Golden Age vs Contemporary
What years define the Golden Age of Musical Theatre?
1943 - 1964
Name the Fosse technique where toes turn inward — the opposite of ballet's turnout.
The Pigeon Toe
Which Bob Fosse 1966 musical introduced the cynical aesthetic to Broadway — featuring 'Big Spender'?
Sweet Charity
Define a 'Concept Musical'
A show where the central MESSAGE or THEME is more important than a chronological plot. Events happen in the logic of the central idea, not necessarily in order.
Give TWO examples of an Action Verb.
Any two of: To mock · To plead · To demand · To dare · To warn · To surrender · To invite · To accuse · To beg
Name TWO physical qualities of a Golden Age performer's walk.
Any two of: chest high · leading with the heart · direct eye contact · big smile · light on the feet · performing FOR the audience
What does 'Isolation' mean as a Fosse technique?
ONE body part moves while everything else stays completely still. The stillness makes the movement.
In the Rule of Three, what changes between Step 1 and Step 2?
Step 2: Remove the smile. Keep every step identical but reduce physical size to 50%.
What is Company's central tension — in one sentence?
The fear of being alone versus the fear of being with someone (the fear of commitment).
Why is 'I feel desperate' NOT enough for performance — but 'I am PLEADING' is?
An emotion is a state you feel — the audience cannot see it directly. An Action Verb is something you DO to another person — it changes how you say every single word.
Which Rodgers & Hammerstein show is considered the first fully integrated book musical — and the anchor of the Golden Age?
Oklahoma! (1943)
Rather than hiding his physical 'flaws' — hunched posture, balding head, pigeon-toed feet — what did Fosse do?
He made the whole world match them. He turned his flaws into his signature.
What is 'Dead Space'?
A moment where a performer stops ACTING because they stop MOVING.
What is the Sondheim Turn?
The moment within a song's lyrics where the character has a realisation, reverses their position, or arrives somewhere they did not expect to be when they began singing.
In the Being Alive script analysis, what THREE things did students annotate in the margins?
WHO Bobby is talking to · What he WANTS (objective in one sentence) · Where his TACTIC changes (draw a line at each shift)
What term describes the Contemporary acting style where a performer lives truthfully in the moment rather than performing for an audience?
Naturalistic performance
Define 'Containment' as a Fosse-ism.
Small, deliberate movements over big, expansive ones. Less is always more.
Describe the 'Soft-Boiled Core' warm-up and explain why it is NOT relaxing.
Slightly hunched shoulders and caved-in chest — the Fosse silhouette. Not relaxing because you are CHOOSING this shape deliberately. There's a difference between relaxing and selecting.
Does Bobby's story in Company have a resolution? Why or why not?
No. Bobby has no quest or journey from A to B. The unresolved contradiction IS the point — the audience leaves with the tension intact.
A student assigns different Action Verbs to four lines but performs them all identically. What have they misunderstood?
That the verb must change HOW they perform — not just what they think. The verb changes the pitch, pace, and pause of every word.
Name THREE world events that caused musical theatre to shift away from Golden Age optimism from the 1960s onward.
The Vietnam War · The Civil Rights Movement · The counterculture (youth culture rejecting tradition and authority)
Name ALL SEVEN items from the Fosse Checklist
Pigeon Toe · The Slouch · Pelvic Tilt · Jazz Hands · Props (hats/canes/cigarettes) · Isolation · Containment
Complete the Fosse quote: 'The time to sing is when your emotional level is too high to just talk anymore, and the time to dance is when...'
...it's too high to just sing.
What is the key difference between how a Golden Age character and a Sondheim character relate to their own feelings at the START of a song?
A Golden Age character KNOWS what they want before they start singing. A Sondheim character DISCOVERS what they want — or what they fear — by the time they finish.
At the Sondheim Turn in the Being Alive script analysis, what did students add to the margin — and why?
A stage direction — describing what the character is doing with their body as the shift happens. Because Sondheim's songs are dramatic scenes set to music, and the body must reflect the psychological turn.