Musical Theatre For Dummies

Introduction

You know that expression that people who love cocktails used to encourage day drinking? They pour themselves a drink at 11 a.m. and toast the air saying, It’s 5 o’clock somewhere! I’ve repurposed that saying to be about musical theatre, and here it is:

No matter what time of day it is where you are, there is a musical being performed somewhere in the world.

Yes, musicals are an American art form, but they’re beloved all around the world. Well, not all around the world. There are definitely some places where musicals aren’t performed.

Yet.

You see, I’m hoping musicals will eventually be performed in every city, town, and village the world over. Think how much safer the world would be! What do I mean by that? Well, my friend Kristine Zbornik said it best in her show Ball of Confusion during the opening number entitled Show Tune (written by Jason Robert Brown). She’d say, I believe it is physically impossible to commit a violent act while singing a show tune. People would laugh because she was obviously exaggerating … but was she? Hmm. I say you and I try it first and then decide. Yes! We can see what happens if the people of the world spend the bulk of their day singing show tunes. That, my friends, is what this book is for! To spread the love of musical theatre. Globally. And also, hopefully, to impart some knowledge. And definitely, to give you some fun inside stories directly from the mouths of people who perform on Broadway! This book is for people who know every little thing about Broadway, and it’s for people who have never heard of Cats, Wicked, or Hamilton.

Like musical theatre, this book is for everyone.

About This Book

Why read this book? Well, you can use it to discover historical information about how musicals have developed over time, or to figure out if you want some kind of career in theatre, or to read some fun stories about your favorite musical or favorite star. Musical Theatre For Dummies can help you brush up on theatre terms before you start rehearsal for your next show. It’s also a way to take a break from the outside world and get lost in all things musicals.

And why was I asked to write this book? Well, I’ve been working on Broadway since the early 1990s, so I have ye olde "street cred*. I began as a pianist in the orchestra (the original Broadway run of Les Misérables), graduated to conducting, then to acting on Broadway, and then to co-writing my own musical as well. (*The street is Broadway.)

And throughout all those years, I’ve been chatting with stars and creators and everyone else who works on Broadway in the various talk shows I’ve done. First, in my weekly talk show at Don’t Tell Mama that raised money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS called Seth’s Broadway Chatterbox, and then in my weekly talk show on SiriusXM radio called Seth Speaks. I’ve heard countless tales of bizarre auditions, hilarious mishaps onstage, last-minute ideas that saved a musical, wrong choices that doomed a show, costume failures, wig debacles, and so much more! And I’ve put all that knowledge that’s been floating around my head for years into this book.

Full disclosure: If you like (stuffy) academic writing, this probably isn’t the book for you. However, if you want information about musical theatre directly from the people who create it and/or are part of it eight times a week, this book is for you!

Foolish Assumptions

Are you at a bookstore right now flipping through this book and thinking Hm … am I interested? Or should I spend this money on a latte? Well, my therapist always tells me I project, so here are some of the assumptions I’m pretty sure you might be making right now:

YOU’RE THINKING: You don’t know anything about musical theatre, and this book will be all inside information and theatre sayings and you won’t know what the H is happening.

ASSUMPTION BUSTER: I wrote this book so someone unfamiliar with musical theatre can discover the basics about it and enjoy stories about some universal hilarious situations.

YOU’RE THINKING: You know everything about musical theatre, and you don’t need to read a whole book about stuff you yourself could teach at a university.

ASSUMPTION BUSTER: Even if you have a PhD in musical theatre, this book has stories you’ve never heard before. Why? Because some of them were only told to me! Yes, I admit I’m breaking some boundaries and revealing inside stories so you can be entertained!

YOU’RE THINKING: I want to do musicals one day, but I’m too old/overweight/clumsy/short/tall/.

ASSUMPTION BUSTER: This book will give you confidence to pursue your dream.

YOU’RE THINKING: I hear Seth on the radio all the time, and his voice gives me a splitting headache.

ASSUMPTION BUSTER: Guess what? This book is made up of the written word, so you can hear it in your head in any voice you want. Why not imagine the dulcet tones of Meryl Streep reading it … in one of the millions of accents she’s perfected.

Icons Used in This Book

In the margins of the book, you’ll find these icons, and here’s why they’re there.

