Introduction to Theatre and Music History

Foundations of Theatre and Dramatic Structure

Theatre is defined as a completely live form of the performing arts. One of the central components of theatre is dialogue, which consists of the words spoken by performers during a play. This dialogue typically occurs as character-to-character communication or as a soliloquy. A soliloquy is a specific type of speech delivered by a single character to share their inner thoughts; notably, these thoughts are not spoken to anyone else on stage. Accompanying the dialogue are stage directions, which are written instructions provided in the script that direct characters and the production crew on specific actions and tasks to perform at different times throughout the performance.

The progression of a play follows a specific dramatic structure. It begins with the exposition, the initial part of the play that introduces essential background information. This is followed by the rising action, which introduces conflict and builds emotional tension, eventually leading to the climax. The climax represents the highest moment of emotional tension and serves as the turning point of the story. Following this peak is the falling action, where tension is reduced and the conflict begins to resolve. Finally, the resolution or denouement provides a conclusion to the storyline by resolving all remaining conflicts.

Musical Theatre and the Influence of Lin-Manuel Miranda

Musical theatre, often referred to as "musicals," tells a story through the integration of live action and song performance. Key characteristics of musicals include orchestrated songs, choreographed dance, and complex production elements including set, lighting, sound, and costume design. In this genre, the majority of the dialogue is delivered through song. Many musicals are designed to address contemporary social and political issues. The genre developed in the $1800\text{s}$ out of traditions from both America and England.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a prominent American playwright, songwriter, actor, singer, rapper, and filmmaker who has received numerous awards for his work. His notable contributions include writing and often appearing in productions such as Hamilton, In the Heights, Moana, Encanto, and Tick, Tick… Boom! His work on Hamilton: An American Musical was influenced by Ron Chernow’s best-selling biography, Alexander Hamilton, published in $2004$. Prior to the musical's stage debut, Miranda released Hamilton the Mixtape in $2009$, which served as a concept album featuring rap and spoken word focused on the life of Alexander Hamilton.

The musical Hamilton, which premiered in $2015$, is a two-act production detailing the life of the American Founding Father. It covers his involvement in the American Revolution, his childhood as an orphan in the Caribbean, his personal and professional achievements, his political ideas, and his relationships, including his fatal rivalry with Aaron Burr.

Defining Music and Categorizing Styles

Music is defined as the organized arrangement of sounds through time. It utilizes elements such as melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre to create an expressive form of communication. By combining pitch, duration, dynamics, and texture, music functions to evoke emotions, tell stories, or provide structure to cultural and social rituals, serving both artistic and functional roles in society.

Musical styles are categorized by their structural and performative characteristics:

Classical music is highly structured, formal, and ceremonial. It typically features no improvisation and resolves any dissonance created during the piece.

Jazz is characterized by complex, syncopated rhythms and a heavy reliance on improvisation. It frequently utilizes brass instruments and often does not resolve dissonance.

Pop and Rock styles generally feature simpler melodies with high "singability." These genres usually stay within a single key and may include some limited improvisation.

Rap and Hip-hop are defined by the use of samples, lyrical creativity, rhythmic dexterity, polyrhythm, and syncopation.

The Theoretical Elements of Music

The fundamental elements of music include sound, pitch, timbre, duration, and dynamics. Sound is created by sustained vibrations, though not all sound is considered musical. Pitch refers to the relative highness or lowness of a sound, which is a recognizable and measurable difference in sound waves occurring at fixed distances known as intervals. Tone color, or timbre, is the quality that allows a listener to distinguish a pitch played on one instrument from the same pitch played on another.

Duration is the length of time in which a vibration is maintained without interruption. Dynamics refers to the loudness or softness of a musical sound; specifically, $\text{forte}$ indicates a loud volume, while $\text{piano}$ indicates a quiet volume.

Melody is described as the string of notes that is most important and catches the listener's attention. A disjunct melody rises and falls quickly with large intervals between one note and the next. Conversely, a conjunct melody rises and falls slowly with small pitch changes between consecutive notes. Harmony is the result of more than one pitch sounding at the same time. Consonance produces stable and pleasant sounds that align with traditional expectations, while dissonance refers to a note or chord that does not fit into traditional harmonies.

Rhythm is the placement of sounds in time. This includes the beat, which provides a steady pulse, and the meter, which is the arrangement of rhythms in a repetitive pattern of strong and weak beats. Syncopation occurs when a musician accents a weak beat, an offbeat, or a subdivision of an expected strong beat.

Social Activism Through Music: Billie Holiday and "Strange Fruit"

Billie Holiday, also known as "Lady Day," was an iconic American jazz and blues singer recognized for her deeply emotional voice and unique phrasing. Holiday lived through the era of segregation and experienced a troubled adolescence before her career in music. She died at the age of $45$ from complications related to heroin withdrawal.

