Musical TheatreRichard Rodgers

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Oscar Hammerstein IIInteractive Learning

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Definition of Musicals

What is a musical?

The definition of a musical is: a

stage, television or

film production utilizing

popular-style songs and dialogue to either tell a story (book musicals)

and/or showcase the

talents of varied

performers (revues).

The New Amsterdam Theatre, home of The Lion King, The Student Prince, The Merry

Widow and The Ziegfeld Follies.

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Definition of Musicals

The best musicals have three essential qualities

          

•Courage – the guts to do

something creative and exciting, such as The King and I.

•Heart – genuine and believable emotion (South Pacific)

•Brains – intelligence and style (Sound of

Music)

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Definition of Musicals

*The First Musicals*•Ballad operas were first.

•Borrowed popular songs of the day and rewrote the lyrics

•John Gay’s The Beggars Opera ran for 62 performances in 1728, one of the longest!

•Second type was comic operas.

•Michael Bafle’s The Bohemian Girl (1825) was one of the first.

•“I Dreamt I Dwelled in Marble Halls” is still a favorite among coloratura sopranos.

•However, musical theatre and film aren’t really descents of opera.

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Definition of Musicals

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

In the summer of 1942, Rodgers and Hammerstein first began to work with

each other. Their first musical was Oklahoma! This was also the first of a

new genre, the musical play, representing a unique fusion of Rodgers’ musical comedy and

Hammerstein’s operetta.

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Definition of Musicals

Oklahoma!

Set in a Western Indian territory just after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between

the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly, a

handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story. Although the road to true love never runs smooth, with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love's journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a

country road. That they will succeed in making a new life together we have no doubt, and that this new life will begin in a brand-new state provides

the ultimate climax to the triumphant OKLAHOMA!

•Special Pulitzer Prize for Drama •2 Academy Awards •Special Tony Award, 1993 •BEST MUSICAL OF THE CENTURY New York Drama League •4 Olivier Awards including Best Musical Production 1999 •London Evening Standard Award: Best Musical 1998 •International Emmy Award, 1999

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South PacificSet in an island paradise during World War II, two parallel love

stories are threatened by the dangers of prejudice and war. Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with a mature French planter, Emile. Nellie learns that the mother of his children was an island native and, unable to turn her back on the prejudices with which she was raised, refuses Emile's proposal of marriage. Meanwhile, the strapping Lt. Joe Cable denies himself the fulfillment of a future with an innocent Tonkinese girl with whom he's fallen in love out of the same fears that haunt Nellie. When Emile is recruited to accompany Joe on a dangerous mission that claims Joe's life, Nellie realizes that life is too short not to seize her own chance for happiness, thus confronting and conquering her prejudices.

                   

                  •Pulitzer Prize for Drama

•New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical

•9 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Book and Score

•9 Donaldson Awards including Best Musical, Book, Lyrics and Score

•Academy Award

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The final collaboration between Rodgers & Hammerstein was destined to become the world's most beloved musical. When a postulant proves too high-spirited for the religious life, she is dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval Captain. Her growing rapport with the youngsters, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain, and they marry. Upon returning from their honeymoon they discover that Austria has been invaded by the Nazis, who demand the Captain's immediate service in their navy. The family's narrow escape over the mountains to Switzerland on the eve of World War II provides one of the most thrilling and inspirational finales ever presented in the theatre. The motion picture version remains the most popular movie musical of all time.

                   

                  

•8 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Book and Score

•5 Academy Awards including Best Picture

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Definition of Musicals

Self Check

Where can a musical be performed?

a) On stage

b) In a movie

c) On television

d) All of the above

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Definition of Musicals

Great Job!!!

http://www.potopera.com/SouthPacific/site/marycabelORG.jpg

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Definition of Musicals

What song from Michael Bafle’s The Bohemian Girl (1825) is still

sung today by coloratura sopranos?

“Oh, What a beautiful morning”

“Happy Talk”

“I Dreamt I Dwelled in Marble Halls”R & H

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Definition of Musicals

Right Answer!!!

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Definition of Musicals

Who were the main characters in Oklahoma?

Nellie and Emile

Curly and Laurey

Rodgers and Hammerstein

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What war was going on during South Pacific and

The Sound of Music?

Revolutionary War

Civil War

World War II

World War I

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Definition of Musicals

Correct

Answer!!The End!!

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ReferencesGreen, Stanley. The World of Musical Comedy. New York: Ziff- Davis Publishing Company, 1960

Grotjan, Allison & Hemphill, Libby. Home Page. 20 October 2002 http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/9405/

Kenrick, John. Musicals 101. 20 October 2002. http://www.musicals101.com

Taylor, Deems. Some Enchanted Evenings: The story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. New York: Harper &

Brothers, 1953.

 The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization. 1998. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization. 20 October 2002.

http://www.rnh.com/bios/index.html

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Definition of Musicals