Sethspeaks This means that it’s a fun, possibly tangential, story. These are the kind of stories with which you’ll want to regale your musical theatre pals!

Tip This icon appears next to insider tidbits that are good to know, so you can throw them around at cocktail parties.

Remember Sometimes I really want to emphasize the point I’m making, and this icon helps me do that.

Beyond This Book

If you’re a musical theatre freak like me and want to know as much as you can about the goings-on on Broadway and more, check out the following:

Cheat Sheet: You can find the Cheat Sheet, complete with additional nuggets of information, for this book by going to www.dummies.com and searching for Musical Theatre For Dummies Cheat Sheet. Save it in your bookmarks and refer to it whenever you need a quick refresh.

My websiteSethRudetsky.com: This has info on all my upcoming performances all over the world … many with Broadway stars who I mention in this book! It also has info on my Broadway Cruise. Yes, it’s a super fun vacation to sail on a fabulous boat to delicious destinations, but it’s also a place where you can see some of the Broadway stars I mention in this book in performance up close and personal! And you can apply all the knowledge you’ve read in this book to some of my many Broadway trivia games on the boat. Or use it to impress one of the stars! Walk up to Audra McDonald and tell her "I heard your wig fell off in Ragtime at the end of Act One"! She’ll be a combination impressed by your insider knowledge and furious at me for telling that story. P.S. If you like to perform, you can even take one of the master classes that are taught by me and a star! And if you’re nervous about singing in front of a star, just remember: What happens in the middle of the Atlantic, stays in the middle of the Atlantic.

My website www.SethRudetsky.com also has links to tons of Broadway books that I’ve read and loved (plus links to all the other books I’ve written).

YouTube: You can find so many incredible Broadway performances on YouTube. I recommend searching for Tony Awards or The Ed Sullivan Show or The Rosie O’Donnell Show or just the name of one your favorite stars or musicals. The Internet has really made Broadway performances accessible to everyone, so take advantage of it.

I also have my own YouTube channel where you can watch tons of filmed performances of me showcasing some amazing Broadway singers plus my signature deconstructions. Take a gander at www.youtube.com/SethTV.

SiriusXM 77: There’s only one satellite Broadway radio station and it’s on SiriusXM, broadcasting 24 hours a day. You can listen at SiriusXM 77 and hear nonstop Broadway music plus my fabulous co-hosts! Christine Pedi is on in the morning, I’m on in the afternoon, and John Tartaglia is every Sunday. Who needs to listen to today’s pop hits when you can hear five different versions of Rose’s Turn (Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters, and Patti LuPone)?

Where to Go from Here

I wrote this book so you can flip to a section that interests you and read it, or you can start from the beginning and read all the way through. Or you can read the entire thing backward a la Merrily We Roll Along.* (If you know, you know.) *For movie fans, a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

If you’re not sure where to start, flip to the Table of Contents or Index, find a topic that piques your interest, turn to that chapter, and start reading.

My point is, read it however you want! All right, everyone. Time to start. As Zach says in A Chorus Line a 5, 6, 7, 8!

Part 1

Getting Started with Musical Theatre

IN THIS PART …

Gain an appreciation for the history of musical theatre during the past 100 years or so.

Look at the different parts of Act One, starting with the overture and ending with intermission.

Find out what happens through Act Two until the exit music.

Recognize the many places in the world you can enjoy musical theatre, beginning obviously with Broadway.

Discover how to find the best-value tickets for Broadway.

Know how to behave like a respectful veteran Broadway patron.

Chapter 1

Before the Curtain Rises: Just the Basics about Musical Theatre

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Understanding what musical theatre is

Bullet Appreciating the vast array of musicals

Bullet Meeting the professionals who make musicals

You picked up your tickets at the box office, and you’re about to enter the theatre. Ugh! Why did you bring a bag with you? Now, the security guard has to look inside it with a flashlight to see if you have anything forbidden — a weapon, a giant recording device, a sticker that says I LOVE CATS! NOW AND FOREVER*.

*Just kidding**.

