thea 205 quiz 2

meow

1925-1930 (rodgers and hart)

• wrote scores for 18 shows, both book musicals and reviews

• the connecticut yankes (1927) based on a story by mark twain

• determines to bring something different to the broadway stage

• “The one possible formula, was don’t have a formula” - richard rodgers

• thorugh all their success, they never grew pretentious

artistic and personal struggles- rodgers and hart

• larry coping with depression and loveless personal life

• masking his personal struggles fro the public with a cheerful disposition

• becoming more disorganized, unreliable and spent money recklessly

• dick was a perfectioniast and worried about not being as good as his peers

• inflexible about his music being played differently

• felt limited artistically

on your toes 1936

• music by richard rodgers; lyrics by larry hart

• book by rodgers and hart- first time writing the script

• directed by george abbot

• choreography by george balanchine

  • born and trained in russia- ballet russe

  • first to be credited as “choreographer” instead of “dances by”

• first time dance was inextricably integrated into the story “slaughter on tenth avenue: ballet

• starring ray bolger- most famous for playing the scarecrow in the wizard of oz

• ran 315 performances

the road to america - george balanchine

• lincoln kirstein (1907-1996) was a wealthy man from boston, graudated from harvrd and had a dream to open an american balelt company

• he invited balanchine to come to america. balanchine arrived in NYC october 1933

• kirstein and balanchine founded the school of american ballet

the new york city ballet

• the school of maerican bellet touring compnay [erofrms at the metropoltian opera until 1938

• from 1938-1948 balanchine formed other touring cpmanies, and choreographed on broadway and in hollywood

• in 1948, balanchine was invited to have a permanent home at the New York City Center

• the new york city ballet was born

• balanchine served as ballet master for the new york city ballet until his death in 1983

balanchine on broadway

• debut in 1936 in the ziegfelt follies

• choreographed “on your toes” in 1936

• babes in arms 1937

• i married an angel 1938

• the boys from syracuse 1938

• cabin in the sky 1940
  wheres charlie 1948

balanchines theatrical contribution

• balanchine rid musical comedy of the notion that a dance number was a couple of showy soloitsts backed by a line of high-kicking showgirls

• he brought musical theatre an elegance and sophistication

• his dances were the first ever seen in a broadway musical that fucntioned as essential and active aspects of the plot

rodgers and hard babes in arms 1937

• wrote the book themselves

• original “hey kids lets put on a show” story

• arguably the greatest singple collection of cabaret songs ever written

• “johnny one note”, the lady is a tramp, i wish i were in love again

pal joey 1940

• most controversial and biggest masterpiece

• broke from traditi9onal musical comedy-introduced the “anti-hero”

• “bewitched, bothered, and bewildered”

• dream ballet- leading character declares he wants to own a big night club and then the dream ballet shows the big night club

the boys from syracuse 1938

• book written by george abbott

• choreographes by george balanchine

• music and lyics by richard rodgers and larry hart

  • first musical comedy based on shakespeare (comedy of errors)

  • hart was a big shakespeare fan

• plot : mistaken identity involving two sets of identical twins separated at birth, one set are servants of the other

• music style was contemporary for its time - jazzy, light, and fun

• 243 performances, well reviewed by critics

• contribution to MT as an artform —→ shakespeare is great musical material

  • kiss me kate (1948) - taming of the shrew

  • west side story (1957) - romeo and juliet

  • something rotten (2015) - shakespeares life and competitors

“revival” of green grow the lilacs

• larry slowly succumbed to acute alcoholism, hospitalized often, unable to work

• theatre guild wanted to revive the play green grow the lilacs as a musical. offered, but larry walked out

• oscar hammerstain stepped in to help

• opened out-of-town as away we go in 1943

• finally opened on broadway as… oklahoma!