One of her most significant works is the song "Strange Fruit," which was inspired by real-life events. A white Jewish schoolteacher named Abel Meeropol wrote a poem about lynching after being outraged by a photograph of the practice. Billie Holiday transformed this poem into a song and performed it at the Cafe Society in New York before white patrons. This performance marked a significant turning point between the era of Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement.

Sam Cooke and the Evolution of Soul Music

Sam Cooke was a pioneering American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur known as the "King of Soul." Born in $1931$, he rose to fame in the $1950\text{s}$ and $1960\text{s}$ with hits including "You Send Me," "Wonderful World," "Twistin' the Night Away," and "Cupid." Cooke began his career as the frontman for the gospel group The Soul Stirrers. When transitioning to pop music, he blended gospel with pop and R&B, which helped break racial barriers. He was also a businessman who founded his own record label and publishing company. Cooke died at the age of $33$ from a gunshot wound.

His $1964$ song "A Change is Gonna Come" became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. The song expresses a weariness with the status quo while maintaining hope for the future. The musical arrangement, created by Rene Hall, features strings, French horn, and timpani (kettle drums). The arrangement is haunting and includes a prelude with strings that leads to a towering crescendo. Cooke utilized a vocal style that harkened back to his gospel roots, conveying intense pain and hope without the need for screaming or shouting.

The lyrics of "A Change is Gonna Come" involve a dichotomy between current sadness and future optimism. The song opens with a simile: "I was born by the river in a little tent. Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since." This imagery suggests a sense of wandering or perhaps running from racism. The song describes instances of despair, such as being told to leave the white part of town and having one’s faith tested, yet concludes each stanza with the optimistic refrain: "it's been a long, a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come."

James Brown and the Development of Funk

James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul," was a legendary performer born in $1933$. He was known for his electrifying stage presence and his role in developing soul, funk, and eventually hip-hop. His hits include "Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag" (the origin of funk music), "Get Up Offa That Thing," and "I Got You (I Feel Good)."

In $1968$, he released "Say it Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)," which served as an anthem for the Black Power Movement. Though Brown initially intended it as a children's song to instill pride, it became a deeply political statement of self-assertiveness within the Black community. The song utilizes a call-and-response format rooted in Southern gospel and Baptist church traditions. In this format, Brown's "call" resembles a Baptist minister, and the children's response resembles the congregation.

Musically, "Say it Loud" is characterized by polyrhythms and the absence of traditional melodies. Every instrument, including the guitar, bass, and horns, plays short riffs of sound that function as rhythmic grooves. This style, where musicians "give the drummer some," showcases the percussive nature of every instrument. These polyrhythms were derived from traditional West African music, incorporating complicated rhythmic accents and drum circles.

The Vietnam War and Anti-War Protest Music

The Vietnam War ($1955$-$1975$) was a costly conflict between the communist North Vietnamese, supported by China and the Soviet Union, and the South Vietnamese, supported by the United States. American public sentiment was heavily influenced by the military draft and the medium of television. Between $1964$ and $1973$, the U.S. military drafted $2.2 \text{ million}$ men out of an eligible pool of $27 \text{ million}$. The draft disproportionately affected poor and working-class men, leading many to evade service by moving to Canada, enrolling in college, or protesting.

Television brought the realities of war into American living rooms, with over $70\%$ of the adult population watching evening news headlines featuring daily body counts. By $1970$, Americans watched more than $5 \text{ hours}$ of TV per day. The anti-war movement, involving activists, the New Student Left, and folk and rock musicians, played a significant role in ending the war.

Folk music was particularly tied to the anti-war protest on college campuses. The acoustic sound of folk music represented anti-establishment values by rejecting electrification, which was associated with modernity and war technology. Artists such as Joan Baez; Peter, Paul, and Mary; and Bob Dylan took consistent stands for peace and social justice.

Jimi Hendrix and the Star-Spangled Banner

Jimi Hendrix, born James Marshall Hendrix in Seattle, Washington, revolutionized the electric guitar. He formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience in London in $1966$, blending R&B, funk, and blues rock with psychedelia. Hendrix was known for his showmanship, such as playing the Fender Stratocaster with his teeth or behind his back. Although his career lasted only $4 \text{ years}$, he is widely considered one of the greatest electric guitarists in history.

At the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair in $1969$, Hendrix performed a controversial interpretation of the "Star-Spangled Banner." While it began conventionally, he used distortion, tremolo bars, and effect pedals to create dissonant sounds representing the horrors of the Vietnam War. His rendition included sounds mimicking air-raid sirens, bombs, and the screams of people in pain. While the anthem usually takes $2 \text{ minutes}$ to perform, Hendrix's version was nearly twice as long due to these war-sound digressions, serving as a landmark ironic protest against the conflict.