**Not really.

Phew! You’re cleared and now you show your tickets to the usher who hands you a Playbill and escorts you to your seat. Nice! Eighth row aisle. Ugh! Why does there have to be a tall person sitting in front of you. Down in front! Oh, wait. That’s Tommy Tune*. Hi, Mr. Tune. Huge fan of your work! So … you’re 6’ 6", correct? Cool. What a wonderfully bold choice for you to wear a top hat. I’m sure I can see around it.

*This really happened to me!

You flip through the Playbill. Ooh! You didn’t realize this show had so-and-so. How exciting! You’re a huge fan! You hear the announcement to turn off all cellphones and other noise-making devices. You put your Playbill on your lap. The lights dim. The orchestra is about to play the overture and … curtain up!

That’s the Broadway musical version of you seeing this book in the bookstore (or online), buying it, planting yourself in a comfortable seat, and opening the cover.

This chapter serves as your jumping-off point to the joyous journey of discovering anything and everything related to Broadway musicals. Here I give you an overview of the miracle that is musical theatre.

What Is This Thing Called Love*?

*Musical theatre!

Fair question. What is musical theatre? Well, the most basic answer is that musical theatre is a type of performance that has music. And yet, some theatrical productions that have music are not musicals. Back in the 1990s, I conducted a show on Broadway called An Inspector Calls. I was playing the piano as well as conducting and there were also drums and strings and percussion and brass … and yet it wasn’t a musical. An Inspector Calls was a play that had scenes underscored with music.

Remember So musicals must have music and lyrics that are sung. Wait a minute, you’re wondering. Broadway had that production of Swan Lake that featured men dancing the roles of the swans and princes. It was all music, but there was no singing in it at all. And yet it was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Musical. And what about Contact? That show had dialogue and dancing, but no live singing! And it won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

FINE! Can I just give an answer that is 99 percent applicable? Most musicals have music, lyrics, a book (the script or libretto), and dancing. And the songs usually advance the plot. You can find permutations and exceptions to that rule, but that’s the basic answer.

A musical combines scenes, songs, and dances to tell a story. Here I delve a little deeper.

Music

Yes, Broadway musicals must have music. Does that mean the music has to be in a Broadway style? Well, let me ask you: What is a Broadway style? Is it the old timey Irving Berlin/Cole Porter American Songbook style? Sure it is!

But is it also Best Little Whorehouse In Texas country style? You got it!

But what about rock ‘n’ roll Hair style? You bet!

And how about Porgy and Bess operatic style. Is that Broadway? Of course!

So, you’re also saying Hamilton music is Broadway style?

Well, it’s on Broadway, isn’t it?

My point is, there is no specific type of music that has to be in a Broadway musical. The show just has to have music and be in a Broadway theatre.

What’s your favorite Broadway song by the way? You may not remember the lyrics, but you undoubtably remember the melody. Broadway musicals must have music and, as I’m sure you know, good Broadway musicals have songs that stay with you forever.

Lyrics

The music in musical theatre must have lyrics. And those lyrics help define characters and situations as well as advance the plot. And, the most amazing part, those lyrics have to rhyme. Yes, some false rhymes have certainly hit Broadway (especially in the last 20 years! Don’t get me started), but the majority of Broadway lyrics rhyme and, boy, that takes skill!

What’s your favorite Broadway lyric? I have a lot, but I especially love the Sondheim lyrics from Another Hundred People. There’s one section that shows perfectly how busy New Yorkers are always looking for the next, best thing and not fully committing to anything. You know, there may be something better out there so better not lock down a plan.

"Did you get my message cause I looked in vain?

Can we see each other Tuesday if it doesn’t rain?

Look, I’ll call you in the morning, or my service will explain …".

(P.S. Service refers to answering services. In 1970, people didn’t have answering machines.) Think about your favorite lyric! Aren’t you impressed the lyricist can get that thought across and make it rhyme?

Book

The book is also called the libretto or the script (See Chapter 2 for many more details about the book, as well as the music and lyrics). The book is vitally important to so many musicals, yet (twist ending) not all musicals have them. Meaning not all musicals have spoken dialogue, but 99 percent have a story and the story is also considered the book.

For example, the show Falsettos is entirely sung. It has no dialogue, but the story is very detailed. So, the music/lyrics are credited to William Finn, and the book is credited to William Finn and James Lapine, even though there’s no spoken dialogue. They wrote the book (that is, the story) together.