“to keep my love alive”

• success of oklahoma! crushed larry

• at the peak of his self-destructing path

• one last attempt from the team (dick herbert, vivienne segal) to bring larry back

• revival of connecticut yankee (1943)

• larry caused trouble on opening night

• died shortly from pneumonia on nov 22, 1943

legacy of rodgers and hart

• the golden era of musical comedy

• the integration of music and lyrics to tell a story, driving the art form forward

• top shows: pal joey, babes in arms, the boys from syracure, on your toes

• rodgers and hart’s music described as: sophisticated, lyrically clever, romantic, sad (unrequited love), naughty, and poignant.

george abbott

• 1887-1995

• started as an actor

• insistence on structure and speed. books were tightly written and well-constructed

• hated dance numbers, but he was instrumental in the success of many dance shows. he cared about moving the story forward

• worked on more than 120 plays and musicals

• mentor to jerome robbin, bob fosse, and hal prince

the gershwin siblings

ira (1896)

george (1898)

arthur (1900)

frances (1907)

• geroge and ira always close, though opposite

• george never liked school

• non-religious household

• geroge and ira roamed streets of manhatte

gershwin discovering music

• drawn to african-american musical styles he heard in the city: ragtime, jazz, blues

• discovered piano at a friend’s house, continues at home

• wanted to be the best

• charles hambitzer first influential piano teacher

• hambitzer appreciated jazz but made george learn classical first

• star pupil

• george started songwriting as teenager

tin pan alley gershwin

• 15po quit high school to be a song plugger, $15/week (375/week today)

• good imrpoviser, favorite of vaudeville performers (astaires)

• drawn to more complex music of broadway

• friends w/kern, both wanted interpolation

gershwin getting to broadway

• 19y0 left TPA to be broadway rehearsal pianist

• first two interpolated songs, in ladies first (1918)

  • “some wonderful sort of someone”

  • “the reqal american folk song (is a rag)”

  • lyrics by “arthur francis”

“Swanee” (1919)

• lyrics by irving ceaser

• pariody of stephen foster’s “old folks at home”

• popularized by Jolson for sinbad (winter garden)

• biggest song of gershwin’s career, uncharacteristic style

• - $10k/year ($140k today)

gershwin man about town

• joined showbiz cognoscenti of new york, downtown and uptown

• loved celebrity party scene

• entertained all night from piano

• ladies man, but few significant relationships

george white’s scandals (1919-1939)

• meant to rival ziegfeld’s follies, never fully did

• starred ethel merman, w.c. fields, eleanor powell, three stooges, bert lahr, ray bolger

• 1920-1924 gershwin became white’s main composer

  • stairway to paradise

  • somebody loves me

rhapsody in blue 1924

• commissi9oned by paul whiteman for concert: an experiment in modern music

• concert featured berlin, herbert, et al.

• gershwin wrote RIB for two pianos

• classical music glitterati in attendance: rachmaninoff, stokowski, heifetz

• highlight of concert, overnight fame

• one freeform movement

• critics mixed: “lifeless melody, derivative, stale, and inexpressive”

• brought american composer into concert hall, previously european

• next ten years made $250k ($4.5 mil today)

lady, be good (1924)

• first broadway hit

• starred fred and adele astaire

• literate songs, lyrically and muscally xomplex

• ira wrote only with geroge now

• “oh lady be good!”

• “fascinating rhythm”

george and ira

• ira, introvert, happy to let george have spotlight

• george would give ira a melody or

• ira would give george a song title

• ira’s lyrics elevated george’s music further

an american in paris (1928)

• went to paris to compose, perform for modern european composers

• while there, wrote “a tone poem for orchestra”

• fused gershwin style (romance, blues, play) with european jazz age (speakeasies, gatsby lifestyle)

• added saxophones and taxi horns to orchestra

• dismissed by critics, loved by audiences

• third major symphinic work

girl crazy 1930

• parody of movie westerns

• made stars of ginger rogers and ethel mermam

• gershwin show with most hit songs, “I got rhythm” “but not for me”

• opening night orchestra included: glenn miller, benny goodman, tommy dorsey, gene krupa

porgy and bess 1935

• based on 1925 novel, porgy by dubose heyward

• adapted into a play in 1927

• by 1933, gershwin and heyward had a deal for the opera

• libretto by heywrd, music by geroge gershwin, lyrics by ira gershwin and dubose heyward

• about life in catfish row, a very poor african american section of charleston, south carolina

• depicts african-american life as realistically as possible (as observed by heyward and gershwin)

• gershwin cast trained opera singers

  • todd duncan - a music professor at howard university

  • anne brown- an opera student at juliard

• changed the landscape of performing opportunities for african-american opera singers

