MUS 150 Short Answer Flashcards

Gene Kelly

• Starred as Don Lockwood in Singin’

• Directed his own dance sequences

• Created a new style of dance for film that emphasized masculinity and athleticism

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Comden and Green

• Wrote the book for Bernstein’s On the Town

• Lyricist/bookwriter duo

• Signed by MGM and wrote for many significant film musicals in the Freed unit

• Many of their songs were re-used from other shows in Singin’ in the Rain

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“Make ‘em Laugh”

• Performed by Donald O’Connor as Cosmo Brown

• Song in Singin’

• Bears striking similarities to Cole Porter’s song “Be a Clown” from The Pirate

• Performance relies on physical, slapstick humor

• Begins with a high-culture reference to Pagliacci, opera about a clown

The Freed Unit

• Named for Arthur Freed

• A film production unit of MGM in the 40s and 50s

• Producer of Singin’

• Won Best Picture for An American in Paris

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“Fugue for Tinhorns”

• Sung by Nicely Nicely Johnson, Benny, and Rusty

• Song in Guys and Dolls

• Pseudo-fugal form, but really more of a canon

• Ironically pits high-brown fugal form with low-brow horse race gamblers

• Written by Frank Loesser

“Runyonland”

• Opening stylized movement sequence of Guys and Dolls

• Title refers to Damon Runyon, whose stories were adapted into the show

• Film version relies on Mickey Mousing - carefully syncing movements to audio cues to give a sense of rhythm to the dance

• Establishes the setting as a highly stylized, colorful, and ironicized New York City

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5 Alan Menken Musicals

• The Little Mermaid

• Beauty and the Beast

• Aladdin

• Pocahontas

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Julie Taymor

• Director

• Directed the Broadway adaptation of The Lion King

• Got her start in experimental theatre

• Often incorporates elements of Japanese noh theatre and mask work

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New Amsterdam Theater

• Broadway theater

• Home of the ziegfeld follies in 1910s and ‘20s

• Renovated by Disney in the 90s

• Has only housed Disney movie musical adaptations since its reopening

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“Tradition”

• Opening number of Fiddler

• Sung by Tevye and the company

• Tevye speaks conversationally straight to the audience and introduces them to the values of Anatevka

• 4 groups sing about their roles and then combine in counterpoint

• Orchestrations inspired by klezmer music (clarinet-heavy)

Tevye

• Main character of Fiddler

• Originated by Zero Mostel

• Orthodox Jewish man that represents the tensions between tradition and change

• Sings “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” and “Tevye’s Monologue”

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Jerome Robbins

• Choreographer

• Collaborated with Sondheim and Bernstein on West Side, which he directed and choreographed

• Also choreographed Gypsy, Fiddler, On the Town, etc.

• Creatively exacting and wanted high levels of control over the productions he worked on

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“america” quote

• From “America” in West Side Story

• Sung by the Sharks, the Puerto Rican women, and Anita

• Ironically comments on the fact that Puerto Rico is a part of America but the sharks are treated as immigrants

• Exemplifies the racial tensions between different ethnic groups in West Side

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Mambo

• A cuban form of latin dance

• Used by Robbins in the choreography of West Side Story

• Used to signify the Sharks’ puerto rican heritage

• Name of one of Bernstein’s symphonic dances, which was then adapted into the dance at the gym

“Let Me Entertain You”

• Recurring song in Gypsy

• Starts as innocent, grating, and childish, grows more lascivious as the show progresses

• Sung by June, Rose, and Louise at different points

• Written in a fairly traditional broadway style, but the instrumentation shifts over time

  • Goes from “may we entertain you” to “let me” during the strip

• Written by Sondheim and Styne

“Rose’s Turn”

• Show-stopping 11:00 number of Gypsy

• Sung by a frantic Madame Rose

• Mix of musical styles and segments that mirror her fragmenting psyche

• Reprises motifs from “let me entertain you” and lyrics from “baby june and her newboys'“ and “have an eggroll mr goldstone”

• written by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim

Hal Prince

• Theatre director

• Frequent collaborator with Sondheim

• Directed Cabaret, Company, Follies, Sweeney Todd

  • Concept developer for Cabaret

• Later in his career, transitioned to megamusicals, like Phantom and Evita