Let me explain why I said that 99 percent of musicals have a book. That’s because some musicals are revues — nearly identical to a musical but without the story/plot; those types of Broadway musicals aren’t as common as book musicals. And often, they’re not as successful. Probably the most successful was Ain’t Misbehavin’, which was a revue of Fats Waller music and not only ran for years but also won the Tony Award for Best Musical! How incredible is that? Those five performers were simply riveting at performing Fats Waller songs that their show won Best Musical over scripted musicals like On the Twentieth Century.

Dance

The term choreography refers to the creation of dance. Most of you probably know that term, but maybe not everyone does. That’s why when a musical wins a Tony Award for Best Choreography, it sometimes has a banner outside its theatre reading Best Dancing!

Unlike music, not every musical has dancing in it. Let me clarify: Not every musical has lots of dancing or big dance numbers in them, but 99 percent of musicals have some form of dancing. In fact, any type of specific movement that’s a song is a form of dancing. So some musicals have lots of dance numbers like Some Like It Hot and some have smaller dance moments like Dear Evan Hansen.

Having dancing during a song can make it much more exciting. Listen to the song America from West Side Story with its wonderfully clever lyrics and hummable melody. Notice that within the song are three sections of just instruments playing — no singing. That fabulous Leonard Bernstein orchestral section is enjoyable to listen to on the recording with its drum and trumpet accents, right? Listen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI5c8qCff2w.

WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HATE MUSICAL THEATRE???

Short answer: They’re idiots.

Yep. Some people love making sweeping statements. I just don’t like musicals. Really, I respond? What musicals have you seen?

The answer is always something along the lines of, "I’ve seen a few (but they can’t actually name them) or I’ve never seen an entire musical" (then on what are you basing your opinion?), or they mention some movie musicals they’ve seen (that isn’t the same as a stage musical!).

Anyhoo, my advice is to not engage with them. That type of person isn’t clamoring to see a show, which means it’s a little easier for you to get tickets to the latest hit, and they can sit home and watch the latest reality show. (And, as a veteran of a few reality shows, let me tell you; they’re not actually reality!)

Longer answer: Here are other possible reasons:

Reason number one: They’ve formed their opinion on the few bad productions they’ve seen. Let me be honest. A show can be brilliant, but if it’s a bad production, it’s hard to see what all the hoopla is about. And I don’t even mean bad acting/singing/dancing that can ruin a show. I’m also talking about something like bad sound. I’ve seen a few Broadway shows I didn’t really enjoy, but then I listened to the album and realized, "That’s what they were singing? Now I love the show!"

Reason number two: They don’t realize how many different types of musicals there are. When I was young, I definitely didn’t like old-school musicals. I wasn’t interested in Kismet, but I was obsessed with Chicago and A Chorus Line. If I hadn’t been exposed to different types of show, I would have thought that all musicals had the type of operatic singing as in Kismet, and I would have said I didn’t like musicals. What’s amazing about musicals is that you can find so many different types!

So, if someone tells you they don’t like musicals, they maybe have only seen a certain type that just isn’t their style.

Now watch a YouTube performance with Debbie Allen and the same instrumental accents you heard on the recording accompanied by dance moves. It makes a fabulous song that much more fabulous! Watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m9T-usMGH0.

P.S. Dancing not only makes a song more enjoyable but can also help tell the story or make an emotional point. Here’s another example: In the song Side by Side in Company, each couple does a cute dance routine — first one spouse and then the other. The last person to do the dance break is the unmarried Bobby. He does part of the dance — followed by silence. It makes the point that he’s alone. Watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqspo5XK6S8.

I discuss choreographers in greater detail in Chapter 7.

Recognizing the Types of Musicals

Chapter 2 dives into the history of musicals, from the earliest shows to the most recent, and everything in between. I describe individual performances, define various terms, and leave very few stones unturned. (Make sure you’re good and comfy when you start that chapter and have some food nearby … probably breakfast, lunch, and, quite frankly, dinner — it’s a long chapter!). Here I give you the quick-and-dirty rundown of the types of musicals I discuss.

Musical comedies

When people who aren’t familiar with musical theatre think musical, they usually think of musical comedies. You know, light-hearted and laugh-filled shows like Guys and Dolls, Kiss Me, Kate, Spamalot, and The Producers. However, that’s just one type of musical. There are plenty of musicals that are not musical comedies.

