amina. With the help of Amina's
scheming foster mother Barbara, the Count arranges
for Amina's fiancé, Rodolphe, an impoverished artist,
to fall into the hands of Hertzog, an ancient, crook-
backed master of black magic (the Black Crook). Her
army defeats the Count and his evil forces, demons
drag Hertzog into hell, and Amina and Rodolphe live
happily ever after.
Video from
“The Black
Crook”
19th Century Theatre – ENGLAND
Two main theatres: Drury Lane Theatre and
Covent Garden Theatre

Melodrama and Burlesque extremely popular

Very elitist form of theatre

Go to the theatre to “be seen”

Opera boxes – Queen Victoria frequented

19th Century - ENGLAND

• Large influence of Opera from Europe

• The majority of theatre was
Shakespeare
• Gilbert and Sullivan emerge with a new
sound and style of writing that paid
homage to Opera but was written in
English with very “contemporary
themes”.
• HMS Pinafore 1878
Gilbert & Sullivan
INTRODUCTION OF “PATTER
SONG”
REFERENCE IN
HAMILTON
In ‘Right Hand Man’, when George
Washington is first introduced, he says:
The model of a modern major general
The venerated Virginian veteran whose men
are
Lining up, to put me on a pedestal.
Which is an explicit reference to this
from The Pirates of Penzance:
I am the very model of a modern Major
General
I’ve information vegetable animal and
mineral
I know the kings of England, and I quote the
fights historical.
 Recap
• 17th Century - Opera was the predominant theatre style that included music, large sets
and movement. The majority was set in Italian, French and German.
• 18th Century - Introduced Ballad Opera (eg. The Beggars Opera). Was written in
English but also only accessible to the wealthy and those with an education.
• 19th Century - Light Opera (Gilbert and Sullivan). Became more accessible and
introduced patter song. This form of writing inspired and challenged writers for the
century.

Homework: Find a Gilbert and Sullivan Song OR a patter song for your repertoire.
Tina star Daniel J. Watts took the stage for a
spoken-word performance in tribute to the
Broadway Advocacy Coalition
BIBLIOGRAPHY + FURTHER RESEARCH
RESOURCES
• Kenrick, J. (2010). ”Gilbert and Sullivan 1880-1899 – Object All
Sublime” in Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International
Publishing, pp.50-75.
 5

Early 20th Century and

the Birth of “The Great
White Way”
• Emergence of American Operetta.
• Popularity of British Musical Theatre (e.g. G&S)
waned after the first world war and was gradually
replaced by MT that integrated ragtime and jazz,
which represented the bustling 20th century
much better than the grand operatic styles of
Europe.
• American composers, George M. Cohan and
Victor Herbert, gave the American musical
comedy a distinctive sound and style. (The Magic
Knight, 1906)
• Producers including Florenz Ziegfeld, George
White, and Earl Carroll regularised the musical
revue in shows like The Ziegfeld Follies and
George White's Scandals
FUN FACT
NYC Subway was built in 1904 providing easy access
to the New York theatre district
 TRIVIA TIME

TRUE / FALSE: Theatre Attendance was

driven up by the United States entering
into WWI in 1917.
• TRUE!
• Musical comedy offered escapism
to the public with song-and-dance
revues like Ziegfeld Follies.
• They typically featured elaborate
costumes, beautiful chorus girls,
and entertainers such as
Josephine Baker, W.C. Fields and
Fanny Brice.
• (Watch Barbara Streisand in Funny
Girl to see a fictionalised depiction
of the entertainer Fanny Brice.)
EARLY 20TH CENTURY - KEY
DATES (1900 – 1920s)

• Florenz Ziegfeld's "Follies of 1907" debuts at

the Jardin de Paris.
• "Marie from Sunny Italy" is the first
published song by a young Russian
immigrant named Israel Baline; the
publishers misspell his name as "I. Berlin."
• Bert Williams is the first black entertainer to
appear in a Broadway show, "Follies of
1910," as a star opposite white entertainers.
FUN FACT:
Electric signs were introduce in the early 20th
century to advertise productions. White lights
were used as coloured bulbs burned out very
quickly, providing the nickname “ The Great
White Way”.
ZIEGFIELD FOLLIES
 TRIVIA TIME
TRUE/ FALSE: Tin Pan Alley, the Central hub of
music publishing businesses in New York City
around the Turn of the Century was nicknamed in
honor of a factory that had previously been
located there.
 TIN PAN ALLEY
• “The musical gems in the American Song Book emerged from one
of the most crassly commercial enterprises in American History –
the sheet-music publishing industry known as “Tin Pan Alley”
(Furia and Patterson)
• Named that by writer Monroe H. Rosenfeld who wrote in the New
York Herald about the stretch of West 28th Street between
Broadway and Sixth Avenue where many publishers had their
offices. Out of the windows were dozens of pianos working on
songs, and the racket reminded him of rattling tin pans, so he
called the area “tin pan alley”
• Began in late 1800s but the 1920s saw a boom in popularity and
commercialisation.
• A collection of NYC publishers and songwriters who dominated the
1920s – including Berlin, Kern, Gershwins, Rogers and Hart, Porter
• Lasted until the 1950s and 60s when records replaced sheet music
(Furia and Patterson) and rock and roll began to emerge
• Revolutionised how music was published, distributed, copyrighted
etc.
• Irving Berlin actually owned his own publishing house.
• During WWII the Office of War tried to work closely with
publishing houses in Tin Pan Alley to create special war time songs
 THE GIRL FROM UTAH
1914
• An Edwardian Musical comedy in two acts.
• Music: Paul Rubens and Sidney Jones (later songs added by
Jerome Kern)
• Lyrics: Aiden Ross, Percy Greenbank and Rubens
• Book: James T. Tanner
• Basic plot: An American Girl runs away to London to avoid
becoming a wealthy Mormon’s newest wife. The Mormon
follows her, but she is rescued by a handsome actor.
• Opened initially in London in 1913, ran for 195 performances.
• An American Version was produced the year later, and the
producer hired Jerome Kern to write new songs for the show.
• “They Didn’t Believe Me” became a hit due to its
unconventioanl style and timing.
• This put Kern in great demand to compose Broadway musicals
and established a pattern for musical comedy love songs that
lasted into the 1960s.
Emma Kingston sings “They Didn’t Believe Me”
CARD GAME MATCH COMPOSERS TO SHOWS /
OVERTURE QUIZ
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Bordman, G. M. and Hischak, T. S. (2004) The oxford companion to American
theatre. 3rd ed. London, England: Oxford University Press.
• Furia, P. and Patterson, L. J. (2016) The American song book: The tin pan alley
era. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
• Sison, K. (2021) Broadway Musical Trivia Book. Bridge Press.
• Kenrick, J. (2010). ”American Ascendance (1914-1919) In a Class Beyond
Compare” in Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International Publishing,
pp.111-156
HOMEWORK

1. Watch Episode 3 of Broadway, The American Musical on YouTube

2. Essay Draft submission Sunday 7 October
LECTURE 6: 1920’s
Tin Pan ALLEY &
founding fathers
of MT 1920s
musicals
TASK: list as many 1920s musicals as you can

Song: Josephine Baker, Blue Skies 1927 by

Irving Berlin
1920s musicals

1920 1922 1924 1926 1928

Sally Little Nellie Kelly, I’ll Say She Is, Lady, Oh, Kay! Rosalie, The Three
The Cabaret Girl Be Good! Musketeers, The
Threepenny Opera,
Treasure Girl

A Connecticut
Music Box Revue, Dearest Enemy, No, Yankee, Good News,
Shuffle Along, Two Poppy, The Golden No Nanette The Show Boat, Strike Fifty Million
Little Girls in Blue Bride Cocoanuts Up The Band Frenchmen

1921 1923 1925 1927 1929

1920S SOCIOHISTORICAL
CONTEXT
• 1920’s was a decade of change for the United States known as
the “roaring twenties”
• Post WW1 - people could afford cars, radios and telephones for
the first time. The world became smaller and more connected.
• Prohibition began in 1920 and encouraged underground parties
and a subculture to form in international melting pots such as
New York, Atlanta and Chicago - (listen to Lippa’s The Wild Party
& watch TV series Boardwalk Empire).
• Musical styles were changing with the popularisation of jazz
and improvised music.
• Tin Pan Alley became a production powerhouse and the
Gershwin’s emerged as two of the biggest names of Broadway
and popular music.
• By 1929 The Stock Market crashed and The Great
Depression hit. People went from owning cars and
telephones to lining up for food stamps.
Irving Berlin
• (born Israel Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September
22, 1989)
• Born in Russia, Berlin arrived in the United
States at the age of five.
• During his 60-year career he wrote an
estimated 1,500 songs, including the scores for
20 original Broadway shows and 15
original Hollywood films, with his songs
nominated eight times for Academy Awards.
• Composed scores of: Annie Get Gun (1946) Top
Hat (1935), White Christmas (1954) Puttin' On the
Ritz (1930) Holiday Inn (1942) Miss Liberty (1949)
Easter Parade (1948)
• 1921: created the Music Box Theatre in NYC which
housed most of the Broadway hits during the 1920s.

•
Jerome Kern
• Born January 27, 1885 – November 11,
1945)
• A native New Yorker, Jerome Kern created
dozens of Broadway musicals and Hollywood
films in a career that lasted for more than
four decades.
• Frequently collaborated with Oscar
Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach.
• Famous works: Show Boat (1927 with
Hammerstein), The Bunch and Judy
(featuring Fred Astaire), Roberta 1935,
• Kern created at least one show every year
for the entire decade of the 1920s e.g., The
Night Boat, Sally, Good Morning Dearie, The
Cabaret Girl, The Beauty Prize, Sunny

•
 COLE PORTER
• June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964)
• Composer of many successful Golden Age Musicals
on
• stage and screen, and standalone songs from the
Great American Songbook
• Unlike many other composers at the time, Porter
usually wrote his own lyrics
• Musicals composed: Kiss Me Kate (1947), Anything
Goes (1934), Can Can (1953 – starring Gwen Verdon),
Silk Stockings (1955), Gay Divorce (1934)
• Notable songs: Night and Day, I’ve Got You Under My
Skin, In the Still of the Night, You’re The Top

FUN FACT: his musical, Kiss Me Kate, won the first ever Tony
Award for Best Musical in 1949
IRA & GEORGE
GERSHWIN
• George Gershwin born September 26,
1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American
composer and pianist
• Ira Gershwin December 6, 1896 –
August 17, 1983) was an
American lyricist.
• In 1929, the Gershwin brothers
created Show Girl, the following year
brought Girl Crazy, which introduced
the standards “Embraceable You” sung
to Ginger Rogers, and ”I Got Rhythm”
1920s Musical Theatre
• In 1927 Jerome Kern changed the face of musical theatre
with Showboat (as discussed in last week’s
documentary)
• By 1928 the Gershwin’s were writing for numbers revues
and had released the somewhat successful, Strike Up
the Band.
• 1927/28 Irving Berlin had written popular songs (What’ll
I Do and Blue Skies) that would be revived some 25 years
later by crooners such as Nat King Cole and Frank
Sinatra.
• In 1927 alone, over 250 shows debuted on Broadway,
and over 50 of them were musicals.
• Broadway actors were the stars of the time.
• Many vaudeville, Ziegfield Follies and early stage and
screen stars emerged such as Fanny Brice, Bert Williams,
Marilyn Miller and Al Johnson.
1920s BROADWAY

"The Roaring Twenties were a result of the

decade prior for a number of reasons. Americans
were eager to move on from their ways of living
during World War I. Things like mass market
advertising, social and cultural movements, and
an economic boom led to a new celebrity culture
that affected all types of art and media.”

