Musical Theatre The Process of Putting Together, and Being in a Musical
Research:
Music
Song Writing
There are many different ways for writing a song. Often this varies depending on the type of song the writer is composing.
Sometimes the lyrics will be written first then a vocal melody written to accompany the lyrics.
Often the chorus will be written before the verses so the general mood of the song can be established and repeated through the chorus.
Instrumentalists
Usually the orchestral part of a song is not written with the first copy of a musical (Book) it is most often written when the musical has been chosen by a producer and the type of orchestra has been decided.
However if the composer has a firm view of the music – say he/she wants the brass/percussion/woodwind/strings or other instruments to be the focus of the orchestral pieces - that he/she wants in the musical the score will be written before hand.
Vocalists
To be a vocalist in the musical theatre industry you must be in peak fitness so your instruments (vocal chords) are healthy and sounding as good as possible.
It is preferred the cast –women especially- can belt and a higher range is more commonly sought after as it provides contrast to the low men’s voices
The resonance of a voice is incredibly desirable and good vibrato is vital.
Types Of Songs
There are different types of songs to fit different types of situations and moods:
Ballad – Expressing strong emotion. Moderately slow tempo with expressive lyrics and melody. E.g. “If I Loved You” (Carousel)
Comedy Song – Lyrics main focus, not melody. Encourage the audience to laugh out loud. E.g. "I Cain’t Say No” (Oklahoma)
Charm Song – Gives Characters appeal. E.g. “If I Only Had a Brain” (The W...
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John Kenrick. 2003. How To Put on a Musical. [Online]. http://www.musicals101.com/puton11.htm. Accessed: 29/3/10.
Macmillan. 2008. Writing Musical Theatre. [Online]. http://us.macmillan.com/writingmusicaltheater. Accessed: 17/4/10
Allen Cohen & Steven L. Rosenhaus. 2006. Writing Musical Theatre. 175 Fifth Ave, New York, N.Y. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.
The song does have good rhyme scheme, which is a very important poetic element. Zac Brown band writes, “Well I was raised up beneath the shade of a Georgia Pine / and that's home you know / sweet tea, pecan pie, and homemade wine, where the peaches grow…” (5-7). Every other line rhymes with the previous. This is a good poetic element to have, considering rhyme is commonly related to many great songs and poems. This does not make up for the lack of other poetic elements, and the simplicity of the writing. The differences between the two pieces is still very vass. The two pieces have two totally different objectives, which makes them have different writing styles. Claire Dederer writes “Song lyrics do a fine imitation of poetry, but they’re not quite the same thing. Lyrics are a vessel, designed to hold a singer’s voice. Poetry is its own solid object” (Bad Poem, Great Song). To some, the dilemma is cut and dry, songs just can’t be poetry.
Poems are unique in that there are no set rules for how they are formatted (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Poems may rhyme, or not. They can be presented in a narrative or lyrical format. The use of proper punctuation can be omitted such as periods, commas, or question marks (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The use of punctuation or lack there of, brings into play the use of enjambment, which is another term for what is commonly known in poetry as run-on lines (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). If a poem is considered more proper and the author wants the reader to clearly understand how a line in the poem is read, the use of punctuation such as commas and periods are used to stress this point. This style is commonly known as end-stopped lines. (Kirszner
Kenrick, John. Musical Theatre A History. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Rhymes are two or more words that have the same ending sound. Songwriters and poets often times use rhymes to help their piece flow better, or keep the audience or readers engaged. Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is filled with rhymes, with a rhyme in almost every single line: “Brando, the King and I, and the Catcher In The Rye / Eisenhower, Vaccine, England’s got a new Queen / Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye” (line 6-8). Billy Joel uses the rhymes to move from one topic to the next, and the song is even in chronological order from 1950 to 1989. The rhyme schemes of the song are end rhymes as well as perfect rhymes. On the other hand, the poem is completely free verse, or without a single rhyme. This makes the poem less artistic and harder to remain engaged and interested. In addition to rhyming, allusions are another way of displaying artistic
...o.k. if your go the other way because the narrator is still some how going up, and growing. At the end the stanza finish like it started
Oklahoma! The first collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein was entitled Oklahoma! The idea of the musical came from a play called Green Grow the Lilacs, written by Lynn Riggs in 1931. This story is about the state of Oklahoma at the turn of the century, when the Indian Territory joined the United States. It is the story of a girl named Laurey Williams and her (sort of) love triangle with two boys by the names of Curley McClain and Jud Fry. Laurey is in love with Curley, but she attends a dance with Jud instead. At the dance, Curley surprised Laurey by bidding an enormous amount on the basket of food she has prepared. They soon marry, and after the wedding, Jud starts a fight with Curley, but he loses. Jud is accidentally stabbed, but Curley was acquitted. Curley and his new wife live happily ever after in the great place of Oklahoma.
So that I don’t have to explain to them what it is about. Because I will not be describing nor will I explain what the artist meant from, when he was writing the song. I will be putting my own twist and thought about it. My main purpose is to make the audience think outside the box, and see how a totally different experience or event can relate somehow back to the song. That you can take something like “love you”, and somehow connect it back to a war or a celebration. The only limitation is your own
rhyme and rhythm is because it is a "Ballad" as it says in the title.
People have dreams of what they want to do or accomplish in life, but usually musical theatre is just pushed into the non-realistic void. It isn’t a dream for me. In the past four years, musical theatre has been clarified as my reality. Musical theatre has been the only thing I have seen myself wanting to do. My first love was The Phantom of the Opera, seeing how I watched it almost every day and it was one of the first shows I saw. Of course, I started doing all of those cute shows in middle school and making a huge deal about it to my family and friends, but I have never felt so passionate about something. The minute I get up on that stage I throw away Riley for two and a half hours and it’s the most amazing feeling! Being able to tell a story
“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world” (Lewis, 1996). This quote written by C.S Lewis was the base for the songwriter Brooke Fraser to compose the C.S Lewis song. As a case of analysis, it was decided to find the different elements of the music inside this piece. As a result of this analysis, it is necessary to divide the song in five remarkable stanzas.
I think that writing a part like that of the chorus into a play, which
A written work, whether it is a story, a poem or a song, can be as vague
Lyrics in a song factor more into the theme than any other portion of the song. The lyrics exist so the artist can tell a story or convey a message. For the song Happy Pharrel Williams uses his lyrics to convey a feeling of happiness to his audience. First the obvious attempted to convey happiness is the use of the word “happy” repeatedly throughout the entire song. In its entirety, the word “happy” is said exactly 70 times in the 3 minute and 53 second long song. To back up this repetition of happy other lyrics such as “Because I’m happy, clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do”, further increase happiness by sending a message of doing what a person wants to do, a certain act that is generally accompanied with happiness. (azlyrics 2013) Lyrics in a song control what the song is about and the feeling the audience has after they hear the song, and Pharrel Williams uses his lyrics to create a feeling of pure joy in his song Happy.
music only. I believe instrumental music can be just as powerful as music with lyrics put to it.
The core structure for a ballad is a quatrain, written with either a-b-c-b, or a-b-a-b rhyme scheme. "a" stands for one line ending, "b" for another, and "c" for another s...