Musical Theater from the Opera Perspective

Beginnings on Broadway

Time Period: 1800-1870

Background:
The 19th century saw the development of American theater in New York City and throughout the country. In New York, numerous theaters sprang up along a main thoroughfare named Broadway, which became a hub for theater and entertainment that continues to this day. During the Civil War, audiences flocked to the theater in search of distractions from the challenging situations going on in real life. Most theater troupes stayed in the North, although actors occasionally crossed into the South to provide entertainment for the soldiers.

Attending the theater to see plays performed was the main source of entertainment of the day. Plays had orchestras that would entertain audiences before the performance and during intermissions. Over time, the music became an increasingly significant part of the theater experience. In 1866, a Parisian ballet troupe was scheduled to perform in New York but a fire burned the theater to the ground. The producers appealed to another -- theater that was preparing a play called The Black Crook -- and the two groups agreed to join forces to create a musical extravaganza involving a drama, an orchestra, and dancers. A resounding success, the American musical was born.

Vaudeville

Time Period: 1875-1920

Background:
As the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century took hold, Americans flocked to city centers looking for affordable entertainment. Vaudeville shows featured a variety of performers such as singers, comics, and acrobats that were showcased in a series of acts and that were aimed at family audiences. Vaudeville got its start in New York City but quickly spread throughout the country via tours and resident productions in major cities. While singers and dancers were a part of every performance, additional types of entertainment included mind readers, contortionists, and acrobats. Vaudeville audiences were active participants in the performances, and their response to different acts resulted in whether those acts would continue to be featured on stage.

Gilbert and Sullivan

Time Period: 1890-1930
Major Composers: Arthur Sullivan

Background:
Beginning in the late 1800s, musical theater was revolutionized by a British pair named William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Their music was melodic, and clever, and their lyrics blended satire and silliness into a variety of settings, creating a new type of musical that British and American audiences were drawn to. Many of Gilbert and Sullivan's musicals, including The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, and H.M.S. Pinafore are frequently performed by opera companies around the country, and there are theater troupes who specialize in presenting Gilbert and Sullivan's unique productions. The pair's legacy includes a higher standard for musical theater that shaped productions in the United States in the 20th century.

The Golden Age of Broadway

Time Period: 1910 to 1940
Major Composers: Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Noel Coward, and Jerome Kern.

Background:
In the early 20th century, musical theater became big business, both on Broadway and across the country. With over 3,000 professional theaters in the United States, and over 400 touring troupes presenting performances, audiences for musical theater were growing steadily. However, because of the focus on profitability and the high level of competition among theaters, the audiences' tastes continued to influence what was presented. New shows were created with the middle class and working class in mind, and if a show was not well attended, it was quickly shut down.

This time period represented some of Broadway's most productive years; new musicals were abundant, audiences were plentiful, and a new batch of composers and songwriters offered musicals of increasingly high artistic quality. Shows that found popularity during this era included Show Boat, Porgy and Bess, Babes in Arms, and Anything Goes.

An Era of Prolific Composers

Time Period: 1940-1970
Major Composers: Richard Rodgers, Leonard Bernstein, Frank Loesser

Background:
The 1940s brought us Oklahoma!, from the prolific duo of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. This musical marked a turning point for Broadway composers, composers focused on creating a character through music, instead of simply writing beautiful melodies. From that point forward, all the production elements (music, choreography, design) were focused on developing the characters and advancing the action. Oklahoma! was also the first musical where all of the musical numbers were recorded by the cast and orchestra and released as an album.

Oklahoma! was the first of many successes for Rodgers and Hammerstein, who continued to create new musicals throughout the 1940s and 1950s including Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music.

The 1950s introduced another unique musical with staying power: West Side Story by composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was the only conductor of the New York Philharmonic ever to compose a musical, and it is no surprise that his scores are complex, with influences from classical, pop, jazz, and Latin music. West Side Story is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and with its universal themes of love and loyalty to family, the work has connected with audiences over the years, and remains one of the most frequently produced musicals today. Bernstein followed West Side Story with Candide, an ambitious musical based on the writings of Voltaire. With its complex musical score, Candide has found a place on stage at many of today's opera houses.

Changing Tastes and Trends

Time Period: 1970 to present
Major Composers: Steven Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Claude-Michel Schönberg

Background:
In recent years, audiences continued to play a role in shaping musical theater. In the 1970s, Stephen Sondheim rejuvenated musical theater with his introduction of musicals based on an idea, rather than on a traditional plot. The most popular of Sondheim's musicals, Sweeney Todd, is performed by opera companies today. The 1980s found the focus shifting again, this time towards large commercialized "mega-musicals" from Great Britain. The primary composers were Andrew Lloyd Webber, creator of Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Evita, and Claude-Michel Schönberg, who composed Les Misérables and Miss Saigon.

In the 1990s, with public interest in musicals declining and production costs increasing, creative teams began working with corporate partners to finance new productions. An example of this is the Walt Disney Corporation, which financed stage productions of its films Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. The new millennium brought a renewed interest in comedic musicals, and their success took the theater world by storm. Shows such as Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hairspray, and The Producers have become some of the hottest tickets on Broadway and in touring productions around the country.

The Opera Connection

Following their successful collaboration with Disney on The Lion King, Elton John and Tim Rice recently created a musical based on Verdi's opera Aida. This practice is not uncommon, as many of today's popular musicals are based on operatic works. The musical Rent, written by Jonathan Larson, is based on Puccini's La bohème and focuses on the relationships of struggling young people trying to make a life and a name for themselves in the big city. Larson updated Puccini's opera to feature a rock score and changed the setting from Paris to New York City, but the challenges facing the characters, as well as the strong emotions felt among them, are timeless.

Another popular opera story, Madama Butterfly, has played to packed houses as the musical Miss Saigon, written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil. The opera explores the tragic love story between a young Japanese geisha and an American soldier at the turn of the 19th century. The musical sets the story in Saigon during the Vietnam War, but the passion between the young couple and the tragedy that overtakes their lives remain the same.

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