Musical Theatre History
Development of the Musical
Primitive Man -Medieval Europe
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Caveman - explained customs through music,
song, dance, and acting
 5th Century B.C. - sang (chanted) lines,
chorus moved rhythmically to music
 Rome - pantomimes used a dancer to relate
story through movement as chorus sang
narration
 Medieval Europe - wandering performers
provided entertainment for castles (nobles)
and town festivals (everyone else)
Renaissance - 18th Century
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Italian
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Commedia dell’arte used singing and dancing
Intermezzo (between acts) used songs, dancers, music,
scenery, SFX
1st opera: Dafne 1597 (chanted lines to music)
English
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Used masques, intermezzos and background musicians for
entertainment as well as pantomime (the English version of
commedia dell’arte)
Burlesques which featured scantily dressed women
Ballad Operas which featured plots, dialogues songs with
new lyrics to old melodies (A Beggars Opera)
Comic Opera which featured original music (Pirates of
Penzance)
19th Century - USA
Comic Operas and Pantomimes
performed
 Minstrel shows - played banjos,
tambourines, “bones”, sang, danced,
and made jokes
 Music Halls and Vaudevilles - unrelated
acts, magic, jugglers, acrobats,
sketches, animals, singers, and dancers
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1st Musical
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The Black Crook - Sept 12, 1866 in New
York
 Ran
474 performances
 5 1/2 hours long
 Mixture of drama, spectacle, scenery,
transformations with ballet and scantily
clad dancers
 Lots of scenic special effects
Early 20th Century - USA
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Ziegfield Follies (and other revues) were the
main source of entertainment
Composers such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter,
Jerome Kern, Victor Herbert, Richard Rodgers,
and George Gershwin got their start in these
venues
Foreshadowed our demands for glitz, glamour,
and expense in entertainment
Preproduction expenses topped $250,000 with
$123,000 going to costumes alone (the average
American earned $19.20 per week in 1920)
1920s
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By the time the “Roaring 20s” came
around…
 Melodramas
took rise
 Realism and naturalism were introduces
 Lots of pressure on technical theatre to
accommodate both styles of theatre
 In reaction to these styles, anti-realistic and
anti-traditional modes of theatre began to arise
1920s (continued)
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“New age of American Musical”
 Showboat
in 1927 by Jerome Kern and
Oscar Hammerstein II
 Events span 40 years
 Serious theme with musical
#s and plot
 Represented the departure from standard
musicals by introducing new elements including
spectacle, details,realism, in depth characters
 Influenced by Opera, Blues, and current
dances (Charleston)
 Grossed $50,000/wk for 2+ year run
 Revived in 1966 where it grossed $100,000/wk
1930s
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The public became more aware that quality
theatre was more important than it being
cheap, thoughtless entertainment.
 By the time the Great Depression too hold of
NY, theatre in general began to suffer. More
than 1/3 of the 68 commercial theatres in the
Broadway district closed by the end of the
30s. (the only other time in American history
this many theatre companies closed at one
time was right after 9/11)
1930s
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Technically:
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Spectacle and razzle-dazzle OR
Realistic details
1st Pulitzer Prize for Best Play of the Year

Of Thee I Sing
 1931
 George and Ira Gershwin, Geory Kaufman and
Morrie Ryskind
 Raised the status of what musicals should be
1930s
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1st Innovative Operatic Musical
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Porgy and Bess
1935
By Gershwins and Heyward
Other 30s Hits
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The Bandwagon 1931
Anything Goes 1934
Dead End 1935
The Boys from Syracuse 1938
DuBarry Was A Lady 1939
1940s
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As the Depression ended, so did the falling
economy.