- Jennifer Tepper, "Untold Stories of Broadway"

 TRIVIA TIME

What was the first Broadway musical with an

all-Black cast and writing team, which
opened in 1921 and was a smash hit, running
for a record 484 performances?
1921: Shuffle Along
• Written by Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, Aubrey Lyles and F.E. Millers
• A revue-style plot
• Attributed as the first all black musical to succeed on Broadway. It showed black
art could be not only artistically successful but commercial and profitable.
• Sadly it has been largely forgotten and overlooked in the Broadway canon,
largely because of the other controversies of the play
• Caused a Seismic shift in black representation in American Theatre, between
1921-1924 there were roughly nine more all black American musicals. (do we
even see this now?!)
• Popular poet Langston Hughes said this show kickstarted the Harlem
renaissance (Gaines)
• Portrayed black love on stage in a way that had never been done before, and
portrayed women not as maids and jezebels, featured romantic songs such as
“Love Will Find a Way” – which they expected white audiences to riot to. The
song stopped the show with a standing ovation.
• The authors’ (Miller and Lyles) next show popularised the Charleston the
defining dance of the 1920s
• Minstrelsy put black figures on stage, but shuffle along put black people on
stage.
• Show introduced a jazz score with syncopated rhythms
• 2015 revival was nominated for 10 Tonys but didn’t win any.
Shuffle Along launched
the Careers of these
Black artists
L -R: Florence Mills + Fredi Washington
L-R: Adelaide Hall + Josephine Baker
2016 Revival of Shuffle Along
starring Audra McDonald
1923: RUNNING WILD
• Show by the same team of Shuffle Along
following its unprecedented success.
• Choreographer Elida Webb 1895-1975
• She was one of the first black, female
choreographers on broadway.
• She is responsible for popularising the
Charleston. She stated that the steps were
inspired by Harlem children’s dance moves who
were migrants from Charleston in South
Carolina
• The dance style became a craze, many white
choreographers tried to take credit.
• (Victor) Recorded New York, NY, October 10, 1923.
Written-By – Cecil Mack & Jimmy Johnson. From the
Musical Comedy "Runnin' Wild". "Charleston Medley ".
JOSEPHINE BARKER – THE CHARLESTON 1927
From the movie: SIREN
OF THE TROPICS 1927
Josephine Baker started
out performing for
nickels and dimes on the
streets of St. Louis and
eventually became the
toast of Paris doing her
"Banana Dance" in the
1920's. Here she dances
a Charleston. She was
taught by Elida Webb.
 ELIDA WEBB
• Born 1895 in Virginia.
• Broadway Show credits include:
• Flying Colors (1932)
• Show Boat (1932)
• Singing the Blues (1931)
• Lucky (1927)
• “Faught for the inclusion of darker-skinned girls”
at the Cotton Club, ”and in 1932, she was allowed
to hire the clubs first, Lucille Wison.” (Gavin)
• ”To date Webb has received little if any
recodnition, aalthough she would go on to stage
and choreograph many Broadway shows. In 1923
she staged what would become known as the
signature version of the Charleston dance.”
(Brown 198)
 TRIVIA TIME
• The premiere of this musical marked a change in American Musical
Theatre from lighthearted musical comedy to a combination of
spectacle and serious subject matter.

• This 1927 musical is set on the Mississippi River boat the Cotton
Blossom.
1927: Show Boat
• Jerome Kern: music
• Oscar Hammerstein II: Lyricist
• Florenz Ziefield: Producer
• Defined MT as we know it tody.
• It addressed serious topics such as racism,
interracial relationships in the American South,
single Mothers etc.
• Songs were used for the first time to move the
story forward rather than a vehicle to showcase
songs from songwriters strung together with a
thin storyline
• Based on Edna Ferber’s novel. Jerome Kern
wanted to keep the story as close to the story as
possible.
• “Oscar Hammerstein Married European Operetta
and American Musical comedy” – Stephen
Sondheim
1927: Show Boat Video
Marilyn Miller
• 1898 – 1936
• One of the biggest Broadway star during 1920- early 1930s
• Sudden death at age 37 from nasal surgery
• She starred in 14 Broadway musicals, many of which were created
especially for her by top Broadway talents to showcase her triple-threat
dancing, singing & acting abilities, and sparkling stage presence
• Started out in a family vaudeville act
• Featured in Shubert’s Passing Shows of 1914, 1915, & 1917
• Headlined in Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 & 1919
• 1920 starred her in her first book musical – the smash hit, Sally (book by
Guy Bolton, lyrics by Clifford Gray & BG De Sylva, and music by Jerome
Kern & Victor Herbert)
• Had a falling out with Ziegfeld (they may have been lovers) and teamed up
with gay producer Charles Dillingham who starred her in the title role of
Peter Pan (1924) and then Sunny in 1925 (book & lyrics by Otto Harbach &
Oscar Hammerstein, Music by Jerome Kern)
• By this point she was “the highest paid musical comedy performer on
Broadway” with a salary of $3,000 per week – equivalent to nearly
$50,000 today.
• Was known for playing “rags to riches” characters, but her real life did not
have much happiness including 4 failed marriages.
• Song: Look for the Silver Lining, by Jerome Kern, from Sally. Went on to
have multiple recordings, Chet Baker, Leslie Odom Jr, Judy Garland
HOMEWORK
• FIND A PIECE OF
REPERTOIRE FROM
THIS PERIOD THAT
YOU WERE NOT
FAMILLAR WITH PRIOR
TO THIS LECTUREFOR
YOUR BOOK.
BIBLIOGRAPHY + FURTHER RESEARCH
RESOURCES
• Gaines, C. (2021). Footnotes: The Black Artists Who Rewrote the Rules of
the Great White Way. Sourcebooks, Inc.
• Tepper, J. A. (2013). The untold stories of Broadway: Tales from the world’s
most famous theaters. Dress Circle Publishing.
• Knowles, M. (2009). The wicked waltz and other scandalous dances:
Outrage at couple dancing in the 19th and early 20th centuries. McFarland.
• Gavin, J. (2009). Stormy weather: The life of Lena Horne. Atria Books.
• “Show Boat”: Performing Race in an American Musical. By Todd Decker.
Broadway Legacies Series. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.Loverly:
The Life and Times of “My Fair Lady.” By Dominic McHugh. Broadway
Legacies Series. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Lecture 7: 1930s Musical Theatre
TASK: Write down as many 1930s musicals as you can (Roses in December Vera Lynn)
 1930s musicals

Fine and Dandy, Girl
Crazy, Simple Simon,
The New Yorkers,
The White Horse Inn
I Married an Angel,
Careless Rapture, The Boys from
Anything Goes, Life Johnny Johnson, On Syracuse, The Cradle
Flying Colors, Flying Begins at 8:40, Your Toes, Red, Hot Will Rock, You Never
Colors Revenge with Music and Blue Know

1931 1933 1935 1937 1939

1930 1932 1934 1936 1938

As Thousands Cheer, Jubilee, Jumbo, Porgy Babes in Arms, Me The Hot Mikado, The
America’s Dancing Years, Too
Sweetheart, Of Thee Let ‘Em Eat Cake, and Bess and My Girl, Pins and
Pardon My English, Needles Many Girls, Very
I Sing Warm for May
Roberta
1930S SOCIOHISTORICAL
CONTEXT
• Early 1930s USA in great depression
• Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea
pickers in California, Florence Owens Thompson, age 32,
a mother of seven children, in Nipomo, California, March
1936.
• Many Broadway performers moved from New York City to
Hollywood in LA to make movies.
• Despite the depression, Hollywood movie musicals
flourished and a golden age of movie musicals
commenced
• People turned to Broadway and the arts as an escape
from the crisis.
• Due to the economic impact on Broadway, Composers
turned to popular music and writing hit songs for radio.
1930S Post Show Boat Era
and the great depression
• By the mid 1930’s the economy was beginning
to strengthen and so to the numbers on
Broadway.
• 1934, Cole Porter released his first Broadway
musical, Anything Goes. Although he had
contributed to the score and lyrics for other
shows in the late 1920’s and early 30’s, this was
his first production where he was billed as
lyricist and composer.
• In 1935 the Gershwin’s returned with the
critically acclaimed Opera, Porgy and Bess. It
featured a cast of classically trained African-
American singers.
1930S

1935 end of the 30’s

In 1935 Kurt Weill arrived in NYC as an exile By the end of the 30’s Cole Porter, the
from Hitlers Germany foreshadowing the Gershwin's, Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin,
end of the decade and Jerome Kern were the biggest
composers on Broadway

In 1939 the movie THE WIZARD OF OZ

premieres, with songs by Harold Arlen and E.
In 1937 George Gershwin died unexpectedly Y. Harburg. At the same time, the world went
of a suspected brain tumour. back to war.

1937 1939
Ethel Merman as Reno
Sweeney in Anything Goes
film 1936
1931 Of Thee I Sing
• A Political Satire
• Music: Gershwin
• Lyrics: Ira Gershwin
• Book: George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind.
• Ran: 441 performances.
• Directed by Kaufman, it went on to gain critical and box office
success and has been revived twice on Broadway.
• Was the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1932.
• Plot: The presidential race of candidate John P. Wintergreen, who
holds a pageant to determine the most beautiful girl in the country
to be his wife since he is running on the platform of love. (YIKES)

• The updated 1972 CBS TV production of the 1931 Broadway hit

"Of Thee I Sing,
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb2gcl94mIA
 TRIVIA TIME
TRUE/ FALSE: The Librettist of Porgy and
Bess, which premiered in 1935 and featured
a cast of classically trained Black singers,
also wrote the 1925 novel of the same
name.
Porgy and Bess 1935
• True!
• Musical “folk opera” and traditionally sung through.
• Music: George Gershwin
• Lyrics: Ira Gershwin
• Book: DuBose Heyward
• Initially ran for four hours.
• It’s a controversial show as it is a play about black people, written by a
white team.
• Featured a cast of classically trained black singers which was
uncommon at the time.
• Public reception was initially unpopular, but it continued to be revisited
throughout history including a film adaptation in 1959.
• It tells the story of a disabled black street beggar living in the slums of
Charleson and his attempts to rescue Bess from the clutches of Crown,
her possessive lover.
• Some songs became so popular they continue to be recorded, such as
”Summertime”
• Anna Brown, who originated the role of Bess, was the first African
American student to be enrolled at Julliard, studying the violin. She
wrote him a letter, and he wrote the role specifically for her.
This sequence is taken from the 1945 movie
"Rhapsody in Blue", sung by Anna Brown.
The Gershwin’s Porgy and
Bess 2011
• Interesting fact: many were upset that the original show of Porgy
and Bess was being “messed with”
• One of the most vocal was Stephen Sondheim.
• Sondheim wrote a lengthy letter to the New York Times, expressing
his concern that the original was being adapted, saying it was
“condescending” to the audience”, and even calls Audra McDonald
to task for being in the company.
• Director Diane Paulus in 2011 on Broadway adapted the show to
include more dialogue, to present it more like a traditional musical.
This production starred Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis. It had
mixed reviews.
• This was called “the Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess"
• Many feel the characters are portrayed negatively or perpetuating
negative stereotypes. The revival did use POC to try and add more
back story to the characters, and more authenticity.
• Audra McDonald won her ffifth Tony Award for this production.
• Full article:
https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/stephen-
sondheim-takes-issue-with-plan-for-revamped-porgy-and-bess/
Eric Owens and Angel
Blue sing Porgy and
Bess’s Act I duet.
2019–20 season,
Metropolitan Opera.
I MARRIED AN ANGEL
1938
• Music: Richard Rodgers
• Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
• Director: Joshua Logan
• Choreographer: George Balanchine
• Ran: 338 performances.
• Plot: A wealthy banker who, disillusioned with women, decides that the
only mate would be an angel. An angel soon arrives, and he marries her,
but finds out that her perfection is inconvenient.
• Adapted from a Hungarian play called Angyalt Vettem Felesegul by János
Vaszary.
• The show had a modest dozen original songs in the show.
• Choreographer Balanchine responsible for the popular “Snow Ballet”
• Balanchine used the choreography as a vehicle for his fiancée, ballet dancer
Vera Zorina.
• 1942: a film version was produced starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson
Eddy.
• Not revived on Broadway again since 1938 until the 2019 Encores!
Performance (possibly due to its flimsy plot and outdated, sexist storyine)
• Review of Encores! Revival: I Married an Angel Is the Unbreakable Kimmy
Schmidt of 1938 — and Not in a Good Way (Gordon 2019)
https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/reviews/i-
married-an-angel-review_88200.html
Joshua Bergasse
directs the Rodgers
and Hart comedy, I
Married an Angel, for
New York City
Encores! with a cast
that includes Ann
Harada and Sara
Mearns
1930s Movie Musicals
• The cinema of the 1930s was dominated by bold,
elegant, and beautiful musicals.
• During the 1930s, around 400 musicals and musical
films were presented, with successful stage shows
adapted for films including the world-famous
Ziegfeld Follies. Many of the top stars, jazz and swing
performers were soon appearing in films – Duke
Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ethel Merman, Marlene
Dietrich and many more.
• Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers epitomised 1930s
glamor in many movie musicals including : Top Hat
(1935) The Gay Divorcée (1934), Swing Time, Follow
the fleet (1936), Shall we dance? (1937), Carefree
(1937), The story of Vernon & Irene Castle
(1939) and Roberta with music by Jerome Kern.
TOP HAT 1935
THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939
• Beloved American musical fantasy film.
• Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• An adaptation fo L. Frank Baum’s 1900s childrens novel, The Wonderful
Wizard of Oz.
• There had been a Broadway extravaganza of the Wizard of Oz in 1903
which was hugely popular.
• Directed originally by Victor Fleming (who left to take over the troubled
Gone with the Wind)
• Songs written by Edgar Harbug and Harold Arlen. Musical score by
Herbert Stothart.
• Characterised by use of technicolor
• Nominated for six Academy Awards and won best original score and best
original song, “Over the Rainbow”
• Many Musical Theatre interpretations and spinoffs have come since,
including, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 2011 adaptation of the same name,
The Wiz 1975, and Wicked (2003)
 Busby Berkeley
• American film director and musical choreographer.
• Known for elaborate musical production numbers involving
complex geometric pattern.
• Famously used large groups of showgirls and props as fantasy
elements in Kaleidoscopic on screen performances.
• This is “By a Waterfall” from Footlight Parade (1933) on one of
the larges soundstages ever built by Warner Bros.
• Married six times (Hanley 1976)
• Drank heavily, supposedly having martinis in his daily bath.
• Many suicide attempts in the 40s when his career began to slow.
• In 1935 he was responsible for a car accident in which 2 people
died.
• Had many well publicised arguments with MGM stars such as
Judy Garland. He was removed as director of Girl Crazy, because
of disagreements with Garland.
BUSBY BERKLEY 1933 42nd Street
1930S BRITISH MUSICAL
THEATRE
• Music: Noel Gay
• Book and Lyrics: Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose.
• Opened in 1937 at the Victoria Palace Theatre in
London and ran for 1646 performances.
• Notable songs include, 'The Lambeth Walk' and 'The
Sun Has Got His Hat On,’
• The musical was a big hit.
• It was even more successful when it was revived in
1985, starring Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson in
the lead roles.
• The 1980s revisisions were by Stephen Fry and Mike
Ockrent, and received two Oliver Awards and ran for
eight years.
• This version was revived on Broadway 1986 – 1989
and won 3 out of 11 Tony Awards.
HOMEWORK
• FIND A PIECE OF
REPERTOIRE FROM
THIS PERIOD THAT
YOU WERE NOT
FAMILLAR WITH PRIOR
TO THIS LECTUREFOR
YOUR BOOK.
BIBLIOGRAPHY & FURTHER RESEARCH RESOURCES

