Musicals
“And I said to myself sit down, sit down you’re rocking the boat” ~Guys and Dolls
Musicals. When you hear the word, you might think of Broadway or New York City, big performances with a standing ovation. This is all true but let me take you behind the curtain to learn about how a Broadway Musical comes to be.
The first thing when making a Broadway Musical is writing. The writer, composer, and lyricist usually work together, usually the writer makes a rough draft of the story and then the composer and lyricist work together to put points of where they want their songs to be. At this point, all of them work to make a show out of their separate pieces. The next part after this is done is producing; this is a tricky part, the producer …show more content…
All musicals play six to ten weeks in cities outside New York in order to change, cut, and to improve the show. They also hold daytime rehearsals during these out of town tryouts to perfect the musical. Opening night on Broadway can make the difference between a “hit” and a failure if the newspaper critics and the first night audience like the musical it will probably enjoy a long run, road companies may play in American cities while other companies perform abroad.
Some other important areas when showing a musical is the story. The story is the most important thing in any musical. It must be interesting, dramatic and is usually amusing. The story must explain the characters and hold the interests of the audience throughout the show it also connects the musical numbers in the show. The story may be original. But most musicals are based on older well known novels, plays, or motion pictures. Some of these are The Three Musketeers, The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady, and Oklahoma! (Pg. …show more content…
Composers usually write original music, but may adapt classical or other music. For example, many of the musical themes for Kismet came from the music of Alexander Borodin. Music is what keeps people interested in the story most people don’t like the so called “opera” format of a musical this is why music is key to match with the generation it is being performed too. Dancing too is important as long as it matches with the story. Dancing provides variety, with colorful costumes and graceful patterns or steps. Dancing can also help tell the story of the musical by the movements and gestures like Jerome Robbins dances West Side Story by Leonard
“And I said to myself sit down, sit down you’re rocking the boat” ~Guys and Dolls
Musicals. When you hear the word, you might think of Broadway or New York City, big performances with a standing ovation. This is all true but let me take you behind the curtain to learn about how a Broadway Musical comes to be.
The first thing when making a Broadway Musical is writing. The writer, composer, and lyricist usually work together, usually the writer makes a rough draft of the story and then the composer and lyricist work together to put points of where they want their songs to be. At this point, all of them work to make a show out of their separate pieces. The next part after this is done is producing; this is a tricky part, the producer …show more content…
All musicals play six to ten weeks in cities outside New York in order to change, cut, and to improve the show. They also hold daytime rehearsals during these out of town tryouts to perfect the musical. Opening night on Broadway can make the difference between a “hit” and a failure if the newspaper critics and the first night audience like the musical it will probably enjoy a long run, road companies may play in American cities while other companies perform abroad.
Some other important areas when showing a musical is the story. The story is the most important thing in any musical. It must be interesting, dramatic and is usually amusing. The story must explain the characters and hold the interests of the audience throughout the show it also connects the musical numbers in the show. The story may be original. But most musicals are based on older well known novels, plays, or motion pictures. Some of these are The Three Musketeers, The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady, and Oklahoma! (Pg. …show more content…
Composers usually write original music, but may adapt classical or other music. For example, many of the musical themes for Kismet came from the music of Alexander Borodin. Music is what keeps people interested in the story most people don’t like the so called “opera” format of a musical this is why music is key to match with the generation it is being performed too. Dancing too is important as long as it matches with the story. Dancing provides variety, with colorful costumes and graceful patterns or steps. Dancing can also help tell the story of the musical by the movements and gestures like Jerome Robbins dances West Side Story by Leonard