Yes, most musicals have comedy within them at certain points, like West Side Story’s brilliantly comedic Gee, Officer Krupke, but any musical that has three tragic deaths decidedly isn’t a comedy. So, the takeaway is that a musical comedy is a musical, but not all musicals are musical comedies.

Golden Age musicals

Golden Age musicals are the classics from the 1940s to the 1960s. Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Kiss Me, Kate, and so on. They were written by the early masters of musical theatre like Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (known as Lerner and Loewe), and the duo who started the Golden Age: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (known simply as Rodgers and Hammerstein).

These shows are revived on Broadway and produced and performed all over the world in regional theatre, community theatre, colleges and high schools, and if you’re from my Long Island hometown, synagogues.

Jukebox musicals

Don’t you love pop songs? Everyone loves the songs they grew up listening to on the radio, and you can hear so many (well … there are some) amazing popular songs being written today. A jukebox musical takes these pop hits and puts them into a Broadway musical. I’m talking Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia!, On Your Feet, Ain’t Too Proud, Moulin Rouge, and so many more.

Tip If you know someone who hates musicals, start with a jukebox musical because they can go in humming the score! Refer to Chapter 11 for more details about jukebox musicals.

Rock musicals

Rock musicals are very similar to jukebox musicals in terms of the songs sounding like songs you can hear on the radio. But, instead of the score consisting of already existing songs, they’re actually all original songs written for the show. Hair is considered the first rock musical; the genre then went on to include hits like Jesus Christ Superstar and Chess — and short runs like Marlowe, Got Tu Go Disco, and Via Galactica.

Interestingly, Rock of Ages has rock in its title, but it’s not a true rock musical because the songs are all hits from the radio. It’s considered a jukebox musical.

And Almost Famous has original songs by Tim Kitt and Cameron Crowe that were written in the style of ’70s rock, but it also incorporates famous songs (like Tiny Dancer) within the show, so that show is a hybrid!

Sung-thru musicals

Operas have always been sung-thru, meaning they have only music and lyrics with no dialogue between them. As I discuss in Chapter 2, musical theatre is derived from opera. Yet sung-thru musicals didn’t come into vogue until the 1970s, many decades after the first Broadway musicals. Before the ’70s, musicals always had a spoken script and songs in between (except The Most Happy Fella, which was an anomaly. P.S. An amazing show!).

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice started the sung-thru musical trend with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita. Other hit sung-thru shows include Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Falsettos, and the current superhit Hamilton!

Identifying the Important People That Make Musicals Happen

A musical takes a lot of people: Those who create all aspects of it and those who do the show eight times a week onstage, backstage, and under the stage. Here is a sneak at who these professionals are. Part 2 discusses all of them in greater detail.

Behind the scenes

A multitude of professionals are involved with a musical before the curtain rises. Here are most of the people behind the scenes:

Producer(s): They’re in charge of the whole shebang. They raise the money and (usually) have the last word on the creative team, the casting, the advertising, the marketing, when to open, when to close, and so on.

The composer, lyricist, and book writer: Sometimes three different people, sometimes the same person. They write the show (the music, lyrics, and book).

The director: They’re in charge of picking the cast and often the creative team. The show is their vision, meaning they sign off on the costumes, the lights, the sound, and all the other details. They’re the last word (except for the producer).

General manager: The GM creates the budget and the producer approves it. The GM also has to decide how the money is allocated for the show.

The choreographer: They’re in charge of any dancing onstage. Often, they’re in charge of any movement at all during musical numbers even if it’s not what you’d think is literal dancing.

The music director/conductor, vocal arranger, orchestrator: This music team works with the composer to bring the music to life.

The music director rehearses the singers and is present throughout rehearsal to shape the show musically … and often conducts the orchestra every night.

The vocal arranger creates the harmonies that people sing in the show.

The orchestrator turns the composer’s initial version of the music, usually written on the piano, into a score played by the whole orchestra.

The lighting/set/costume designer: Each of them is responsible for what the audience sees onstage, including the costumes that every performer wears, the set that the performers move around in onstage, and the lights that illuminate the entire show.