• Hanley, Robert (1976). "Busby Berkeley, the Dance Director, Dies", in

the New York Times, March 15, 1976, p. 33
• The New York Times. (2011, August 10). Stephen Sondheim takes
issue with plan for revamped “porgy and Bess.” The New York Times.
https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/stephen-sondheim-
takes-issue-with-plan-for-revamped-porgy-and-bess/
• Kenrick, J. (2010). ”Depression Era Miracles (1930-1940) - Trouble’s
Just a Bubble” in Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International
Publishing, pp.168-207
LECTURE 8:
FINESSING
YOUR ESSAY
COMMON ERRORS FROM ESSAY DRAFTS
LECTURE 9:

1940s
Musical
Theatre
Golden Age musicals 1940s

1940 1942 1944 1946 1948

Cabin in the Sky, By Jupiter, This is the Bloomer Girl, Mexican Annie Get Your Gun, St. Kiss Me Kate, Where’s
Louisiana Purchase, Pal Army Hayride, On the Town Louis Woman Charley?
Joey

Allegro, Brigadoon, Gentleman Prefer

Carmen Jones, Oklahoma, Finian’s Rainbow, Blondes,
Best Foot Forward, Lady in One Touch of Venus, Carousel, High Button Shoes, Street Lost in the Stars,
the Dark Something for the Boys Up in Central Park Scene Miss Liberty, South Pacific

1941 1943 1945 1947 1949

1940S Musical theatre
1940 - 1943 the united kingdom and
WEST END

• The Battle of Britain takes place. (Blitz) Germany bombs

the UK and destroys huge sections of London (1940)
• West End shows continued sporadically during the
1940’s but most of the country's focus was on events of
WWII.
• There were brief theatre closures, but the government
felt it was necessary to keep theatres open to cheer
people up, so they re-opened and changed hours of
shows to close by 10pm.
• Theatre continued in the bomb shelters.
• in 1941, 45 AND 49 Me and my Girl was revived on the
West End.
• There were a smattering of original British musicals
during the 1940s but they couldn’t compete with the
Broadway shows such as Oklahoma, Carousel and On the
Town
Music hall (UK)
• Read Julie Andrew’s
Home for her memories
of performing in Music
Hall around the 1940s
with her Mother and
Stepfather from the age
of 8.
1940s USA
• 1940: "Pal Joey," remarkable for its ground-
breaking mature approach to sexuality, opens with
Gene Kelly in the lead; songs include "Bewitched,
Bothered, and Bewildered."
• 1941: United States enters World War II.
• 1941: Mount Rushmore is completed
• 1941: Japanese attack Pearl Harbour
• 1942: Irving Berlin creates another revue for the
U.S. armed forces, "This Is the Army," in which he
performs; he takes the show on tour throughout
the rest of the war.
• Broadway continues to run in a scaled down
capacity during the war
1943 - 1950 THE GOLDEN AGE
BEGINS

• Lorenz Hart dies of pneumonia and the partnership

with Richard Rodgers is over
• Richard Rodgers teams up with relatively unknown
Oscar Hammerstein II and they begin working on a
musical adaptation of Green Grown the Lilacs
• Oklahoma! is the first Rodgers and Hammerstein
Broadway collaboration, opens to rave reviews. It
enchants wartime audiences and runs for 2,212
performances. (1943)
OKLAHOMA!
1943
• Oklahoma! marked the first of nine Broadway
shows written by composer Richard Rodgers and
librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, who would go on
to become the most successful team in musical
theatre history
• First musical to release an original cast
recording
• One of the first shows to cast actors who could
sing as opposed to singers who could act
• Oklahoma! introduced the “integrated
musical” format. A complete synthesis of
music, libretto, lyrics, dancing and staging.
• Agnes De Mille’s choreography was one of the
show’s major innovations as it was the first
time dance was truly used to progress the
story of a musical
Agnes De Mille’s Choreography in the ‘Dream Ballet’
Laurey Makes Up Her Mind / Dream Ballet
Dream Ballets
 DREAM BALLETS
• Dream Ballets were already a
function of Musicals prior to 1943
but it is believed the term was
coined because of Agnes De
Mille’s choreography in Oklahoma
• A dedicated instrumental dance
number, whereas dance breaks
usually occur in the middle of
songs Thus
• Usually do not move the plot
forward but Oklahoma’s one
revolutionarily did
• Can you think of other examples
of Dream Ballets in musicals?
1943 - 1950 THE GOLDEN
AGE

• On the Town marks the Broadway debut of composer Leonard Bernstein

and choreographer Jerome Robbins (1944)
• The first ever original cast album to be released, with songs from
Oklahoma! and the songs hit number one on the charts (1944)
• First computer is built (March, 1945)
• Carousel reaffirms the success of the Rodgers and Hammerstein
partnership (April, 1945)
• Germany surrenders (May, 1945)
• U.S.A drops an atomic bomb on Japan (August, 1945)
• WWII ends (September, 1945)
• United Nations is founded (October, 1945)
• Hitler commits suicide (December, 1945)
• Image: August 14 1945: V-J Day Kiss in Times Square
 1943 - 1950 THE GOLDEN AGE
• Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe have their first big success with
Brigadoon (1947)
• Finian's Rainbow from E. Y. Harburg and Burton Lane, debuts (1947)
• Allegro by Rodgers and Hammerstein opens to an underwhelming
response (1947)
• Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate debuts (1948)
• Television programmes begin to film in NYC and many Broadway
performers are enticed by Hollywood and leave their Broadway careers
(1948)
• First Tony Awards is held (1948), Kiss me Kate wins Best Musical
• Carol Channing is introduced to Broadway as Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes (1949)
• South Pacific speaks to an audience looking for new direction after the
war; the show wins the Pulitzer Prize (1949)
• Lost in the Stars, a sobering look at racial strife in South Africa, is Kurt
Weill's last musical (1949)
 1944 On the Town
• In the show, an “All-American girl” is chosen each month as the winner
of sweepstakes
• At the beginning of the show, Ivy Smith is chosen as the winner
• In the prime of WWII, this production cast Sono Osato as the all-
American girl, Ivy Smith.
• Sono: an American born woman of Japanese descent
• This said to the audience: this is an American woman, and also
portrayed an interracial relationship.
• Sono’s father couldn’t attend as he was detained in an internment
camp as he had been since 1942.
On the Town –
Breaking Barriers

• First Broadway show to feature an

integrated ensemble.
• Black and white people danced together
in 1944!! :’)
• The authors wanted to accurately show
a culturally diverse New York City
• The show also broke boundaries (and
laws) to be inclusive, by having the first
interracial dressing rooms.
On the Town 1944

• The show also featured the first black conductor of a white

Broadway orchestra, Everett Lee.
• He studied violin and piano on a prestigious scholarship
• In 1943 he played in the orchestra (violin and oboe) for an
all black contemporary retelling of George Bizet’s Carmen.
• When the conductor fell ill, Lee took over. Leonard
Bernstein saw this performance with Lee conducting, and
asked him to conduct On the Town
• Sadly, he was met with racism throughout the rest of his
career - notably from Oscar Hammerstein II ;/ - and moved
overseas to pursue other options. He still lives in Sweden.
• Everett Lee is now 104 and still alive today
TRIVIA TIME
TRUE OR FALSE: South Pacific remains the only
musical production to win all four acting
categories at the Tony Awards
• Best Perofmance by a Leading Actor in a
Musical
• Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a
Musical
• Best Peformance by a Supporting Actor in a
Musical
• Best Peformance by a Supporting Actress in a
Musical
 SOUTH PACIFIC 1949
• TRUE! It remains the only musical Production to win Tony Awards
in all four acting categories.
• Ran: 1,925 performances. Won Best Tony Award for Best Musical
1949
• Won Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950
• Based on James A. Michner’s 1947 book, Tales of the South
Pacific
• R&H were trying to make a comeback after Allegro flopped.
• Hammerstein faced troubles writing the military scenes as he
didn’t have any experience, but Joshua Logan did, so he became
the co-author of the book.
• Unique for its time because it bluntly addressed racism. Song
“You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught” faced backlash. R&H refused
to remove it.
• Also first show that had a leading lady who belted rather than
the traditional lyric soprano (Mary Martin) which paved the way
for vocal styles on Broadway.
• The cast album was the bestselling record of 1940s.
• Many revivals and adaptations have come since.
I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair
 TRIVIA TIME
TRUE/ FALSE: The original 1947 musical
Brigadoon features two American tourists who
stumble upon a mysterious village in the
Scottish Highlands that only appears one day
every hundred years. Which two frequent
collaborators provided the music, lyrics and
book?

1. Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II

2. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe
3. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
 BRIGADOON 1947 / SHMIGADOON 2021
Brigadoon is a 1947
Lerner & Loewe
musical about two
lovers who wander
into a Scottish town
that only exists once
every 100 years
When you leave
Brigadoon in the
musical, you need to
fall in love to have a
chance of finding it
again.
Shmigadoon is a
musical TV series
about a couple that
gets lost hiking in the
woods and ends up in
a town they can't leave
In Schmigadoon, you
need to fall in love in
order to leave.
 TRIVIA TIME
The Tony Awards are named for this co-
founder of the American theatre wing:

1. Antoinette Perry
2. Anthony Pemberton
3. Jacob Tony
4. Anthony Burton
 ANTOINETTE PERRY AND
THE TONY AWARDS
• Antoinette (Tony) Perry ((June 27, 1888 – June 28, 1946) was an
American actress, director and co-founder of the American Theatre
Wing.
• Perry became a stage director at a time when women working
offstage in theatre were often relegated to positions as costumers
or dressers.
• She established herself as a director with in "Strictly Dishonorable"
in 1929, in which her daughter Margaret debuted.
• Perry helped found, and was chairwoman and secretary of, the
American Theatre Wing (ATW), which operated the Stage Door
Canteens during World War II, providing entertainment to
servicemen in several American cities.
• The year after her death, her friends and colleagues took action to
memorialize her contribution to the high standards of American
theatre.
• A series of awards were organised in her name, thus the Tony
Awards were created.
HOMEWORK
• FIND A PIECE OF
REPERTOIRE FROM
THIS PERIOD THAT
YOU WERE NOT
FAMILLAR WITH PRIOR
TO THIS LECTUREFOR
YOUR BOOK.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• The American Song Book: The Tin Pan Alley EraPhilip Furia, Laurie
Patterson
• "Learn about Antoinette Perry, the namesake of the Tony Awards".
TonyAwards.com. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
• Ellis Nassour, "Perry, Antoinette" American National Biography (1999)
https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1800930
• Robinson, Alice M. , and Vera Mowry Roberts, et al. eds. Notable Women in
the American Theatre: A Biographical Dictionary (1989)
• Kenrick, J. (2010). ”A New Beginning (1940-1950) – They Couldn’t Pick a
Better Time”, in Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International
Publishing, pp.207-238.
Task:
• Watch Episode 4, Part 1 of Broadway, The American Musical on
YouTube.
• Essay submission due December 17 2021 (CEST)
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
HISTORY AND CONTEXT 2
LECTURE 1: ACADEMIC ESSAY
WRITING
 Individually you are asked to write a 2,000-word essay exploring an aspect of contemporary
performance practice.
For this essay you should find a contemporary performer / writer / director / choreographer / composer and/or movement/kind of theatre,
and produce a detailed evaluation of their work. Please note we do not want a historical description of their work but rather an evaluation
and analysis of their work. You should only include biographical / historical information where it is pertinent to your evaluation and analysis.
You should develop a clear, concise and well developed argument which provides a detailed analysis and evaluation of their work and its
importance in the development of creative theatre practice. You should include at least one detailed evaluation and analysis of one piece of
work which exemplifies their practice – remember evaluation and analysis not description.

You should be able to present an overarching ‘thesis’ or idea that articulates the importance or impact of the individual.

You should include the opinions of others – writers, critics and scholars and reflect their differing opinions. To do this you will need to
undertake considerable amount of research (the internet is not enough and internet sources can only account for 20% of your bibliography.
Exceptions are official newspapers articles, journal articles, reviews and similar that are published on the internet, e.g. a review published on
on-line version of “The Times”. In that case, it would be considered similar to a draft sources).
Your essay should be objective. Whilst your opinion is a wonderful thing it should not cloud this essay. All assertions should be supported by
evidence (either direct from primary sources or from peer reviewed secondary sources).

This essay has some similarity to the one undertaken by you in year one BUT we require a major step change in the level of work you
undertake and the complexity of your argument, evaluation and analysis.
You must choose a different subject from your year one essay.
The essay should be structured with:
- An introduction with your thesis
- a literature review / state of art
- the case study - a conclusion
- bibliography / reference list
The essay must be a minimum of 2000 words (maximum 2250).
 • Individually you are asked to write a 2,000-word essay exploring an aspect of
contemporary performance practice.
•
For this essay you should find a contemporary performer / writer / director / choreographer
/ composer and/or movement/kind of theatre, and produce a detailed evaluation of their
work. Please note we do not want a historical description of their work but rather an
evaluation and analysis of their work. You should only include biographical / historical
information where it is pertinent to your evaluation and analysis. You should develop a clear,
concise and well developed argument which provides a detailed analysis and evaluation of

BREAKING their work and its importance in the development of creative theatre practice. You should
include at least one detailed evaluation and analysis of one piece of work which exemplifies
their practice – remember evaluation and analysis not description.

DOWN THE • You should be able to present an overarching ‘thesis’ or idea that articulates the

TASK:
importance or impact of the individual.
•
You should include the opinions of others – writers, critics and scholars and reflect their
differing opinions. To do this you will need to undertake considerable amount of research
(the internet is not enough and internet sources can only account for 20% of your
bibliography. Exceptions are official newspapers articles, journal articles, reviews and similar
that are published on the internet, e.g. a review published on on-line version of “The Times”.
In that case, it would be considered similar to a draft sources).
• Your essay should be objective. Whilst your opinion is a wonderful thing it should not
cloud this essay. All assertions should be supported by evidence (either direct from primary
sources or from peer reviewed secondary sources).
 THE TASK:

1. Find a contemporary performer / writer / director /

choreographer / composer and/or movement/kind of
theatre, and produce a detailed evaluation of their work.

2. Develop a clear, concise and well developed argument

which provides a detailed analysis and evaluation of their
work and its importance in the development of creative
theatre practice.

Simply: Find a contemporary artist / movement / company and analyse and evaluate its
significance to the world of theatre.
 PICKING A SUBJECT

• A contemporary performer / writer / director / choreographer /

composer and/or movement/kind of theatre who you can argue
significantly contributed to the theatre canon.
• “Contemporary” - last 150 years
• Avoid Lin Manuel Miranda, unless you can come up with a really
original Thesis
Creme and Lea (1997) identified four types of writer: you may recognise
yourself in one of these, or may find you use a combination of
approaches.
 The diver leaps straight in and starts the writing process early
on, in order to find out what she wants to say. The diver starts
The Diver Writer
anywhere to see what emerges, before working towards a
plan.

The Patchwork Writer The writer works on sections (perhaps using headings) quite
early in the process, and combines with linking ideas and
words later

The Grand Plan Writer

This person reads and makes notes, and leaves writing a plan
or beginning writing until they have an almost complete
picture of the essay ready in their head

The Architect Writer The architect has a sense of the structure (perhaps before the
content) and could produce a complex plan or spider diagram
early in the process
 FEATURES OF WRITING THAT ASSESSORS VALUE
1. That you reveal your knowledge and undesrstanding of the subject
2. That you show your work is original in the sense that you are not
copying word-for word someone else’s writing.
3. That you are using scholarly method i.e. you reveal the sources of
your research by citing (referring to sources in the text) correctly, and
referencing (listing full entries for your sources in your bibliography).
You are expected to demonstrate critical analysis, which considers the
strength and weaknesses of your sources.
4. A clear, easy to follow structure. Usually with an introduction, main
body and conclusion.
IMPERSONAL, OBJECTIVE WRITING STYLE
WHILE STILL ARGUING A THESIS.

“In this essay I will”

“I believe”
”my favourite”
“in my opinion”
Stages in an academic writing process
1.PREWRITING
Everything you do before you start writing; choosing
your topic, research, note taking, brainstorming,
reading, watching, listening.
2. WRITING
Writing / drafting flowing prose in sentences and
paragraphs
3. REVISING
Evaluating, rethinking, reordering, removing, rewriting
and revising what you have written.
4. EDITING
Proofreading, checking citations, creating bibliography
formatting
 ACADEMIC WRITING
“I believe that Neville Longbottom is one of the
greatest Musical Theatre composers ever. His
works have been performed at Hogwarts over
5,000 times and he has done more for the LGBTQI
community at Hogwarts than any other
playwright.”
Neville Longbottom is widely considered one of
Hogwarts’ “finest Musical Theatre composers” of
the 21st Century (Dumbledore, 2007). It is
estimated that Longbottom’s musicals have been
performed over 5,000 times (Potter, 2010).
Hermione Granger (2018) famously argues that
Longbottom’s musical compositions have done
“more for the LGBTQI+ community at Hogwarts
than any other composer.”
SCHEDULING YOUR ESSAY
LITERATURE REVIEW
FURTHER RESEARCH RESOURCES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Creme, P. and Lea, Mary R. (1997) Writing at University: A Guide for
Students. Buckingham: Open University Press
Day, Trevor. Success in Academic Writing (MacMillan Study Skills)
 Lecture 2
1950s & 1960s
THE END OF THE
GOLDEN AGE AND
DAWN OF THE ROCK
MUSICAL
 1950s IN THE USA
• Post-World War II “boom”, the dawn of the Cold War and the Civil Rights
movement
• Booming economy, booming suburbs and the “baby boom.”
Approximately 4 million babies were born each year during the 1950s in
the USA
• Gross national product (GNP) more than doubled, growing from $200
billion to more than $500 billion, kicking off “the Golden Age of American
Capitalism.”
• A growing group of Americans spoke out against inequality and injustice
during the 1950s.
• In 1954, in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, the Supreme
Court declared that “separate educational facilities” for black children were
“inherently unequal.”
• Southern whites resisted the ruling. Many children were withdrawn from
public schools and enrolled in all-white “segregation academies”. Violence
and intimidation was used to prevent blacks from asserting their rights.
• In 1956, more than 100 Southern congressmen even signed a “Southern
Manifesto” declaring that they would do all they could to defend
segregation.
• In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city
bus to a white person. Her arrest sparked a 13-month boycott by black
citizens, which ended when the bus companies stopped discriminating
against African American passengers. Acts of “nonviolent resistance” like
the boycott helped shape the civil rights movement of the next decade.
1950s LIST AS MANY 1950S MUSICALS
AS YOU CAN
1950s Golden Age Musicals

1950 1952 1954 1956 1958

Call Me Madam, Guys Wish You Were Here, Fanny, House of Bells are Ringing, Goldilocks, Say Darling
and Dolls, Out of this New Faces of 1952 Flowers, Peter Pan, Happy Hunting, Lil’
World Salad Days, The Abner, Mr. Wonderful,
Pajama Game, My Fair Lady, The
Most Happy Fella

A Tree Grows in Can-Can, Hazel Flagg, Damn Yankees, Pipe Fiorello, Gypsy, Once
Brooklyn, Paint Your Kismet, Me and Juliet, Dream, Plain and Fancy, Cinderella, Jamaica, The Upon a Mattress,
Wagom, Top Banana, The Boyfriend, Saturday Night, Silk Music Man, West Side Redhead, The Sound of
Two on the Aisle Wonderful Town, Stockings Story Music, Gypsy

1951 1923 1955 1957 1959

 1950s BROADWAY
• The Golden Age was at its peak during the early 50’s.
• The “founding fathers” of Musical Theatre including,
Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter
and the Gershwin’s had received years of success on
the back of their internationally acclaimed productions.
• Musical Theatre composers had, up until the 50’s,
acknowledged the popular musical idioms - jazz and
ragtime for example, by appropriating the sounds and
structures for the Broadway stage.
• In Popular Culture, Rock n Roll was emerging as the
latest musical craze and artists such as Elvis Presley
were having a massive impact on small town America
• Singers like Presley combined the crooning style of
Sinatra with new age charm, youth and grit.
• The Musical Theatre world was slow to catch on to the
latest craze and instead played to the older audience
demographic.
1954 – The Boy Friend
• Music, book and lyrics: Sandy Wilson
• Ran: 485 performances
• Julie Andrews is flown from the UK to Broadway to make her
US debut in The Boyfriend
• She turns 19 the next day!
• West End 1953, while Julie was in Cinderella
• Book music and Lyrics by Sandy Wilson
• Set in the 1920s: at the time “contemporary period piece”
• My Fair Lady producers saw her in this piece and
approached her for Eliza Doolittle
• Revived Broadway 1970, West End 1984
• Film: 1984
 GUYS AND DOLLS 1950

• Music & Lyrics Frank Loesser

• Book: Originally Jo Swerling but producers replaced him with Abe Burrows.
• Director: George S. Kaufman
• Choreographer: Michael Kidd
• Ran: 1,200 performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (previously 46th
street theatre)
• Opened 1950 on Broadway and 1953 West End. Has had several successful
revivals.
• In 1976 there was an all-black revival featuring Motown syle musical
arrangements by Dany Holgate and Horace Ott.
• Had a successful film adaptation in 1955 starring Frank Sinatra in the role of
Nathan Detroit
• Based on Damon Runyon’s collection of short stories about the New York
underworld of gangsters and gamblers of the 1920s and 1930s
• Won Tony award for Best Musical
• Also selected for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but Abe Burrows had been
revealed as a communist sympathiser, so nobody was awarded the award
that year!!
• Had a mainly positive reception, has been hailed as the "it is the best and
most exciting thing of its kind since Pal Joey. It is a triumph and a delight.”
(McClain quoted in Suskin 1990)
West Side Story 1957

• Music: Leonard Bernstein

• Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
• Book: Arthur Laurents
• Director and Choreographer: Jerome Robbins
• Ran: 732 performances before touring
• Producer: Harold Pricne

• Inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

• Nominated for six Tonys, but lost best musical to the
Music Man
• 1961 a successful film adaptation, 2021 film adaptation
by Spielberg
• Has has numerous West End and Broadway revivals
The Music Man 1957

• Music: Meredith Willson

• Lyrics: Meredith Willson
• Book: Meredith Willson
• Director: Morton DaCosta
• Choreographer: Onna White
• Ran: 1,375 performances
My Fair Lady

• Music: Frederick Loewe

• Lyrics: Alan Jay Lerner
• Book: Alan Jay Lerner
• Director: Moss Hart
• Chorepgrapher: Hanya Holm
• Ran: 2,717 performances
BONUS FACT

• Although Andrews had originated the role on

stage, the part of Eliza ultimately went to Audrey
Hepburn, who was already a major movie star
• Jack Warner (producer of MFL film, argued that
Andrews was not famous enough).
• Andrews got the last laugh when she was cast in
the highly-anticipated Walt Disney movie Mary
Poppins
• Both were nominated for Oscars that year, but
Andrews won. Andrews thanked Warner, saying:
“and, finally, my thanks to a man who made a
wonderful movie and who made all this possible in
the first place: Mr. Jack Warner.”
PARALLELS to today

• With a huge influx of movie adaptations of

musicals, we see stars playing roles instead of the
actors who played them on Broadway – discuss
TASK LIST AS MANY 1960S
MUSICALS AS YOU CAN
Post Golden age musicals 1960s

1960 1962 1964 1966 1968

Bye Bye Birdie, Camelot,
Christine, Do Re Mi,
Oliver, The Fantastiks,
The Unsinkable Molly
Brown
A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way
to the Forum, Mr.
President, Blitz!, Little
Me
Anyone Can Whistle,
Fiddler on the Roof,
Funny Girl, Hello, Dolly!,
Man of La Mancha,
Golden Boy
Cabaret, I Do! I Do!, It’s
a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s
Superman, Sweet
Charity, The Apple Tree,
Mame
Promises, Promises,
Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat,
Canterbury Tales,
George M! Zorba

1776, Oh! Calcutta! Dear

Calamity Jane, How to
Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying,
Stop the World I Want to
Get off
Half a Sixpence, 110 in
the Shade, Oh, What a
Lovely War!, She Loves
Me, Jennie, Hot Spot
Anne of Green Gables,
Flora the Red Menace, On
a Clear Day You Can See
Forever, Drat! The Cat!
World, Jimmy,
Celebration, Salvation,
Hair, You’re a Good Man, The Fig Leaves are Falling,
Charlie Brown, Now Is the
Time for All Good Men,
Hallelujah, Baby!

1961 1963 1965 1967 1969

1960S SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
1960S SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN
MUSICAL THEATRE

• Oscar Hammerstein II dies (1960)

• Musicals begin to reflect the political and social climate
• Popular musical styles influence the compositional fabric of the musical genre
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying wins the Pulitzer Prize (1962)
• Sondheim introduces himself as a composer and lyricist
• Irving Berlin composes his final musical, Mr President
• Harold Prince has his first success as a director with, She Loves Me (1963)
• Cole Porter dies (1963)
• Fiddler on the Roof opens (1964)
• Rock music emerges in Broadway
• Hello Dolly is recast with an all-black ensemble (1967)
• Tony Awards are broadcast on TV for the first time (1967)
• Bernadette Peters and Angela Lansbury make their Broadway debuts
• Nudity on Broadway – Hair (1968)
• Broadway as a Business and Cash -Cow!
• Confusion of the Musical Genre
Hair 1969 Tony Awards
StEPHEN SONDHEIM

• Born 1930, USA

• An American composer and lyricist known for his work in musical
theatre
• He made his first significant mark on Broadway, though, as the
lyricist for Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story (1957).
• Wrote lyrics for Gypsy 1959, music by Jule Styne
• Has won 8 Tony Awards, more than any other composer on
Broadway)
• In 1960, Sondheim lost his mentor and father figure, Oscar
Hammerstein II.
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON
THE WAY TO THE FORUM (1962)

• Music: Stephen Sondheim

• Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
• Book: Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
• Director: George Abbott
• Producer: Hal Prince.
• Chorepgrapher: Jack Cole
• Ran: 964 performances

• Won best Musical and many other Tony Awards, and had many
Broadway and West End revivals.
• Inspired by the farces of ancient roman playwritght Plautus.
• Title derives from the line often used by Vaudeville comedians
to begin stories: “a funny thing happened on the wat to the
theatre”
• 1966 film adaptation.
• Originally show was not selling well, so Jerome Robbins was
called in to make changes and Sondheim wrote the opening
“comedy tonight”
 Anyone Can Whistle (1964)
• Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
• Book: Arthur Laurents
• Director: Richard Ouzounian
• Producer:
• Chorepgrapher: Herbert Ross
• Ran: 12 performances.

• Opened April 4 1964 on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre

• Generally considered a “flop”
• Described by theatre historian Ken Mandelbaum as "a satire on
conformity and the insanity of the so-called sane,”
• According to Sondheim, "Lansbury was so insecure onstage, and
unhappy with her performance, that we considered replacing her.
Ironically, it soon became apparent that it had been Lascoe, an old
pro...who had made her feel like an amateur. The minute his much
less confident understudy took over, she felt free to blossom, which
she spectacularly did." Sondheim called the reviews "humiliating"
and the audiences "hostile.”(2010 Sondheim)
• The show became a cult favourite, and a truncated original cast
recording released by Columbia Records sold well among
Sondheim fans and musical theatre buffs.
HOMEWORK
• FIND A PIECE OF
REPERTOIRE FROM
THIS PERIOD THAT
YOU WERE NOT
FAMILLAR WITH PRIOR
TO THIS LECTUREFOR
YOUR BOOK.
BIBLIOGRAPHY + FURTHER RESEARCH RESOURCES
• Book by Arthur Laurents, Mandelbaum, Ken (1991). Not Since Carrie: Forty
Years of Broadway Musical Flops. p. 128.
• Sondheim, Stephen. (2020). Anyone Can Whistle. Finishing the Hat:
Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) With Attendant Comments..., Random House
Digital, Inc., 2010, ISBN 0679439072, p.111
• Suskin, Steven. Opening Night on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the
Golden Era of the Musical Theatre, pp. 272-276. Schirmer Books, New York,
1990. ISBN 0-02-872625-1
• Kenrick, J. (2010). “Broadway takes the stage (1950-1963) – The Street
Where You Live” in Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International
Publishing, pp.238-265.
• Kenrick, J. (2010). “Rock Rolls In (1960-1970) – Soon It’s Gonna Rain” in
Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International Publishing, pp.265-298.
LECTURE 3: TASK: LIST AS MANY
1970S MUSICALS AS YOU
PEACE, LOVE AND HAIR CAN
 1970s Musicals

Applause, Company, Pacific Overtures, Ain’t Misbehavin’,

The Rothschilds, Mack & Mabel, The The Baker’s Wife, Evita, The Best Little
Purlie, The Me Frogs, Shenandoah, Starting Here, Whorehouse in
Nobody Knows Pippin, Sugar The Magic Show Starting Now Texas, Working

1971 1973 1975 1977 1979

1970 1972 1974 1976 1978

Godspell, Follies,
Godspell, Grease, A Little Night Music, A Chorus Line, By Annie, I Love My On the Twentieth
Jesus Christ Gigi, Raisin, The Jeeves, Chicago, The Wife, The Act Century, Sweeney
Superstar, Two Rocky Horror Show Wiz, Snoopy! Todd, Tell Me on a
Gentlemen of Sunday
Verona
 1970s Significant Events
• The popular band "The Beatles” announce they have disbanded.
• The United States invades Cambodia
• The first jumbo-jet, the Boeing 747, makes its debut commercial
flight from New York to London.
• Qatar and Sierra Leone become independent from United Kingdom
• Belize and the Bahamas gain independence from the United Kingdom
• The first microprocessor, the 4004, is released by Intel
• The Watergate Scandal begins when White House operatives are
caught burglarizing the Democratic National Committee
• The United States Supreme Court declares that abortion is a
constitutional right in the landmark decision on the Roe v. Wade case
• U.S. President Richard Nixon resigns from office after being
implicated in the Watergate Scandal
• The world's population is an estimated 4 billion people
• The Vietnam War ends
• Bill Gates and Paul Allen create Microsoft
• The popular late-night sketch show, Saturday Night Live, airs for the
first time
1970s Significant Events
• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak create the Apple Computer
Company
• Control of the Panama Canal is returned to Panama from the
United States
• Amnesty International wins the Nobel Peace Prize
• The computer video game Space Invaders is released
• The Walkman is introduced by Sony.
• Michael Jackson's debut solo album "Off the Wall" is
released
• Another significant factor in the 70's was the growth
in women's rights and women's role in society including the
ability to decide when where and if they wished to have
children (partly through the availably of the contraceptive
pill)
• Email was invented in 1973
• Progressive rock created a new generation of bands including
Genesis, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Pink Floyd
• ABBA was launched
 Cabaret 1972 Film

•\
GREASE MOVIE 1978

• Music:
• Lyrics:
• Book:
• Director:
• Ran:
COMPANY 1970

• Music:
• Lyrics:
• Book:
• Director:
• Ran:
 FOLLIES 1971
• Music and lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
• Book: James Goldman
• Director: Harold Prince
• Choreographer: Michael Bennett
• Ran: 522 performances

• Nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won seven.

• The second-most costly performed on Broadway to that date
• Has had numerous West End and Broadway revivals, book cand score
continues to be adapted with the times, songs removed etc, intermission
sometimes removed.
• Received mix reviews.
• Original production was a financial failure lost $792,000 (Chapin 2005,
p.310)
• After the failure of Do I Hear A Waltz? (1965), for which he had written the
lyrics to Richard Rodgers’s music, Sondheim decided that he would
henceforth work only on projects where he could write both the music and
lyrics himself.
• Originally titled The Girls Upstairs
• Prince agreed to work on this if Sondheim agreed to work on Company.
• several of its songs have become standards, including "Broadway Baby",
"I'm Still Here", "Too Many Mornings", "Could I Leave You?", and "Losing My
Mind".
MUSIC IN FOLLIES

Some of the Follies numbers imitate the style of particular composers of

the early 20th century: Losing My Mind is in the style of a George
Gershwin ballad “The Man I Love”
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR 1971

• Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber

• Lyrics: Tim Rice.
• Book:
• Director:
• Ran:

• Rock opera
• Loosely based on Gospel’s accounts of the last week of
Jesus’s life
• Initially were unable to get backing for a stage
production so released it as a rock concept musical
album.
• Ran for over eight years in London, 1972-1980 holding
record for longest running WE musical before being
overtaken by Cats
• Production had some relgious geoups protesting
THE MAKING OF JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR 1971
GETHSEMANE 2004 CONCERT
Chicago 1975
• Music:
• Lyrics:
• Book:
• Director:
• Ran:
Chicago 1975 / 2019
HOMEWORK
• FIND A PIECE OF
REPERTOIRE FROM
THIS PERIOD THAT
YOU WERE NOT
FAMILLAR WITH PRIOR
TO THIS LECTUREFOR
YOUR BOOK.
BIBLIOGRAPHY + FURTHER RESEARCH
RESOURCES
• Kenrick, J. (2010). “New Directions (1970-1979) – Vary My Days” in
Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International Publishing,
pp.298-318
• Chapin, T. (2005) Everything was possible: The birth of the musical
follies. New York, NY: Applause Theatre Book.
 TASK: LIST AS MANY
LECTURE 4: 1980s 1980S MUSICALS AS YOU
CAN
1980s Musicals

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988

42nd Street, Barnum, Is There Life After High Chess, Just So, Leader of A Wonderful Life, Hot Carrie, Fame, Lucky Stiff
Les Misérables, Marry School, Little Shop of the Pack, The Rink, Mikado, Rags, Smile
Me a Little Horrors, Song and Starlight Express, Sunday
Dance, Nine, Seven in the Park with George,
Brides for Seven
Brothers
Aspects of Love,
Charlotte’s Web, City of
Bring Back Birdie, Cats, Angels, Closer than Ever,
Dreamgirls, Merrily We Baby, Blood Brothers, La Grand Hotel, Miss Saigon,
Roll Along, Woman of the Cage aux Folles, Singin’ in Big River, Drood, Grind, Into the Woods, Sarafina! Meet Me in ST louis,
Year the Rain, Mayor, Nunsense Late Nite Comic Whistle Down the Wind

