Musical Theatre is a term that most people in today's society would recognize. Referring to stage productions fueled by song, dance and often a thriving plot, musicals can bring out emotions in humans, from joy to sorrow. However, it has taken years for theatre to become what it is today. The 1920's especially, with its boom years, elaborate creations and even struggles and controversies, was the peak of musical theatre and it is clear today to see everything the population has developed from that era and what people continue to evolve.
Although the first real records of play productions including song and dance date back to ancient Greek and Roman civilization, musical theatre did not truly develop until the 1920's. This decade is hugely …show more content…
Similar to Actors' Equity, the Broadway theatre had been around for many years before it actually gained fame in the 20's. The development of musical theatre brought popularity for Broadway, or perhaps it was the other way around. Nevertheless, early 1920's is when musicals started to venture further away from the typical story lines and move towards more complex ones. For example, the common plot at the time would have included a fairly average, young middle class woman who meets the man of her dreams and lives happily ever after. These types of shows were very shallow in terms of plot development and did not have very many layers to the story. Many of the characters would have been two-dimensional and quite predictable; people, of course, enjoyed these "Cinderella shows" but many had the mindset to make things more drastic, engaging and thought provoking. The new ideas in musicals were parallel to the decade at the time; the roaring 20's was the peak of everything before the Great Depression hit not ten tears after. That is a reason why this age saw many new musicians, rebellious behaviour, mixing of classes and races and etc. The jazz age was upon humanity and it was reflected in musical theatre as …show more content…
Many people hid and distributed alcohol in this time of rebellion; flapper girls were drinking and smoking, different races met up in clubs for drinks and so on and so forth. The jazz age brought topics previously unspoken and turned them into conversations as well as entertainment productions. This was a big thing for Broadway as it soon began putting on shows that instigated thought about the problems and issues of the time. Productions moved forward from simple stories to musicals about things such as miscegenation, political tensions and interracial marriages which, at its first arrival seemed like a stretch in theatre and left much of society skeptical. Nevertheless, it was a hit amidst society as in 1927, fifty out of two hundred and fifty shows were musicals and twenty million people attended that year--twice as much as the reception at the box office in the 21st century. It is probable however, that many of those attending would have counted toward the audiences of the era's greatest musical hit stages that year--the first integrated musical in history that started the radical change in
Although the first real records of play productions including song and dance date back to ancient Greek and Roman civilization, musical theatre did not truly develop until the 1920's. This decade is hugely …show more content…
Similar to Actors' Equity, the Broadway theatre had been around for many years before it actually gained fame in the 20's. The development of musical theatre brought popularity for Broadway, or perhaps it was the other way around. Nevertheless, early 1920's is when musicals started to venture further away from the typical story lines and move towards more complex ones. For example, the common plot at the time would have included a fairly average, young middle class woman who meets the man of her dreams and lives happily ever after. These types of shows were very shallow in terms of plot development and did not have very many layers to the story. Many of the characters would have been two-dimensional and quite predictable; people, of course, enjoyed these "Cinderella shows" but many had the mindset to make things more drastic, engaging and thought provoking. The new ideas in musicals were parallel to the decade at the time; the roaring 20's was the peak of everything before the Great Depression hit not ten tears after. That is a reason why this age saw many new musicians, rebellious behaviour, mixing of classes and races and etc. The jazz age was upon humanity and it was reflected in musical theatre as …show more content…
Many people hid and distributed alcohol in this time of rebellion; flapper girls were drinking and smoking, different races met up in clubs for drinks and so on and so forth. The jazz age brought topics previously unspoken and turned them into conversations as well as entertainment productions. This was a big thing for Broadway as it soon began putting on shows that instigated thought about the problems and issues of the time. Productions moved forward from simple stories to musicals about things such as miscegenation, political tensions and interracial marriages which, at its first arrival seemed like a stretch in theatre and left much of society skeptical. Nevertheless, it was a hit amidst society as in 1927, fifty out of two hundred and fifty shows were musicals and twenty million people attended that year--twice as much as the reception at the box office in the 21st century. It is probable however, that many of those attending would have counted toward the audiences of the era's greatest musical hit stages that year--the first integrated musical in history that started the radical change in