PRE-BWAY
MUSICAL - HISTORY
MUSICAL - HISTORY
This impressario/producer set a new standard to glorify America and the "American Girl," from the early 1900s til about 1930, producing revues, extravaganzas and the follies.
Florenz Ziegfeld
This Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein musical opened on Broadway in 1927, and set the standard for the "Book" or Traditional musicals that followed. It explores themes of racial prejudice, tragic and enduring love, gambling addiction and alcoholism.
SHOW BOAT
This 1943 turning point musical introduced the concept of the "dream ballet," and was the first successful collaboration for the foremost fathers of the Golden Age genre of musicals.
OKLAHOMA
This singular composer/lyricist is responsible for writing the music & lyrics to the popular Broadway musicals including: KISS ME KATE, and ANYTHING GOES, among others.
COLE PORTER
This category of song is typically found near the end of a musical (in the 2nd act of most shows), and often involves a leading character realizing something important; the song is usually orchestrated and staged to wake the audience up and get them excited about how the musical may wrap up and soon end.
THE 11 O'CLOCK NUMBER
This 1866 landmark musical theatre event occurred in New York City. Many historians consider it as Broadway's first musical theatre comedy; and it featured an entire ballet company from France.
THE BLACK CROOK
CABARET, with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, premiered on Broadway in this year. (answer must be correct or within one year)
1966
This turning point musical from 1959 features a strong female as the central character, with music composed by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim - including the song "Everything's Comin' Up Roses" or "Rose's Turn."
GYPSY
This is the name of the collection of the most influential and enduring American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century, which includes many songs from musicals.
The GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK
This is the three-tiered hierarchy of the musical dramatic structure. (must answer in correct order)
1) SPEAK (or act)
2) SING
3) DANCE
A show form consisting of unrelated acts following one another in succession. Began in the 1860s; developed entrepreneurs and a wider audience; Tony Pastor was considered the "father" of this early form of musical theatre.
VAUDEVILLE
This turning point musical, with music by Leonard Bernstein, was lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim's first Broadway lyric-writing job.
WEST SIDE STORY
Considered the first rock genre musical, this hippy-Vietnam War protest-themed show was the first to feature full nudity in a contemporary Broadway musical.
HAIR
This team of composer and lyricist brothers not only wrote the 1931 turning point musical, but also wrote the Folk Opera, PORGY & BESS which premiered in 1935.
GEORGE & IRA GERSHWIN (or the Gershwin Brothers)
The "book" is the script of the musical - combining the song lyrics with all spoken dialogue/scenes; this provides the narrative structure that keeps the music/score from being a disjointed medley of songs. The answer to this is another, perhaps more sophisticated term for "book."
LIBRETTO
This 1720s musical opera by John Gay featured "popular" songs of its time, and was the basis for the Brecht/Weill 1920s "Three Penny Opera" 200 years later.
THE BEGGAR'S OPERA
This was the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (in 1932), establishing the legitimacy of the genre of Musical Theatre for years to come.
OF THEE I SING
This 1964 musical by composer and lyricist Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick is based on the stories of Sholem Alecheim. It takes place in early 1900s Russia, at a time when fascism and anti-semitism were on the rise.
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
In addition to OKLAHOMA, list 2 more musicals by the fathers of the Golden Age, Rodgers & Hammerstein.
CAROUSEL, THE KING AND I, CINDERELLA, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE SOUND OF MUSIC
The Others: State Fair, Allegro, Me and Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song 1958
This is a piece of music played by an orchestra or band (instruments only) at the beginning of an opera, ballet, or musical. It is also the term that I (Becca) could not remember on our first day of class.
OVERTURE
This lyricist and composer team from England are best known for their Comic Light Operas. They were the first to build a theatre with electricity! One of their shows is: THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE which features the song, "Modern Major General."
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
While not yet considered a turning point, this 2020 Tony Award & 2022 Pulitzer Prize winning musical features a Black, queer, fat central character named Usher, who works as an usher for a Bway show; the other characters are all "thoughts" in his head.
A STRANGE LOOP
This Golden Age pair of composer and lyricist wrote the musicals: MY FAIR LADY, CAMELOT, and BRIGADOON, among others.
(Alan J.) LERNER & (Frederick) LOEWE
From one or our student research presentations, composer & lyricist team: Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens are responsible for many popular and diverse musicals. List two titles.
A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, SEUSSICAL the MUSICAL, RAGTIME, ANASTASIA, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, ROCKY
Others: My Favorite Year, Lucky Stiff, A Christmas Carol...and more...
This is the genre of musical that is typically- but not always- more NON-LINEAR in structure. The emphasis is on exploring a theme or idea rather than telling a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Although some of these types of musicals do have clear stories.
CONCEPT