The American Musical

There exists well over two thousand recorded American Musicals to date. Many of these musicals though, never make it to the big time on Broadway in NYC. This is the dream of many Musicals and has been ever since the mid 1850's when Musical plays in NYC, near the end of the Civil War, started becoming more popular. The first ever long-run Musical that was a hit on Broadway was called The Elves and ran for 50 performances. (History of the Musical) This Musical started an American tradition that is still in full force and is even getting more popular today. The next big Musical that came to Broadway was Seven Sisters in 1860 and that play ran for a total of 253 performances. (History of the Musical) We can see how popular musicals were becoming in America and mainly in NYC because every big musical that would come out would have a longer performance run than the previous musical. Today the longest running musical to date is The Phantom of the Opera with 9419 performances since its release in January 1988 and it is still being performed on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre. (History of the Musical)

(The picture above is from the American Musical In the Heights. In this musical they incorporate a lot of the current pop cultures music and dance styles into the performance to help tell the story whether it be through rap, pop, break dance, or salsa. This is an example of how with every decade and time generation we see how the American Musicals are being written.)

Now that you have a little background on Broadway and the impact it has had on the Musicals, lets look at what how Musicals have been Americanized into the popular American Musicals that exist today. The Main differences between a Musical and an American Musical is that American musicals incorporate dancing, props, bright costumes and sets, special effects and well scored music which is used to tell and guide the story and portray the emotions of the performers. (EHow) All these things were added onto the traditional Musical play, which back in the mid 1800's and early 1900's was opera style which came over from Europe. (EHow)When Operetta is introduced in the 1920's, we start to see the transformation away from Opera and the beginning of the American Musical genre with new components being implemented every decade it seems to distinguish its-self from Opera. (EHow)

(The picture above is of a production team during a workshop session on a musical, collaborating their ideas together and trying to connect each others elements such as lyrics, music, choreography, or story so that the musical flows together.)

American Musicals are composed of many elements such as music, lyrics, choreography, set design, and the list goes on and on. Behind all these elements are the minds of many people. The main figures in the creation of an American Musical are the composer, who writes the music; the lyricist, who writes the lyrics; the choreographer, who stages the dances and moves; the book writer, who writes the dialogue of the play; the director, who stages the production; the music director, who leads the musical elements of a production; and a talent scout, who helps in finding talent and manages auditions for the performance. (Theatre History) All of these components of the American Musical are done during the workshop period of a musical and can take on average four years to perfect to the point where they can move onto the next stage of production, rehearsals. Once rehearsals are over the next step is preview of the musical for a few weeks to work out any bugs before opening to the public. This step was normally done on tour back before the 1970's were plays would take their play on the road, before going to NYC, in order to work out the plays issues but this was very costly and now musicals get only two to three weeks to work it out before performing to the public for opening night. (Theatre History) The musical will still go under small changes until it is felt to be perfect during its running time, but normally these changes aren't anything major or that noticeable to the audience. The goal of most American Musicals is to be successful enough to have a branch company do road tours, and to get a contract with Hollywood to do a film of the musical but musical films aren't very popular today which makes it hard for this to be accomplished. (EHow)

(This video of the American Musical Next to Normal is during a part of the play where the mother is confused with why her boy Gabe, who died as a baby isn't around anymore and today would have been his 18th birthday. Her family tries to make her realize that she needs to let go of him but she pushes them away and her bipolar disorder takes over. This is a great example of how the set is modernized, how the use of props and music flows with the performers emotions during the song.)

One American Musical on Broadway now and I feel is a great representation of American Musicals its self is Next to Normal. This musical is about a mother who has bipolar disorder and the effect that this has on her family. The musical also addresses such issues as grieving a loss, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and suburban life. The majority of the the American public can relate to in some way or another and though it is a sad musical it has elements of humor in most scenes that lighten the mood and allow the audience to take a step back out of the seriousness of the story and laugh. Next to Normal has a very modern 3 story set with a lot of light play, incorporates different types of music from rock to softer more dramatic music, and has a lot of prop interaction to help exemplify the performers emotions. Next to Normal has won two Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize.

Interesting Facts

• The Oldest Broadway Theatre that is still in existence is the Lyceum Theatre in NYC.
• The Highest Grossing American Musical is Wicked with over 900 million in sales alone.
• The second largest hub for musical theatre is at London, England.
• The oldest that musical theatre dates back to is with the Greeks in 5th century BCE.
• The Musical Hair, sparked the rock musical era with shows follow like the The Rocky Horror Show and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Works Cited

1. "History of Broadway Musicals | EHow.com." EHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. Web. 09 Oct. 2010.
2. "A History of the Musical." Piero Scaruffi's Knowledge Base. Web. 09 Oct. 2010.
3. Lubbock, Mark. "American Musical Theatre: An Introduction." TheatreHistory.com. Web. 09 Oct. 2010.