1981 1983 1985 1987 1989

 1980s USA Significant
Events
• Conservative politics, the cold war, AIDS, computer technology and “Blockbuster”
movies incl.
• Nine to Five and MTV changed history and ignited a new pop culture in the 1980’s
• MTV launched changing the face of music
• John Lennon is assassinated (1980)
• Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan (1981)
• First publication regarding AIDS is published acknowledging the need for prevention
and control (1981)
• Ethel Merman dies (1984)
• Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident (1986)
• The average cost of a production of Broadway hits $3 million
• The “Just Say No” movement was part of the U.S. government’s effort to revisit and
expand the War on Drugs.
• The NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded on (1986)
• ABBA, ACDC , Michael Jackson, David Bowie and The Police were some of the biggest
recording artists
1980S Significant Events
(UK)
• Spain and United Kingdom agree to reopen the border
between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969
• Prince Charles married Lady Diana 1981
• Margaret Thatcher continued as Prime Minister
• Population of the UK was just over 56 million
• Over 50% of households had a phone and digital phones
were introduced
• Blondie, Culture Club, Michael Jackson and Rick Astley
were the largest artists of the UK in the 1980’s
1980 42nd STREET
• David Merrick: Producer
• Gower Champion: Choreographer
• Music: Harry Warren, Al Dublin, Johnny Mercer
• Ran 3,500 performances
• Based on Bradford Rope’s 1932 novel of the same name
which had been made into a 1933 film (Busby Berkley)
• One of the first successful adaptations of a film into a
musical, Gigi in 1973 is the only other attempt which flops.
• 1980s more contemporary and edgey shows, but Merrick
took a risk to bring back classic MT nostalgia.
• Audiences raved about it
• It won Tony for Best Musical, had a successful run on the
West End and revival in 2001.
1980 42nd STREET
BONUS FACT
“BRITISH INVASION” / the
“MEGAMUSICAL"
• Following the “British invasion” in popular
music in the 1960s starting with the Beatles
• Sung through musicals incredibly popular
• Clive Barnes “You come out humming the
scenery” (Frommer)
• Spectacular, unapolagetically commercial
• Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon
CATS 1981/2
• Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Lyrics:
• Director:
• Choreographer:
• Producer: Cameron Mackintosh
• Ran: 21 years on West End, 19 Broadway
• Based on T.S. Eliot’s Collection of poems, Old Possum’s
book of Practical Cats
• 1977 ALW started a songcycle based on the poems, an
exercise
• Initially difficult to raise funds because of the nature of
the show
• ALW took out 2nd mortgage on his house to pay for some
of the costs
• Opened West End 1981, then Broadway 1982.
• Show cemented the british megamusical on Broadway
• One of the first shows to use synthesizers in the
orchestrations.
 CATS JAPAN
• Cats in Japan has a purpose built theatre
which has played continuously since
1983
• Yoshiko Hattori was the original
Jennyanydots in Japan and played the
role for over 20 years, continuing to
perform even after being diagnosed with
Esophageal cancer. With a total of 4,251
performances, she holds the cast record
for the most performances in the
Japanese production. She died in 2007 at
the age of 55
• Became wildly popular in Japan and
caused a musical boom bringing multiple
international musicals to Japan since.
CATS - JAPAN
NEW APPROACH TO
MARKETING
• Merchandise exploded
• Prior to this most shows limited their
merch to souvenir programs,
songbooks and maybe T-shirts.
• Cats splashed their logo on mugs,
toys, keychains, caps, music boxes,
figurines, christmas ornaments
LES MISERABLES 1986
• Music: Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boubil
• English Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer
• Producer: Cameron Mackintosh in conjunction with the Royal
Shakesepare Company
• Based on Victor Hugo’s novel when he saw Oliver!
• Started as a 1980 Concept Album and a short, successful production in
Paris.
• Sung through musical
• Nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won 8 including Best Musical, Best
Book, Best Original Score
• Multiple versions globally
• Has been cited as one of the greatest musicals ever, Broadway World,
The Guardian, Rolling Stone
• London production ran 1985 – 2019, playing over 13,000 performances
• Broadway ran 1987 – 2003, making it the second longest running
musical in Broadway History.
• 2012 fim version directed by Tom Hooper was generally well receieved,
the singers used ear pieces which fed them the accompaniment to
which they would sing as opposed to the traditional method of lip
syncing to a prerecorded soundtrack
MISS SAIGON 1989
• Music:
• Lyrics:
• Book:
• Director:
• Ran:
 THE PHANTOM OF THE
OPERA 1986/88
• Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Lyrics: Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe
• Book: Gaston Leroux
• Opened 1986 West End, 1988 Broadway
• Won Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Musical.
• Currently the longest running show in Broadway
history, celebrating its 10,000th Broadway
performance in 2012, the first ever performance to do
so (Bordman 2004)
• With total estimated worldwide gross receipts of over
$6 billion and total Broadway gross of over $1 billion
(Cox 2020)
• Mostly sung through with some lines of dialogue
 TRIVIA TIME

TRUE / FALSE: Andrew Lloyd

Webber’s adaptation of Gaston
LeRoux’s 1910 novel, The
Phantom of the Opera, was the
first musical adaptation of that
story.
TRIVIA TIME

FALSE: The first

musical
adaptation of
The Phantom of
the Opera was in
1976, with a
score by Ken Hill
 NEW MUSICALS
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (1981)

• Music:
• Lyrics:
• Book:
• Director:
• Ran:
SUNDAY IN THE PARK
WITH GEORGE (1984)
• Music:
• Lyrics:
• Book:
• Director:
• Ran:
CARRIE 1988
“BROADWAY FLOPS”
• Music: Michael Gore
• Lyrics: Dean Pitchford
• Book: Lawrence D. Cohen
• Director:
• Ran: 16 previews and 5 shows

• Adapted from Stephen King’s 1974 Novel – Carrie.

• Originally premiered in the UK in 1988.
• Broadway transfer cost 8 million.
• Liz Callaway was the original Chris
• Originally produced by the Royal Shakespeare company
• The crew was unable to douse Hateley with fake blood without causing her
microphone to malfunction. Rewrites continued following each show.
• 1976 film version
• Opening on broadway, boos and cheers from audience.
• Have had off west end and off broadway revivals in the 2010s.
HOMEWORK
• FIND A PIECE OF
REPERTOIRE FROM
THIS PERIOD THAT
YOU WERE NOT
FAMILLAR WITH PRIOR
TO THIS LECTUREFOR
YOUR BOOK.
BIBLIOGRAPHY + FURTHER RESEARCH
RESOURCES
• It Happened on Broadway: An Oral History of the Great White Way By Myrna
Katz Frommer, Harvey Frommer
• Not Since Carrie
• EPISODE 28: CAMERON MACKINTOSH & THE BRITISH INVASION OF BROADWAY
(OR SONDHEIM VS THE POPERETTA) BROADWAY PODCAST NETWORK
• Gerald Martin Bordman (2004). The Oxford companion to American theatrep.496.
Oxford University Press. "A British musical based on Leroux's famous novel".
• Cox, Gordon. "Wicked Surpasses The Phantom of the Opera at the Broadway Box
Office". Variety. Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
• Kenrick, J. (2010). “Spectacles and Boardrooms – As If We Never Said Goodbye” in
Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International Publishing, pp.318-342.
 1990S MUSICAL THEATRE:
LECTURE 5 THE DISNEY JUGGERNAUT, LARSON AND JRB
TASK:
LIST AS MANY 1990S MUSICALS THAT YOU CAN THINK OF
1990s Musicals

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998

Assassins, Five Guys
Named Mo, The Life,
Once on this Island,
Falsettoland
Crazy For You, Falsettos,
Hot Shoe Shuffle,
Nunsense II, Putting it
Together, Ruthless,
Scrooge
Beauty and the Beast, A
Christmas Carol,
Copacabana, Passion,
Smokey Joe’s Café
Big, Floyd Collins, Rent,
State Fair, When Pigs Fly,
Whistle Down the Wind
(ALW), Zombie Prom,
ILYYPNC
A New Brain, Aida,
Doctor Doolittle,
Footloose, Hedwig, High
Society, Parade,
Ragtime, Saturday Night
Fever

And the World Goes
‘Round, Children of Eden,
Phantom, The Secret
Garden, Will Rogers
Follies
Annie Warbucks, Chaplin,
Honk, Sunset Boulevard,
Kiss of the Spider Woman,
The Who’s Tommy
Jane Eyre, John & Jen,
Victor /Victoria, Songs for
a New World, Jane Eyre
Bat Boy, Side Show,
Jeckyll & Hyde, Titanic,
Violet, The Scarlet
Pimpernel, Steel Pier,
Sideshow, The Lion King,
Fosse, The Hunchback of
Notre Dame, Mamma
Mia! Naked Boys Singing!
Maire Christie, The Civil
War

1991 1993 1995 1997 1999

1990s Significant Events
• Pop Culture took flight
• 95 million americans watched the O.J. Simpson verdict
on TV, not guilty of the double murder of his ex-wife,
Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman
• Bill Clinton’s approval ratings went up during the monica
Lewinsky scandal.
• Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa in
1994 as genocide was occurring in another African
nation, Rwanda
• 1996: Dolly, first mammal cloned from an adult somatic
cell
• 1997: the first "Harry Potter" book hit the shelves
• 1997: Britain's Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris.
• 1998 Bill Clinton impeached
• 1999: the EURO debuted.
 1990s Significant Events in
Musical Theatre
• The 46th Street Theatre is renamed in honor of Richard Rodgers (1990)
• "A Chorus Line" finally closes, 15 years after it opened (1990)
• With a record-breaking $36 million advance, "Miss Saigon" makes it to Broadway with
Jonathan Pryce in the lead role (1991)
• The Walt Disney Co. makes its first foray onto Broadway: a stage adaptation of the animated
film BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1994)
• Top ticket price on Broadway: $75 for a revival of "Show Boat."
• Julie Andrews returns to Broadway in “Victor/Victoria,”(1995)
• Rent (1996) with book, music, and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, opens downtown at the New York
Theatre Workshop. Tragically, Larson dies on the night of the final dress rehearsal and does not
see his rock musical make it on Broadway.
• The King and I is revived on Broadway, this time with the Siamese roles played by an all-Asian-
American cast - first discussions around authentic casting (1996)
• "The Lion King" opens at the renovated New Amsterdam Theatre and is a phenomenal hit for
Disney. The show's director/designer Julie Taymor is the first woman to win the Tony for Best
Director. (1997)
• In the early 1990’s, box office sales plummeted and revivals of productions from the Golden
Age were reintroduced to boost sales
• The Disney juggernaut arrives on Broadway - Shows like The Lion King have since made Disney
over $8.1 billion.
• Corporatisation and commercialisation of Broadway and The West End becomes the new norm
 LION KING

• Music: Elton John

• Lyrics: Tim Rice
• Book: Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi
• Director Julie Taymor ( first woman to be awarded this)
• Produced: Disney Theatrical Productions
• Was an adaptation of the popular 1994 Disney Animation film
• Taymor increased presence of female roles in the lion King, notably changing Rafiki
to a female role, also made Nala a strong role, giving her “Shadowland”
• Great article in “reframing the Musical” Disney's The lion king on Broadway (1997)
as a vital sign for understanding civic and radicalized presence in the early twenty-
first century / Brian Granger
• Taymor’s exceptional costume design earned her another Tony award.
 1990’s MT
1990 1991
• Assassins • And the World
• Bran Nue Day Goes Round
• Children of Eden
• Falsettoland
• The Secret
• Jekyll and Hyde Garden
• The Life • The Will Rogers
• Once on this Island Follies
 1990’s MT
1992 1993
• Crazy for You • Chaplin
• Cyrano • Honk!
• Falsettos • Sunset Boulevard
• Hot Shoe Shuffle • The Who’s Tommy
• Kiss of the Spider
Woman
• My Favourite Year
• Putting It Together
• Ruthless
 1990’s MT

1994 1995
• Beauty and the Beast • Jane Eyre
• A Christmas Carol John and Jen
• Passion • Songs for a
• Smokey Joes Café New World
• Sunset Boulevard • Victor/Victoria
 1990’s MT

1996 1997
• Big • Amour
• Floyd Collins • Bat Boy
• I Love You, You’re • The Lion King
Perfect, Now Change • Scarlet
• Martin Guerre Pimpernel
• Rent • Side Show
• Whistle Down the Wind • Steel Pier
• Titanic
• Violet
 1990’s MT

