MUS111 - The American Musical

Broadway

The thriving New York City theater district

Theater

Has always provided ground for the growth of popular music.

Musical or musical comedy is a genre that

uses spoken dialogue, popular songs and dance numbers, and includes ordinary people and everyday problems.

West Side Story Leonard Bernstein

One of the most successful musicals of the 1950s. Music composed by the classically trained composer and symphony conductor Leonard Bernstein.

West Side Story

Often called Bernstein’s best work and a landmark in the genre. In this story, Bernstein takes the age-old story of Romeo and Juliet and gives it modern significance. The argument is between two New York gangs, the American “Jets” and the Puerrto Rican “Sharks.”

3 Exceptional Features of West Side Story

Moving story, sophisticated score, and superb dances.

Hamilton

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s version premiered on Broadway in 2015. It’s a period piece and based on the financial early American system. It’s a hip-hop musical.

The right-hand man

Is about the revolutionary war and hamilton’s relationship with washington. It sets the drama, is very theatrical, and contains elements of hip hop (call and response, rhymes, words).