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Many people who are new to theater may ask themselves “what are the differences between musical theater and plays?”. This happens because some aspects of theater are difficult that many don’t realize. These aspects are usually noticed by people who do theater backstage but aren’t noticeable to a person who just wants enjoy a show. These two types of entertainment sources tell a story line in different ways. Like most two things that are similar one of them always come on top of the other and gains more. Many people have opinions with one thing over the other but others have factional opinions.
Firstly, the most noticeable difference between both plays and musical is the way they are communicated. In plays dialogue is used and in musicals
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This means that more people and the media get more involved. They tend to get more popularity because nowadays musicals tend to relate to young adult and they usually have something “different” or new to them. For example, a show like Hamilton gain popularity because of its creative difference of bring history and rap together in a show. A musical theater production also leave people singing the music from the soundtracks. On the website “http://www.campbroadway.com” it stated “In the first place, musicals are just that… musical! People remember music and walk out of the theater singing the songs they just heard on stage. They buy cast recordings, memorize the songs, and some, if lucky enough, will play coveted parts in community and regional theaters nationwide.” Overall, even though plays are interesting they don’t always relate or gravitate towards today’s …show more content…
This is due to musicals also having extra merchandise and the amounts of people who watch Broadway shows. A comparison is the grosses of the musical “Hamilton” and the play title “The Play That Went Wrong”. On the websites “www.broadwayworld.com” the statistics of the grosses has a difference between them of $2,493,455. You could see that musical such as “The Children”, “The Parisian Women” and “The Play That Went Wrong” have lower gain compared to musicals. “But why does this happened?” some might think. Well, as said in the last paragraph these shows tend to appeal to today's youth since musicals are more high energy and exiting and plays tend attract adult but adults don’t tend to have as much free as children do to enjoy
Motion pictures from Hollywood had taken Broadway’s place as the king of entertainment. The main reason behind this was that because it was culturally relevant and coming out with new flashy techniques such as Todd-AO and Cinerama.
Kenrick, John. Musical Theatre A History. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Ever heard of a story that sings of the “Angel of Music” and the “Phantom of the Opera”? A tale that once you have listened to the sweet melody that you will realized that you've pasted the “Point of No Return”? This love triangle has captivated multitudes ever since the 1910 original Phantom of the Opera was published in France by Monsieur Leroux, although most story lovers recall the musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber or the motion picture adaption. Although this story has been entertaining people for over a century, in this new era have prerecorded voices and movements begun to overshadow the talented performers of live theater? Although “The lavish screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera (2005) only deepened the damage” of the dislike of musicals made into film “with non-stars in the leads and an unimaginative production,”(Musical),which version, the live performance or the film, makes the story more attractive? To answer these questions, permit this essay to analyze two methods of storytelling: 2011 live performance Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall and the 2005 film, and decide if music and story lovers everywhere have too “turned from true beauty”.
Popularity for live performances heightened exponentially during the late nineteenth century. The United States flourished with circuses, ballparks for sporting events, night clubs, world and state fairs, as well as theatrical road shows. Growing amusement parks, such as Coney Island, attracted customer attendance not just by supplying thrillingly-fun rides, but by also providing an array of the newly emerging vaudeville theatrical shows. Vaudeville was gaining much popularity because it strived to appeal to people of all socioeconomic classes and cultural background as well as offered low admission prices. It consisted of a diversity of individual performances which could range from comical skits, singing, acrobatic stunts to magic shows. “Variety theatre drew larger audiences than the ‘legitimate’ theater which presented classical performances” (Administrator). For this reason, vaudeville theatre was gaining much attraction because it was able to enthrall the population with a wide range of
Broadway musicals can be characterized by aspects such as having multiple performances nearly every day of the week, having productions that tour the nation in hopes of attracting more audiences, and having large casts and orchestras (Cohen 248).
These strong people have help not only with the growth of the Broadway musical, but also with the beginning of the modernization of musical theater during this period. Particularly the growth and change in the types of characters being used in Broadway musicals. Such as the Cinderella type characters are in the rag to riches stories, where they are struggling in the beginning of the act, yet at the final curtain they have a happy ending. Women and men during this period are beginning to show more personality in their acting and their struggles on stage. This was also the period where talking pictures, started to become a growing industry, it was no longer about just the Jazz period of the 1920’s. However, all good things must come to an end; it was the crash of the stock market during this period that brought an end to the feverish pitch of Broadway.
...ush. Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theater Hanover: Brandeis University Press, published by University Press of New England, 2003.