1998 1999
• A New Brain • Fosse
• Aida • Mamma Mia!
• Footloose • The Hunchback of
• Hedwig and the Notre Dame
Angry Itch • The Marvelous
• Parade Wonderettes
• Ragtime • The Civil War
• Reefer Madness • Naked Boys Singing
• The Boy from • Marie Christine
Oz
• Doctor Doolittle
 RENT 1996
• Music, lyrics and book: Jonathan Larson
• Director:
• The concept was originally developed by his friend and playwright Billy Aronsonin in
1988, until Larson went out on his own
• Started as series of workshops at New York Theatre Workshop 1993, 1994 and then
opened there in 1996.
• Transferred to Broadway in 1996 and ran for 12 years
• Jonathan Larson tragically died the morning of the first preview so never saw his
success.
• Show is based on the Puccini opera “La Boheme” and on Larson’s own life experiences
living in the East village amidst the punk rock scene
• Themes of homelessnessand the AIDS epidemic.
• Rent was the first show to offer $20 rush tickets before the show to make it accessible
to a younger audience.
 CRAZY FOR YOU 1992
• Music and Lyrics: Gershwin Brothers
• Direction: Mike Ockrent
• Choreography: Susan Stroman
• Book: Ken Ludwig
• In 1988 a wealthy Texas Businessman, Roger Horchow dreamt of producing a revival
of the 1930 musical Girl Crazy
• He spent 5 million on the rights from the Gershwin estate.
• The Girl Crazy book was far too dated fand racist for 1992, so they hired Ken Ludwig
to write a new book which included some songs from Girl Crazy and other Gershwin
songs
• Marked a revitalisation of American Musical Theatre after a decade of a huge
invasion of British musicals.
• Won Best Musical at the Tony awards beating out mhot new works such as Falsettos
etc, proving that audiences had love and nostalgia for classic musical theatre
“When future historians try to find the exact moment at which Broadway finally rose
up to grab the musical back from the British, they just may conclude that the
revolution began last night. The shot was fired at the Shubert Theater, where a
riotously entertaining show called "Crazy for You" uncorked the American musical's
classic blend of music, laughter, dancing, sentiment and showmanship with a freshness
and confidence rarely seen during the "Cats" decade.”
(Rich 1992)
JUKEBOX MUSICALS
• Jukebox musicals existed well
before the 1990s but the 90s
and early 2000s ushered in a
new wave of them
• 1997: Boogie nights (70s
music)
• 1998 Saturday Night Fever
(Bee Gees)
• 1999 Mamma Mia (ABBA)
• 1999: The Marvelous
Wonderettes (female vocal
groups throughout the 1950s
and 1960s)
 MAMMA MIA 1999
• Music:

• Lyrics:

• Book:

• Director:

• Ran:
HOMEWORK
1. FIND A PIECE OF
REPERTOIRE FROM THIS
PERIOD THAT YOU
WERE NOT FAMILLAR
WITH PRIOR TO THIS
LECTUREFOR YOUR
BOOK.
2. Create a concept for a
new Jukebox musical
with a basic plot outline,
characters and song list
featuring music from an
artist / group of artists
that has not been done
before
BIBLIOGRAPHY + FURTHER RESEARCH RESOURCES
• Rich, F. (1992) “Review/theater: Crazy for you; A fresh chorus of Gershwin
on Broadway,” The New York times, 20 February. Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/20/theater/review-theater-crazy-for-
you-a-fresh-chorus-of-gershwin-on-broadway.html (Accessed: September
2, 2021).
• Whitfield, S. (ed.) (2020) Reframing the Musical: Race, Culture and Identity.
1st ed. London, England: Red Globe Press.
• (N.d.). Broadwaydirect.Com. Retrieved September 11, 2021, from
https://broadwaydirect.com/julie-taymor-lasting-legacy-lion-king/
• Kenrick, J. (2010). “Musical Comedy Returns (The 2000s) – Where Did We Go Right?” in
Musical Theatre: A History. Continuum International Publishing, pp.370 – 383.
Lecture 7: 2020s Modern Trends and
Developments
TASK: LIST AS MANY 2000S – 2010 MUSICALS THAT YOU CAN THINK OF
2000S MUSICALS
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008
Bare: A Pop Chitty Chitty A Little Princess, Chaplin, Dusty, 9-5, HSM2,
Opera, Seussical, Bang Bang, Brooklyn, Dirty High School Ordinary Days,
The Full Monty, Hairspray, Dancing, Mary Musical, Priscilla, Shrek,
The Wild Party Thoroughly Poppins, Willy Sister Act, The Flashdance,,
(LaChiusa and Modern Millie, Wonka, Spelling Wedding Singer, Marguerite, Next
Lippa), The
We Will Rock Bee, The Woman Spring to Normal, Toxic
Witches of
You, Hairspray in White Awakening Avenger
Eastwick

The Last 5 Years, All Shook Up, The Rock of Ages,

Light in the Piazza, Daddy Longlegs,
Tick, Tick…Boom! Avenue Q, Cry-Baby, In the
Urinetown, The Jersey Boys, The American Idiot,
Memphis, Caroline Heights, The Pirate
Producers, The or Change, Evil Color Purple, Billy Giant, Catch Me if
Queen, Xanadu,
Elliot, Little You Can, Bonnie
Visit Dead, Wicked The Little
Women, Spamalot and Clyde
Mermaid, Legally
2001 2003 2005 Blonde
2009
2007
BEST MUSICALS at the Tony Awards
2000-2010
• 2000: Contact
• 2001: The Producers, the new Mel Brooks musical
• 2002: Thoroughly Modern Millie
• 2003: Hairspray
• 2004: Avenue Q
• 2005: Monty Python’s Spamalot
• 2006: Jersey Boys
• 2007: Spring Awakening
• 2008: In the Heights
• 2009: Billy Elliot, The Musical
TASK:
LIST AS MANY 2010 -2021 MUSICALS THAT YOU CAN THINK OF
2010s musicals

2010 2012 2014 2016 2018

American Idiot, Elf, A Gentleman’s Guide…, 21 Chump Street, Bright Anastasia, Freaky Friday, Beetlejuice, Jagged Little
Heathers, Matilda, The Allegiance, Clinton, Star, An American in Hadestown, SpongeBob Pill, Moulin Rouge!,
Addams Family, Women Dogfight, First Date, Paris, Sunny Afternoon, SquarePants, The Prom, Pretty Woman, The Cher
on the Verge of a Kinky Boots, Let it Be, The Last Ship, Groundhog Day, A Bronx Show, Tina: The Tina
Nervous Breakdown Newsies, Bodyguard, Tale Turner Musical, Tootsie
Rocky
American Psycho, Amélie, Be More Chill,
Aladdin, Bring it On, Cinderella, Come From Bend It Like Beckham, Ain’t Too Proud, Bat Out & Juliet, Diana, Hercules,
Death Takes a Holiday, Away, Big Fish, Beauriful, Dear Evan Hansen, of Hell, Everybody’s Mrs. Doubtfire,
Ghost, Once, Top Hat, Fun Home, King Kong, Hamilton, School of Rock, Talking About Jamie,
Spider Man, Book of Bridges of Madison Waitress, Something Mean Girls, Six, The
Mormon, Wizard of Oz County, Stephen Ward Rotten! On Your Feet! Lightning Thief, Summer:
The Donna Summer
2011 2013 2015 Musical 2019
2017
BEST MUSICALS at the
Tony Awards 2010 -2020
• 2010: Memphis
• 2011: The Book of Mormon
• 2012: Once
• 2013: Kinky Boots
• 2014: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
• 2015: Fun Home
• 2016: Hamilton
• 2017: Dear Evan Hansen
• 2018: The Band’s Visit
• 2019: Hadestown
• 2020: TONY AWARDS POSTPONED
JUKEBOX MUSICALS
2000 - 2010
• 2002: We Will Rock You (Queen)
• 2002: Our House (Madness)
• 2005: Lennon (John Lennon)
• 2005: Jersey Boys (Frankie Valli and the
Four Seasons)
• 2005: All Shook Up (Elvis Presley)
• 2006: Dusty – The Original Pop Diva (Dusty
Springfield)
• 2006: Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Various
Artists)
• 2007: Xanadu (Electric Light Orchestra and
Olivia Newton John)
 HAMILTON 2015
• Music:
• Lyrics:
• Book:
• Director:
• Ran:
• Sung and rapped through musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
• Tells the story of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton
• Draws heavily from multiple musical styles; hip hop, R&B, pop,
soul, and traditional-style show tunes.
• Known for progressively casting BIPOC actors as the Founding
Fathers and other historical figures.
• "America then, as told by America now” – (Edward, 2020)
• The Disney + deal, worth an estimated $30 million to Miranda personally
2013
• Multi Tony award winning musical adapted by Lisa Kron
and Jeanine Tesori from Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic
memoir of the same name.
• First Broadway musical to have an (acknowledged) lesbian
as the central character
• Plot is based on the true life experiences of the writer,
Alison Bechdel and her Father, Bruce.
• Tesori had composed multiple Broadway musicals
including Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002), Caroline or
Change (2004), Shrek the Musial (2008) and Violet (2014).
• Lisa Kron was a critically acclaimed playwright, but this was
her first musical
• They were the first female writing team to win the Tony
Award for Best Original Score of a Musical.
• Alison Bechdel is known for creating “the Bechdel Test”
see next slide.
RULES OF THE BECHDEL TEST:

1. THE WORK MUST FEATURE AT LEAST TWO WOMEN

2. THOSE WOMEN MUST TALK TO EACH OTHER
3. THEY MUST TALK ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN A
MAN

TASK: NEXT TIME YOU ARE WATCHING A MUSICAL, OR

CONSUMING ANY WORK OF FICTION, SEE IF IT PASSES THE
“BECHDEL TEST.”
EMERGENCE OF MUSICAL
THEATRE TV SHOWS
GLEE (2009-2015)
“The most recent, successful intersection of media culture and
the Broadway musical is the run-away hit Glee.” – Barrie Gelles

• Gelles’ article: “Ghosting of the musical theatre canon” –

what is “Ghosting?”
• The “Glee Effect”: The TV show Glee is credited with
increased audiences, bigger attendances at auditions and
more musicals being performed
• Bringing stage stars such as Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenowith
and Neil Patrick Harris into the mainstream has helped
familiarize the general public with the musical theatre
industries
• “Last year [2009], the Glee cast had 25 singles in the Billboard
Hot 100, the most by any artist since the Beatles, who had 31
in the chart in 1964.” (Armstrong, 2010)
 CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND
• Produced in 2015 by The CW and ran for four seasons, ending on
2019
• One of the lowest-rated shows in television history to be
renewed through four seasons by its parent network (Porter
2019)
• Formed a notable cult following, with the cast selling-out various
live performances on a tour Created, written, and directed by
Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna and stars Bloom in the
lead role as Rebecca Bunch
• “This is different from most TV musicals of recent vintage, the
backstage shows like Glee (2009-15), Smash (2012-13), Nashville
(2012-), and Empire (2015-), which define characters by their
talent and sincere, virtuosic performance, all motivated
realistically. As in many classic films and television shows, the
characters on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend break into song, shifting from
diegetic space into the fantastical realm of a musical number.”
(Newman 2016)
• “Crazy Ex thereby confronts the sexism inherent in the Broadway
musicals from which it draws its inspiration” (Shine 2020)
 SMASH (2012-2013)
• American musical drama television series created by
playwright Theresa Rebeck and developed by Robert
Greenblatt for NBC. Steven Spielberg served as one of the
executive producers.
• “audiences develop emotional associations with theoretical
texts: ones that they have never seen in full, because these
texts do not actually exist outside the fictional world”
(Sedgman).
• In June 2015, following a sold-out reunion performance at
the Minskoff Theatre, it was announced that Bombshell
would head to the Broadway stage. No timeline was
announced and it never eventuated
• In May 2020, shortly after a virtual cast reunion during a
live-streamed concert, it was announced that a musical
based solely on the plot of the series was in the works for a
Broadway production. Spielberg, Greenblatt, and Meron are
all attached as producers,, Wittman and Shaiman's score,
and Bergasse returning to choreograph
ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY
PLAYLIST 2020
• Created by Austin Winsberg that premiered on January 7, 2020
on NBC
• “Jukebox” musical TV show featuring Pop songs from Queen to
Britney Spears to Lizzo
• “Zoey wants to carry Rebecca’s torch—going so far as
casting Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Skylar Astin as a lead—but it’s
plagued by a confusing premise, flat performances, and a soulless
reliance on existing music to co-opt any emotional charge.”
(Knight 2020)
• Each episode features multiple song-and-dance numbers that
develop the storyline
• n June 2021, the series was canceled after two seasons, but is
expected to shop to other networks.
• Features the exceptionally talented non binary performer Alex Newell, who
has been in Glee and Once on this Island on Broadway
 META ON META
MUSICA THEATRE INCEPTION
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL THE MUSICAL
THE SERIES 2019 - PRESENT
• American mockumentary musical drama streaming
television series created for Disney+ by Tim Federle,
inspired by the High School Musical film series.
• The series stars pop stars Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua
Bassett
• Because the series is about a high school theatre
group putting on a show, most of the songs are
diagetic / acknowleged songs, although there are still
non-diagetic songs conforming to the expectations of
Musical Theatre, e.g. “When There Was Me and You”
(this song also contains a fair amount of “ghosting”
 SCHMIGADOON
• Released on Apple TV in 2021
• Director: Barry Sonnefeld
• Choreography: Christopher Gattelli
• Created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio
• Songs by Cinco Pau
• Parody and homage to the Golden Age musicals of
1950.
• Featured a cast of Musical Theatre professionals