• blends folk, classical, spirituals, jazz, recitative, and pop

• 124 performances- lost money in original production

• george gershwin attended african-american churches for research

hollywood: take one 1931

• movie musicals gaining popularity

• delicious 1931

  • composer less powerful in flim

  • most of geroge’s score cut

• gershwins liked socal life, but artistically disappointed

political musicals

• unhappy with modern MT, inspired by Depression, wanted poltical themes, satire

• strike up the band 1927/1930

  • anti-war satire of america’s taste for war, nationalism

  • flopped in 1927 with book by kaufman, score very G&S

  • hit in 1930 with revised book by ryskins, score more swing

  • “Strike up the band”

• of thee i sing 1931

  • book by kaufman and ryskind

  • first musical with consistently satirical tone

  • satirized US presidential elections

  • less singable scofre

  • first musical to win pultizer prize for drama

• let ‘em eat cake 1933

  • sequel to of thee i sing

  • darker story about fascism, flopped

hollywood: take two 1937

• unclear broadway future led gershwins to accept lucrative movie deals

• shall we dance 1937

  • RKO capitalizing on astiare and rogers

gershwin 1937

• memory lapses in performance, headaches, dizzy spells

• diagnosis: fast-growing malignant brain tumor

• july 11, 1937: died after unsuccessful operation to remove tumor

the industry mourns gershwin

• everybody loved geroge

• memorial services in NY and LA, highly publicized and attended

• memorical concerts

• honorary pallbearers: mayor laguardia, walter damrosch, geroge m. cohan, vernon duke, al olson, sam harris

oklahoma!

• introduction of the fully integrated musical

• based on lynn rigg’s novel green grow the lilacs

• one of the greatest revolutions in broadway musical history

• it ran for 5 yrs and 9 months

• richard rodgers and oscar hammerstein each worked in their preferred way

• oscar had always been dedicated to the idea of bringing seriousness to musical theatre

• together they decided that the integreation of musica and text was paramount. lyrics should determine the form of the song

• an ideal creative partnership

• discussed everything: mood, texture, construction

agnes de mille

• one of the most influential figures in the development of narrative musical theatre dance

• interest in dance began at an early age, mushc to her parents’ dismay

• agness did not possess the physique of a dancer, but she worked tirelessly to overcome her physical challenges

• after college she moved to NYC with her mother and sister and struggles to find work as a dancer

• inspired by modern dancer, martha graham

• early focus was on character, partially due to her lack of physical ability

• first big break came when she was asked to choreograph for Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo

• rodeo- exemplifies her signature american style

agnes de mille’s monumental success

• de mille’s creation of dances served as crucial elements of plot, character and theme

• elevated the role of dance in the american musical

• movement vocabulary is inextricably linked to time and place

• uses dance as text

• fusion of ballet, modern and folk dance

• the dream ballet “Laurie makes up her mind” is one such example, and holds a preeminent position in the musical theatre dance canon

• following the success of oklahoma!, Agnes reigned as best known Broadway choreographer of the 1940 and 1950s

majesic theatre 1945 carousel

• initially thought it was too tragic

• presented by The Theatre Guild

• directed by rouben mamoudian

• chorergraphy by Agness de Mille

• 890 performances

• experimental and ambitious

• finally decided to add a strong note of hopefullness at the end: “youll never walk alone”

• kept the shiftless leading male character sympathetic

• music was integral to the story

• most ambitious undertaking “soliloquy”

• one of the probing expositions of a man’s inner thoughts ever written for the broadway stage

the hollywood studio system

• development and strength from 1920s- early 1950s

• desire to ocntrol all aspects of movies:

  • prodution

  • distrbution

  • exhibition

• “the dream factory”

production-unit system

Studio mogul

• general manager

  • studio manager

• executive and production managers

  • unit production supervisor

studio would have several, each focusing on 4-7 films a year

arthur freed

• born arthur grossman - sept. 9, 1894 in charleston, SC

• started as a pianist and song plugger

• toured with the marx brothers on vaudeville circuit as a singer and song writer

• wrote for NY revues, toured nightclubs, staged plays in LA

• joined MGM as a lyricist

• teamed up with former collaborator Nacio Herb Brown - wrote lyrics for Broadway Melody of 1929 - MGM’s first musical film

the broadway melody of 1929

• music by nacio herb brown

• lyrics by arthur freed

• a pair of sisters from the vaudeville circuit try to make it big time on broadway but matters of the heart complicate the attempt

The wizard of oz (1939)

• composer: Harold Arlen

• lyricist: “yip” harburg

• based on the novel by L. Frank Baum

• starring Shirley Temple … Judy Garland!