Since theatre was established as an art form, it has constantly been changing and developing as new methods of theatre styles came to light. This is also true with how musical theatre developed into how we know it today. Vaudeville and burlesque were forms of theatre in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that forged the way for the American musical to emerge. The elements that writers used from vaudeville allowed for not just musical acts to be performed during the course of the story, but eventually became a way for the story to further be told. The American musical was not always as big as it is today, and vaudeville and burlesque acts made it possible for such a type of performance style to develop. Musical writers used multiple elements, not just the song element, in their stories. This change did not just happen overnight. The evolution from vaudeville and burlesque was a gradual one, taking years to further develop the performance styles into the Broadway musical we can see today.
Theatre Journal 57.4 (2005): 598-600. Print.
Broadway, or musical theater, had a strong presence in the 1920s caused by hit shows which is why Broadway stuck around (“Musical Theater”). Music brought out a whole new side of the shows, and more acceptance from the audience. Musical theater expanded and the subjects portrayed became bolder and often brought up things like abuse or alcoholism while using music to numb the crowd a bit (“Show Boat”). Obviously, not every show was a hit but there were a few exceptions. Things like Show Boat and Lady, Be Good! Helped secure Broadway’s future (“Musical Theater”). Music not only impacted the theater, but the population of adoring fans sitting in their seats, anticipating the thrill of the show to come. Musical theater did, however, move the theater in three significant ways: it used music to intensify the plot, it allowed American qualities bleed through, and the music helped accentuate the themes and lessons of the stories (“Show Boat”). The impact that the 1920s had on musical theater, and other music types, is
The 2000s/ 2010s brought in a wave of movie musicals- adapted from the stage shows. These brought new audiences into the theatre world, and for the first time in 20 years, brought a love to some of the timeless musicals. With slightly altered songs to appeal to a newer audience, these films brought in much needed money into the industry, with films including: Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Fame- and many more. Together with this, musicals began to push the concept of the songs in them, with a wave of new styles being written. Rap musicals such as ‘Hamilton’ and ‘In The Heights’, Pop musicals including ‘Waitress’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Rock musicals of ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Spring Awakening’. Together they pushed boundaries of a ‘traditional’ musical theatre sound, and brought in something never before seen. Due to the influence of ‘Rent’, controversial issues and themes began to be explored more, such as Teen suicide, Murder, Ethnic barriers and everything else, which brought with them, a world of opportunities. It was clear that musical theatre was once again showing for a promising
When writing the musical Hair, James Rado and Gerome Ragni were more interested in creating plot and characters which were “generated by attitudes and perceptions rather than the reverse.” (Wollman, 2009) The aim was to highlight a “specific group of people at a particular point in time” rather than to create a conventional musical and specifically influence the culture upon which it was based (Wollman, 2009). This idea of the plot and characters being generated by society is evidenced by the fact that each of the revivals that took place around the globe soon after the original Broadway run had adaptations which reflected on the country and or state in which it took place. However, it could be argued that without the creation of Hair this
Musical theatre is a living art form and are usually performed in theatres to entertain the viewers. It is usually combined with music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. • Music • Musical theatre have various roles in theatres. Some artist used catchy songs depending on what genre they’re performing but usually do popular style. In various times solo songs, duets, choruses and ensembles are presented as well at which most of the time accompanied by orchestra or band.
Theatre is still relevant in the 21st century. It transcends what a book can accomplish by creating a visual and artistic picture from words on a page. The audience can still receive the playwright’s message even though it requires them to leave their homes to view a performance. Granted it isn’t as flexible as seeing a film or movie in the privacy of ones home, but one is able to see a performance in action that no one has ever seen exactly the same way before. One could say that the playwright sets the ground rules and the producer and director takes those rules and expresses them to their own end and how they see fit. You get to see a story unfold through many people’s eyes, not just the one who wrote it. The play is a living breathing artistic form that is open not only to the interpretation of the viewer and the audience but also to the cast and the producer.
Theatre is something that brings people together; it needs and audience to exist unlike movies and television. For a performance to happen, anywhere from a hundred to a thousand or more people need to gather in one place for a few hours, and share together in witnessing a live event that may be beautiful, funny, moving, or thought-provoking. Each type can fade in and out of popularity but it is not foreseeable that live performance will ever really "die out". Even in a world where all narrative performances have migrated to video, some musician at some point may introduce a new element of theatricality into their show, or some standup comic will act out something for their routine, people will respond to it, and suddenly we 'll see Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, and Rogers and Hammerstein popping up all over the