TASK: Watch the first episode and list the musical

theatre references.
SCHMIGADOON - TRIBULATION
THE MUSIC MAN – YA GOT TROUBLE
MUSICAL THEATRE IN POP CULTURE:
THE “RUSICAL”
HOMEWORK
1. FIND A PIECE OF
REPERTOIRE FROM THIS
PERIOD THAT YOU
WERE NOT FAMILLAR
WITH PRIOR TO THIS
LECTUREFOR YOUR
BOOK.
2. Think of a Musical
Theatre TV show that is
NOT musical adjacent.
Come up with a concept
and song ideas and a
dream cast.
BIBLIOGRAPHY + FURTHER RESEARCH RESOURCES
• Newman, M. Z. (2016) “Crazy ex-girlfriend,” Film criticism, 40(3). doi: 10.3998/fc.13761232.0040.311.
• Wallenberg, C. (no date) “schmigadoon!” creator reveals the musicals that inspired the songs, Tvinsider.com. Available at:
https://www.tvinsider.com/1008224/schmigadoon-songs-musical-references-inspiration-cinco-paul/ (Accessed: September 3, 2021).
• Feb, B. Y. J. A. (no date) Are we living in a new golden age of musical theatre?, Essayzilla.org. Available at: https://essayzilla.org/wp-
content/uploads/2020/12/20190521191531are_we_living_in_a_new_golden_age_of_musical_theatre____playbill.pdf (Accessed: September 3, 2021).
• Mandell, J. 2013. 8 ways television is influencing theater (no date) Howlround.com. Available at: https://howlround.com/8-ways-television-influencing-theater
(Accessed: September 3, 2021).
• Lewis, I. (2020) “From ‘Glee’ to ‘The Eddy’, why are TV musicals so few and far between?,” Independent, 8 May. Available at:
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/eddy-netflix-review-musical-tv-glee-crazy-ex-girlfriend-galavant-a9501766.html (Accessed:
September 3, 2021).
• Shine (2020) “‘I’m on my own path’: Musical development of the musical in crazy ex-girlfriend (2015–2019),” Music and the moving image, 13(3), p. 15.
• Porter, R. (2019) TV Long View: ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s’ unique ratings history, Hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Available at:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/crazy-girlfriends-unique-tv-ratings-history-1199892/ (Accessed: September 3, 2021).
• Bentley, J. (2020) How ‘Zoey’s extraordinary playlist’ creator turned his grief into NBC’s joyful musical dramedy, Hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood
Reporter. Available at: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/zoeys-extraordinary-playlist-boss-turned-grief-joy-musical-series-1267457/ (Accessed:
September 3, 2021).
• Why musicals are TV’s problem child — kill your darlings (2020) Com.au. Available at: https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/why-musicals-are-tvs-
problem-child/ (Accessed: September 3, 2021).
• “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is arguably the only US TV musical to ever genuinely, respectfully and reliably engage the genre’s raison d’être.” (Knight 2020)
•
Lecture 7:
2020s: Virtual Musical
Theatre, The “Zoom-
ical”, Tik Tok Musicals
and MT in Pop Culture
2020-2021: Significant Events
• Covid 19 Pandemic caused global lockdown; Broadway goes dark for the longest period in
history
• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry leave Royal Family
• Impeachment of Donald Trump, Biden elected President of the USA
• Donald Trump supporters Storm the capital
• Harvey Weinstein convicted of Rape
• Australian and Californian Bushfires
• Police killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor spark #BLM protests
• Explosion in Beirut
• BREXIT: UK left the EU 31 January
• US Afghanistan Exit plan causes disarray
BRIEF HISTORY OF
BROADWAY CLOSURES
• Contrary to many reports, Broadway remained open during the 1918
Flu Pandemic, but many theatres closed around the rest of the country
including vaudeville theatres and silent movie houses
• Why? New York had fewer cases
• Many soldiers had returned from WWI bringing the virus back with
them, but the NYC barracks weren’t hit as hard
• Measures introduced: no smoking, no kids, no standing room tickets
and staggered starting times, to avoid traffic on the subway
• In 1919 the Actor’s Equity Association organized a strike against
Producing Managers Association, and performances ceased for a
whole month
• September 11th 2001: following devastating terrorist attack, Broadway
shut down for 2 nights
• Various stagehand, orchestra and performers strikes have closed
Broadway down for a few days
• Some natural disasters such as Blizzard of 2016, Hurricane Sandy 2012
and Hurricane Irene in 2011 has caused Broadway to shut down for a
few days
 BRIEF HISTORY OF BRITISH
THEATRE CLOSURES
• Theatres of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras
were frequently closed down because of
health scares and civil unrest
• 17th century, the frequency of outbreaks
prompted the Privy Council to issue an order
that theatres should close when the death toll
rose above 30 a week.
• Shakespeare wrote many of his best plays
while theatres were shut down
• 1642: Puritan led parliament closed theatres
downb because“stage-plays representative of
lascivious mirth and levity” (Wells 2020)
• Theatres also went during the Blitz WWI I (air raids) in
1939
QUESTIONS:

• Now that live theatre is returning,

what is the place of “virtual”
performances? Did it serve its
purpose as a substitute? Or will we
continue to stay in the comfort of
our own homes to watch theatre?
• Does virtual theatre make it more
accessible / affordable to the
masses?
• Will live theatre survive?
 THE “ZOOMICAL” &
VIRTUAL MUSICAL THEATRE
• During the pandemic, many theatre
companies have turned to online versions
• Not always live theatre but a virtual
subgenre emerging out of the pandemic in
the form of online dramas
• Range of types: from multicamera high
budget films to recorded interactive zoom
plays.
• NT Live – “NT at home” scheme: screened
17 shows and had 15 million views from
across 170 countries
• NT: each filmed show costs around 300-
500,000 pounds – it needs live
theatre to fund the filmed theatre
ZOOM THEATRE - CHEKHOV’S THE SEAGULL
VIRTUAL MUSICAL
THEATRE
Lambert Jackson Productions and Crazy Coqs' virtual
production of the 2013 Broadway musical, First Date

• October 2020 limited virtual engagement streaming

globally on BroadwayHD
• Starring Samantha Barks and Simon Lipkin
• Dean Johnson: director and videographer
• FIRST DATE: book by Austin Winsberg and Music and
Lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Wiener
• Plot follows New York rom-com style “blind date”
VIRTUAL MUSICAL
THEATRE
Lambert Jackson Productions and Crazy Coqs' virtual
production of the 2013 Broadway musical, First Date
TRAILER FOR FIRST DATE
 TIK TOK MUSICALS – HISTORY OF DIGITAL-AGE
MUSICAL THEATRE MATERIAL
• Online musical theatre content already exists; “YouTube-sicals” (Evans, 2014)
• YouTube-sicals: Musical Theatre written specifically for a YouTube audience
• “Millenials” – average online attention span of 8 seconds (Riecke-Gonzales, 2015)
• YouTube account AVByte ”redefined and condensed the form, in all its complexity, to one virtual production number.”
(Hillman-McCord 2017)
• “Their hit YouTubsitcals have possibly introduced many online viewers to… musicals. Whether this is a good or a bad
thing, in terms of the purity and defining characteristics of live musical theatre, could be and should be debated; but it
does suggest that there is an audience for digital-age material in disguise” (Hillman-McCord 2017)
RANDY RAINBOW – MUSICAL THEATRE POLITICAL SATIRE
TIK TOK MUSICALS – RATATOUILLE
 TIK TOK MUSICALS

"Ok but what if Bridgerton was a musical?”

• Originally written and composed by Barlow
and Bear for social media, garnering over 36
million likes on TikTok, the upcoming
recording features 15 songs based on the
Netflix hit.
• Emily Bear – 19 year old pianist and
composer
• Abigail Barlow – 22 year old singer /
songwriter
"Ok but what if Bridgerton was a musical?”
 DIANA

• The show had completed only a few preview

performances (and was expected to officially
open last March) before Broadway went dark
due to the pandemic.
• a live stage recording of “Diana” is coming to
Netflix on Oct. 1, two months before preview
performances are expected to resume on
Dec. 1 at the Longacre Theatre.
• The live recording, directed by Christopher
Ashley, was filmed in 2020 without an
audience and spotlights the original
Broadway cast. Jeanna de Waal leads as
Diana
 THE PROM

• Released on Netflix in December 2020,

produced by Ryan Murphy (Glee, Hollywood,
Halston, Pose)
• A film adaptation of the Tony award winning
musical
• Filming began 2019 December. Once pandemic
hit, they suspended filming
• They were one of the first productions to start
back up in LA.
• Strict safety measures were in place.
TICK, TICK…BOOM!
“An aspiring theatre composer endures a midlife
crisis as he approaches 30 and does not feel
close to his dream”

• Based on Jonathan Larson’s 1990 musical

• Lin Manuel Miranda’s feature directorial debut
• Streaming release on NETFLIX: 19 November
• Featuring Broadway performers: Andrew
Garfield, Vanessa Hudgens and Joshua Henry
• Filming began March 2020 and was paused
due to the pandemic until October
A NEW GOLDEN ERA OF
MUSICAL FILMS?
QUESTIONS:

What are the pros and cons of large scale Musical Theatre
films?

What is the future of Musical Theatre? What will it look

like in 10 years?

TASK:

What musical do you think will make a great film

adaptation? Pick your dream cast.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Evans, S (2014).,YouTubesicals, American Theatre p. 34-37

RIEKE-GONZALES, A. (2015), Marketing to Millenials: The Attention Defecit Generation (online).

www.optimizemybrand.com/2015/11/08/marketing-to-millennials-attention-
deficit/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=es (accessed 2 April 2018)

iBroadway: Musical Theatre in the Digital Age, Jessica Hillman-McCord

ARMSTRONG, S. The Glee effect: Sunday July 11 2010, 1.01am BST, The Sunday Times.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-glee-effect-qb28l5ls7kk

Barrie Gelles, “Glee and the Ghosting of the Musical Theatre Canon,” Popular Entertainment Studies 2, no. 2
(September 21, 2011): 89-111
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sedgman, Kirsty. “ No-Object Fandom: Smash-ing Kickstarter and Bringing Bombshell to the
Stage.” Ibroadway: Musical Theatre in the Digital Age, edited by Jessica Hillman-Mccord,
Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, pp. 145– 72.

Delman, Edward (September 29, 2015). "How Lin-Manuel Miranda Shapes History". The
Atlantic. Retrieved July 11, 2020

Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton' Crashes Broadway's Billion-Dollar Club. Getty Images. Dawn
Chmielewski. Forbes Staff. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnchmielewski/2020/06/08/lin-
manuel-mirandas-hamilton-crashes-broadways-billion-dollar-club/?sh=6645b5415b3c

Smurthwaite, N, and Clarke, N. 2020. https://www.thestage.co.uk/long-reads/from-

pandemics-to-puritans-when-theatre-shut-down-through-history-and-how-it-recovered

Wells, S. 2020. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shakespeare-and-the-plague-3vhbsz77m