• wins academy awards for best music, original song “over the rainbow.”

• associate producer: Arthur Freed (uncredited)

the freed unit

• as associate producer on the movie the wizard of oz in 1939, freed was instrumental in the look and feel of the fantasy musical

• louis B. mayer assigned freed his producing unit, the “freed unit”, which gave freed the freedom to reinvent the movie musical

• the freed unit produced nearly 50 movies

meet me in st. louis 1944

• music: hugh martin and ralph blane

• producer: arthur freed

• director: vincente minnelli

• based on the short story collection 5135 kensington avenue by sally benson

• film is divided into 4 vignette’s; the 4 seasons

• plot: a year in the life of the smith family leading up to the World’s fair, spring 1904

• meet me in st. louis 1944 established the integrated musical for the freed unit

• garland and minnelli first met (parents of liza minnelli)

• musical numbers became integral in the storyline, revealing emotional content, rather than being mere highlights

on the town 1949

• composer: leonard Bernstein and roger edens

• screenwriters/lyricsts: betty comden and adolph green

• producer: arthur freed

• directors/ choreographers: stanley donen and gene kelly

• based on the musical by leonard bernstein, betty comden, and adolph green

• most of bernsteins music was cut-deemed too complex and too operatic

“New York, New York” On the Town

• starring: gene kelly, frank sinatra, jules munshin

• gene kelly insisted on filming on location

• first time a major studio accomplished filming on location. took 9 days

• biggest problem was dealing with sinatra’s fans!

• original lyric: “New York, New York, a helluva town” —→ deemed innappropriate by Motion Picture Production Code

an american in paris 1951

• composer: george gershwin (the film was inspired by his 1928 composition)

• lyricsit: ira gershwin

• producer: arthur freed

• director: vincente minnelli

• screenwriter: alan jay lerner

• choreographer: gene kelly

• wins academy award for best picture

• 17 minute ballet at the end of the film inspired by the sights, sounds, and art of paris. gene kelly wanted to create a truly artistic ballet sequence

• the movement was inspired by the art of Toulouse-lautrec

singin’ in the rain 1952

• composer: nacio harb brown

• lyricist: arthur freed

• producer: arthur freed

• directors/choreographers: stanley donen and gene kelly

• screenwriters: betty comden and adolph green

• had to audition script for gene kelly

• because of de mille’s oklahoma, ballet sequences in musicals were a trend. Freed wanted a ballet sequence, even though it didn’t fit well into the story-structure

• voted best film musical of all time by american film insitute

catalogue/ jukebox musical

• the book is created around songwriter’s catalog, or a collection of songs from various artists reflecting an era or theme

• singin’ in the rain, an american in paris, crazy for you

• jersey boys, beautiful, summerL the donna summer musical

• movin’ out, motown, mamma mia, escape to margaritavulle

• the key = careful story crafting

• **if story context is crafted carefully, a generic nondramatic song can be elevated to reveal character or advance plot

• “singin’ in the rain” = gene kelly’s celebration of life and love in a downpour

narrative conventions: backstage musical

• story is set in a theatrical context involving the mounting of a show

• a promising young performer, ingénue, seeking her break

• a veteran questions whether to continue in the biz

• romance - (boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-wins-girl-back)

• “reality” (basktage world)/ fantasy (song and dance)

swing time 1936

• music by jerome kern

• lyrics by dorothy fields (daughter of lew fields, of weber and fields)

• original musical film, with lyrics by dorothy fields

• starring fred astaire and ginger rogers

• kern was hired to write 7 songs, 2 of which astaire requested e contemporary dance numbers. daunting task as kern had rebelled against jazz

  • the way you look tonight earned kern an academy award

• critics consider swing time astaire and roger’s best dance musical

• one of the bsest scores of the 1930’s. dance sequences are considered masterpieces, but the plot is thin

• romance plot: attraction, break-up, reconciliation

Carousel 1945

• written by richard rodgers (music) and oscar hammerstein II (book/lyrics)