 WWII left an impression on Broadway - one of
pride and nationalism
 This was reflected in Theatre of this decade
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1st Book Musical - Oklahoma! 1943 Rogers and
Hammerstein - 2 year run
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Reflected foundations previously set by Show Boat
New Element - Opening Number
Emphasis on character and book rather than spectacle
Plot progressed through songs closely integrated w/book
Full Orchestra, large cast of singers, dancers, and actors
1940s
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Other 40 hits
 Carousel
- 1945
 Annie Get Your Gun - 1946
 Kiss Me, Kate - 1948
 South Pacific - 1949
 Brigadoon - 1947
 State Fair - 1945
1950s
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War was over - economy healthy
Average ticket price for a show - $6.00-$8.00
Musicals during this decade were a strong mix
of script and music
Movie versions of live musicals start to happen
Focus - less on spectacle and more on Dance

West Side Story - 1957
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Specific dancing as a means to advance the plot and
reveal characters (Jerome Robbins)
 Based on Romeo and Juliet
1950s
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Other 50s Hits
 Guys
and Dolls - 1950 (Best Director, Best
Musical, Best Producers)
 The King and I - 1951
 My Fair Lady - 1956
 Gypsy - 1959
 The Sound of Music - 1959
1960s
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Broadway money-making machine
Went from Artistic to business-driven
The Rock Musical is born
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1st Rock Musical - Hair 1968
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Minimal plot - sharp political commentary (antiVietnam war)
 Simple scenery and props
 Actors change costumes and roles in front of audience
 Informal and spontaneous
 Full frontal nudity
 Amplified sound
1960s
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Hits of the 60s
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Bye Bye Birdie - 1960
Camelot - 1960
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Hello Dolly - 1964
Funny Girl - 1964
Fiddler on the Roof - 1964
Man of LaMancha - 1965
Mame - 1966
1970s
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Undertones of the 60s carried over to the 70s
Pushing the limit technically
Large-scale musicals and spectacle sets
Emphasis on concept - idea or theme not “boy gets girl”
plots
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Not melodic/singable tunes
 Episodes = illustrate concept
 Songs reveal character’s feelings, comment on action and
are tailored for the situation
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Workshop method
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Writers and Composers write with performers
 Potential backers go to the workshops
1970s
Cabaret - 1972 - Bob Fosse
choreographer
 Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince
take control
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 Company
- 1970
 A Little Night Music - 1973
 Sweeney Todd - 1979
 Sunday in the Park With George - 1984
 Into the Woods - 1987
1970s
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Other 70 Hits
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Jesus Christ Super Star - 1971
Godspell - 1971
Grease - 1972
Pippin - 1972
The Rocky Horror Show - 1974
A Chorus Line - 1975
Chicago - 1975
Annie - 1977
Evita - 1978
1980s
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Lots of musicals being imported from England
Costs continue to rise, making it more difficult
to recover investments.
Decline was so sharp in 1987-88 only 31 new
productions were mounted (compare to the 34
new musicals and 57 plays that opened in
2009)
1980s
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80s Hits
 Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat - 1982
 Cats - 1982 (grossed over $915 million by
April 1991)
 Phantom of the Opera 1988 ($8 million
initial investment - grossed $413 million by
1991)
1980s
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Other 80 Hits
 Les
Miserables - 1980
 Little Shop of Horrors - 1982
 Sunday in the Park - 1984
 Big River - 1985
 Into the Woods - 1987
 Fame - 1988
 Miss Saigon - 1989
1990s
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Lots of Technical Overkill
The Corporate Musical is created
Hits of the 90s
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City of Angles - 1990
Jekyll & Hyde - 1990
Kiss of the Spider Woman - 1993
The Lion King - 1994
Rent - 1996
Titantic - 1997
Ragtime - 1998
2000s
Musicals run the gamete between
technical overkill and very simple.
 Movies are becoming sources
 “Jukebox” Musicals also becoming
popular
 “Disneyfication of Broadway”
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2000s
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Hits from this era include:
Aida - 2000
 The Full Monty - 2000
 The Producers - 2001
 Urinetown - 2001
 Mama Mia - 2001
 Hairspray - 2002
 Thoroughly Modern Millie - 2002
 Wicked - 2003
 Avenue Q - 2003
 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee 2004
 Mary Poppins - 2004
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2000s Continued
 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - 2004
 Billy Elliot - 2005
 Spamalot - 2005
 Jersey Boys - 2005
 The Drowsy Chaperone -2006
 Spring Awakening - 2006
 The Wedding Singer - 2006
 Legally Blonde - 2007
 Next to Normal - 2008
The Future of Musicals
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“Musicals flourished into the early 60s, but
there were few new playwrights and there
seemed room for only one new writer of
musicals, Stephen Sondheim. By the early
80s Broadway became a tourist attraction
mounting fewer shows each year, some years
not even 10, and these 10 were often star
vehicles or extravaganzas that depended on
sensational stage effects…It is difficult to
imagine when Broadway will again play a
significant role in NY’s literary life”
Future
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“You have 2 kinds of shows on Broadway - revivals
and the same kind of musicals over and over
again, all spectacles. You get your tickets for The
Lion Kin a year in advance, and essentially a family
comes as if to a picnic, and they pass on to their
children the idea that that’s what the theatre is - a
spectacular musical you see once a year, a stage
version of a movie. It has nothing to do with theatre
at all. It has to do with seeing what is familiar. We
live in a recycled culture…. I don’t think the theatre
will die per se, but it’s never going to be what it
was. You can’t bring it back. It’s gone. It’s a tourist
attraction.” Stephen Sondheim