Musical Theatre Study Notes

List of Musical Theatre Songs

  • Chorus of Hades, Euridice - Jacopo Peri
  • Poor Wand'ring One - The Pirates of Penzance
  • Franklin Shepard Inc - Merrily We Roll Along, By Stephen Sondheim
  • Yankee Doodle Boy - George Cohan, Give My Regards to Broadway
  • Follies 1971 (Sondheim)
  • Play that Barbershop chord - Bert Williams
  • Nobody - Bert Williams / Mr. Cellophane - Chicago, Kander and Ebb
  • After the Ball
  • Take Me Out to the Ballgame - 1908 from Tin Pan Alley
  • I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General - The Pirates of Penzance
  • Josephine Baker - Blue Skies 1927 by Irving Berlin
  • In a Sentimental Mood - Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
  • Old Man River - Show Boat
  • Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man - Showboat, Jerome Kern
  • Cheek to Cheek - Top Hat, Irving Berlin (sung by Fred Astaire)
  • I Get a Kick Out of You - Anything Goes, Cole Porter
  • I've Got a Crush on You
  • White Christmas - Irving Berlin
  • Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ - Oklahoma
  • You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught - South Pacific
  • I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair - South Pacific
  • If I Loved You - Carousel
  • Guys and Dolls reprise - Guys and Dolls
  • Jailhouse Rock - Elvis
  • Luck Be a Lady - Guys and Dolls
  • Singin' in the Rain - from Singin' in the Rain Gene Kelly
  • Moses Supposes - Singing in the Rain
  • The Boyfriend
  • Show Me - My Fair Lady
  • Shipoopi - The Music Man
  • Goodnight, My Someone - The Music Man (Barbara Cook)
  • Overture - West Side Story
  • Where Did Our Love Go? - The Supremes
  • New York, New York - by Kander and Ebb
  • Kiss of the Spider Woman, sung by Chita Rivera
  • Two Ladies - Cabaret
  • Good Morning Starshine - Hair
  • Send in the Clowns - A Little Night Music
  • It’s a Small World
  • Practically Perfect - Mary Poppins - Styles and Drewe (2004)
  • Comedy Tonight - (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum)
  • Tradition - Fiddler on the Roof
  • Stayin’ Alive - The Bee Gees
  • Day by Day - Godspell, Stephen Schwartz
  • Company - Company
  • All That Jazz - Chicago
  • Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
  • Let's Dance - David Bowie
  • Like a Prayer - Madonna
  • Starlight Express - Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • Memory - Cats
  • At the End of the Day - Les Misérables
  • We're in the Money - 42nd Street
  • Finishing the Hat - Sunday in the Park with George
  • Opening - Songs for a New World
  • Seasons of Love - Rent
  • Loving You - Passion

Introduction to Musicals

  • Definition of a Musical:
    • A stage, television, or film production that employs popular style songs either to narrate a story or to display the talents of writers and/or performers.

The Historical Evolution of Theatre

Primitive Theatre

  • Artefacts: Including cave paintings, used to form theories on the origins of theatre.
  • Re-enactment of the hunt: Suggestive of the performative elements in early human culture.
  • Timeframe: Stone Age dating back 2.6 million years ago.

Origins of Greek Theatre

  • Timeframe: 6th century BC.
  • Religious rituals: Historians propose that religious observances evolved into drama as we perceive it today.
  • Dionysus: Most celebrated Greek God of entertainment; rituals held in his honor occurred biannually.
  • Dithyrambs: Earliest form of dramatic presentations evolving into theatre.
  • Architecture: 4th-century BC theatre of Dionysus, located on the Acropolis in Athens, hosted approximately 17,000 spectators.
  • Greek Tragedies:
    • Hosted on special occasions, competitive in nature, closely linked to religious practices, performed by a chorus.
    • Structure: Initiated with a protagonist and chorus, later involving additional actors (up to three) while maintaining the chorus.
    • Performers: Only males were permitted to act or judge the competitive performances.
  • Greek Chorus:
    • Contrasted with educated writers, comprised of common, often amateur male youth, believed to be military-associated.
    • Role: Provides context and aids audience comprehension, reflects societal sentiments, comments on themes, and brings dynamism through movement, singing, and dancing.

The Renaissance Period

  • Duration: 1300s - 1600s (Late Middle Ages).
  • Renaissance: Italian for “rebirth”, highlights the shift from medieval to modern Western culture.
  • Humanism: Concept promoting significant achievements in various fields like music, arts, medicine, and theatre.
Neoclassical Plays
  • Discontent with Roman and Greek tragedies, many works shifted to vernacular languages, moving towards realism and often resulting in tragicomedies.
  • Moral Lessons: Neoclassical plays aimed at imparting useful ethical teachings.
Commedia dell'arte
  • Origin: Began in 16th-century Venice, flourished until the 18th century.
  • Definition: Translates to “art of comedy” or “comedy of players.”
  • Structure: Involves troupes of 10-12 actors touring Europe, characterized by ruffian humor and implicit pharmacy.
  • Significance: Allowed female performers in plays around 1560, increasing popularity and accessibility compared to prior theatrical forms.
Features of Commedia dell'arte
  • Accessibility: Performed on streets/town squares; cartoonish humor partnered with visual theatrics.
  • Characterization: Relied on archetypical characters, interactive performances engaging with the audience.
  • Improvised Situations: Permitted elements of spontaneity, accentuated by established gags termed “lazzi.”
Character Analysis in Commedia
  • Harlequin - whimsical, charming, often clueless but comedic.
  • Columbina - intelligent female servant with flirtatious charm and musical abilities.
  • Capitano - a braggart swaggering character defined by moments of vulnerability.
  • Il Dotore - educated elite often conveying convoluted ideas, prone to comic failure.

Early Italian Opera

  • Opera Evolution: Initiated in 1589 with Jacopo Peri’s „Dafne,” which combined melodic elements and Greek tragedy.
  • Euridice by Jacopo Peri: Commissioned by the Medici family for a wedding; first surviving score of an opera.
  • Opera vs. Musical Theatre: Opera traditionally sung through with limited spoken dialogue; musicals often employ spoken scenes in addition to songs.
  • Vocal Techniques: Opera training focused on amplification before microphones, emphasizing vocal beauty over character portrayal.

17th Century Theatre Advances

  • Transformation through technological improvements like riggings for special effects.
  • Innovations in scenic designs focusing on perspective illusions.
  • Nicola Sabbatini developed kinetic stage effects like the column wave to imitate the sea.

Modern Theatre: A Historical Overview (18th Century to Present)

Brief History of American Theatre

  • Minstrel Shows: Prevalent in the 1820s, characterized by performances in blackface often echoing painful stereotypes. Featured music and antics of