• directed by rouben mamoulian

• choreographes by agnes de mille

• starred john raitt and jan clayton

• based on french play liliom and reset in late 19th century maine

• sondheim: Oklahoma! was about a box social, carousel is about life and death

• a naturalistic romance, it tells of julie jordan and her abusive relationship with the carnval barker, Billy Bigelow

jerome robbins (1918 - 1998)

• born jerome robinowitz - october 11, 1918 in nyc

• trained in russian ballet, and modern and ethnic dance (east asian, spanish)

• large, tight-knit russian-jewish immigrant family shaped him profoundl. provided underlying themes for his art:

  • old world traditions vs. embracing modern american world

  • jewish “otherness”

  • struggled with understanding his sexuality. had relationships with both men and women throughout his life and it was never something he could settle within himself

• joined the ballet theatre in 1940 and became a soloist in 1941, worked with balanchine and agnes de mille

• choreographes/directed for an array of broadway shows, including the king and i, west side stry, gypsy, and fiddler on the roof

• associate director of new york city ballet under balanchine for 40 years choreographing 68 ballets

on the town 1944

• oliver smith (fancy free’s set designer) + business partner convinced robbins to adapt ballet into a musical

• opened 8 months after fancy free

• book and lyrics: betty camden and adoplh green

• director: geroge abbott

  • abbots skillful and decisive eye helped robbins shape his choreography for broadway

  • mentor and huge artistic influence - the only person who scared jerry

  • did 5 more shows together

• film version (1949) did not involve robbins, and a lot of bernsteins music was replaces

• two act sub-plot

  • act 1: establush characters, conflicts

  • act II: conflicts build to climax and resolution of the plots. all three love plots resolve at once, with the girls arriving just in time to wish the boys goodye

camden and green

• betty camden (1917-2006)

• adolph green (1914-2002)

• masters of musical comedy

• on the town, singin’ in the rain, the band wagon

• famous for their fast-paces, irreverent wit, and their capacity for capturing the wacky absurdly in everyday life

• met when they were 21 and 18. started out in a sketch comedy roup performing satirical songs and skits

• leonard bernstein was their good friend. he called them to help adapt jerome robbins’ ballet into a musical, on the town

• they would go on to write iconic, crowd-pleasing musicals like bells are ringing and on the 20th century

• wrote together longer than any broadway writing team in history - 60 years

annie get your 6un 1946

• music and lyrics by irving berlin

• book by herbet and dorothy fields

• choreography by helen tamiris

• imperial theatre 1147 performances

• produced by rodgers and hammerstein, directed by joshua logan

• plot: hillbill and sharp shooter annie oakley joins the buffalo bill traveling wild west show. falls in love with frank butler, the show’s best shooter

• starring ethel merman and ray middleton

• hit songs: “theres no business like show business”, “anything you can do “

• romantic main plot : annie and frank butler

• comic subplot: tommy keeler and winnie tate

• additional subplot: buffalos bills wild west show competes with pawnee bills far east show

• two act structure:

  • act 1: establish chatacters, conflicts

  • act 2: conflict build to climax and resoltuion of the plot. tommy and winnie elope, frank and annie have a shooting match, in which they both lose on purpose

finian’s rainbow 1947

• music: burton lane

• lyrucs by E.Y. “yip” harburg

• book by yip harburg and fred saidy

• choreography by michael kidd

• 46th street theatre. 725 performances

• plot: set in the fictional southern state of “missitucky”, irishman finian and his daughter sharon seek to bury some magic gold that they stole from a leprechaun, )g, in hopes that it will grow into a fortune

• explores themes of bigorty and racism, and the relationship between wealth and happienss

• story structure

  • romantic main plot: sharon and woody

  • comic subplot: Og the leprechaun and susan the silent

  • additional subplotL the racist senator Rawkins is magically turned black and gets a taste of his own bigostry

• two-act structure:

  • act 1: establush characters conflicts

  • act 2: conflicts build to climac an resolution of the plots. Og gives up immortality to be with susan. sharon is exonerated from being charged as a witch, and marries woody

Brigadoon 1947

• music by frederick loewe

• lyrics and book by alan jay lerner

• choreography by agnes de mille

• ziegfeld theatre, 581 perfomancs

• plot: two american tourists come across a magical scottish town, brigadoon, on the one day every hundred years it appears

• hit songs “The heather on the hill”, “waitin’ for my dearie”, “almost like being in love”, “from this day on”

• film version in 1954 starred gene kelly and cyd charisse

• story structure

  • romantic main plot: tommy and fiona

  • comic subplot: jeff and meg

  • additional subplot: the wedding of fiona’s sister, jean, and Harry’s tragic death

• two-act structure

  • act 1: establish characters, conflicts

  • act 2: conflicts build to climax and resolution of the plots. jess and meg have a fling, but its not true lone. tommy chooses to leave the outside world to join fiona

kiss me, kate 1948

• music by and lyrics by cole porter

• book by samuel and bella spewack

• choreography by hayna holm

• new century theatre, 1070 peformances

• considered the 2nd of cole porters two perfect musicals

• plot: a basktage musical love story following estranged couple, frederick graham and lilli vanessi, as they star in a musical versi9on of the taming of the shrew

• almost every song in the score has become a standard: “too darn hot” , “always true to you in my fashion”, “another op’nin”, “another show”, “brush up your shakespeare”

• kiss me, kate won the 1st tony award for best musical

• has the 1st original cast record on long-playing records. sales of the record helped sell tickets both on broadway and tour

• 1953 film version starring kathryn grayson, howard keel, ann miller, and tommy rall

• story structure

  • romantic main plot: lili and fred

  • comic subplot: lois and bill

  • additional subplot: the show -within-a-show

• two-act structure:

  • act 1: establish characters, conflicts

  • act 2: conflics build to climax and resolution of the plots. bill and lois reconcile. fred and lillu reconcile

south pacific 1949

• rodgers and hammerstein 1925 performances

• after flop allegro determines to be clear in meaning

• tales of the south pacific brought to r&h by joshua logan, whose navy experience made him the perfect co-librettist and director

• combination of two short stories - “fo’dallah” (cable and liat) and “our heroine” (nellie and emile)

• ten tony awards (best musical, best scofre, best libretto, all four acting categories - only time)

• pultizer prize for drama

brilliance of south pacific

• contrast of “a cockeyes optimist” and “some enchanted evening”

• “carefully taught” - measured rational explanation of prejudice

• balanced with lighter “there is nothin’ like a dame” and “honey bun”

• “baili ha/i” established mood and hypnotic power of island

• dealt with important issues within a context of comercial musical theatre

• not a message, but a point of view that informed the way the main story was told

jerome robbins creative process and style elements

• inspiration = daily life observations, art, music

• spent lots of time preparing, then created organically - open to “accidents”

• perfectionist and a taskmaster

• athleticism

• furhter merging dance, story, and character ——> dance as extension of human behavior

• incorporated contemporary dance movements and objects into dance

• good sense of comedic timing

west side story 1957

• conceived, directed, and choreographes by robbins

• composer: leonard bernstein

• librettistL arthut laurents,

• Lyrics: stephen sondheim

• took 3 years to find producers - too depressing

• harold prince and robert griffith agreed to produce

• explored robbins deepest creative themes:

  • intra-cultural struggles to hold on to Old World values

  • tragic love

• robbins put as much intention into acting as choreography

• critics and audiences didn’t rave at first - the tragic ending was unexpected

west side story stage development

• 1949 - jerome robbins conceives of a contemporary telling of romeo and juliet . takes the idea to leonard bernstein

• 1949- playwrigth arthur laurents develops structure around “east side story” ( a jewish girl and a catholic boy)

• 1955- bernstein meets laurents in bervely hills and stumbles upon concept hook. “ripped from the headlines” story of turf warefare on the west side between Puerto Ricans and “american” gangs

• robbins on board with new concept, and laurents recomends stephen snheim to write the lyrics

• beat out by the music man for best musica, ,but robbins won tony for best choreography

• robbins choreographed/directed the first musical in which dance was woven together with the book so seamlessly throughout that it told the entire story

west side story 1961 (the movie)

• directed by robert wise and jerome robbihns

• screenplay by ernest lehman

• music by leonard bernstein

• lyrics by stephen sonheim

• choreography by jerome robbins

• premeired in new york, october 18 1961

• won a record 10 academy awards

• captured the imagination of the piblic

• secured the show’s place in american culture