Hair/makeup: Not always in every show, they create the hairstyles or wigs (think of shows that take place yesteryear where hairstyles were very specific) as well as someone who creates the makeup (think of the Phantom’s disfigured face).

The stage manager: They’re in charge of everyone who works on the show daily. They call all the cues (lighting and sound), take acting notes, run understudy rehearsal — basically they keep the show in the same shape as it was on opening night.

The company manager: They handle all the cast’s needs, including pay negotiation, transportation, dressing room assignments, and so on.

Publicists and marketing teams: They’re in charge of deciding how and where the show should be advertised and the creative ideas used to sell tickets.

The orchestra: These musicians accompany all the songs in the show. They’re usually located under the stage in the pit, and the conductor stands with their back to the audience so they can face the orchestra and the singers onstage.

The crew: It consists of many people who are charge of various things like handling props, moving the set, running the lights, running the sound, and so on.

Onstage

The audience sees these people onstage — the ones who bring the show to life:

The leads: Sometimes one person, sometimes two. These are the people around whom the story revolves.

The featured actors: These are the secondary characters, usually comedic.

The ensemble: These people play everyone else in the show. They usually sing and dance and often play small roles as well as understudy bigger roles.

Understudies/standbys/swings: These people define The show must go on. They cover every single person on the stage. If someone can’t make it for an evening’s performance, someone out of these folks can go on so the show can continue.

Test Your Broadway Knowledge

Consider this section your pre-test to gauge what you know about musical theatre and Broadway.

1. Which of these women didn’t star as Mama Rose in Gypsy on Broadway?

(A) Ethel Merman

(B) Angela Lansbury

(C) Tyne Daly

(D) Donna Murphy

(E) Linda Lavin

(F) Bernadette Peters

(G) Patti LuPone

2. Which Stephen Sondheim musical wasn’t originally directed by Hal Prince?

(A) Company

(B) Pacific Overtures

(C) Into the Woods

(D) Follies

3. What is considered the first modern-day musical?

(A) Oklahoma!

(B) My Fair Lady

(C) Anything Goes

(D) West Side Story

4. Fill in the famous composing team name:

(A) Kander and _________

(B) Flaherty and _________

(C) Lerner and __________

(D) Pasek and __________

5. Who are the Tony Awards named after?

(A) Tony Randall

(B) Anthony Quinn

(C) Antoinette Perry

(D) Lucia Tony

Answers: 1. D, 2. C, 3. A, 4. A. Ebb, B. Ahrens, C. Loewe, D. Paul, 5. C.

TEN ACTORS WHO DEBUTED ON BROADWAY IN LEAD ROLES

You get a theatre degree, you pound the pavement, you get some shows out of town, you do chorus work for years, you understudy some parts, you replace in a featured role, and finally after years on Broadway in the ensemble, an understudy or a replacement, you debut on Broadway in a leading role. Many people have followed that path, but here are some lucky peeps who debuted on Broadway in a leading role:

Gavin Creel: Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical)

Bonnie Milligan: Princess Pamela in Head Over Heels

Julie Andrews: Polly in The Boyfriend (the show before she played Eliza in My Fair Lady)

Idina Menzel: Maureen in Rent (Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical)

Vanessa Williams: The Spider Woman in Kiss of the Spider Woman

Andrea McArdle: Annie in Annie (Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical)

Lea Salonga: Kim in Miss Saigon (Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical)

Adam Pascal: Roger in Rent

Wilson Jermaine-Heredia: Angel in Rent (Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical)

Sandy: The doggie in Annie (was in a shelter beforehand! #Arf)

Chapter 2

The History of Musical Theatre (in only 100 pages!)

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Identifying the types of shows that led to modern-day musicals

Bullet Highlighting the Golden Age of Broadway

Bullet Looking at decade-by-decade hit shows

Bullet Recognizing that the British are coming

Bullet Bringing back shows — The revival becomes popular

Bullet Appreciating Broadway in the 21st century

An entire book can be written about every musical, whether flop, hit, or somewhere in between. Every show, no matter how successful, has great stories about the conception, the creation, the money raised, the casting, the previews, the opening, the run, the closing, and so much more. However, if you want to discover more about the genre of musical theatre, you need a delicious dose of knowledge about every show that made an impact on Broadway.

While reading this chapter, identify any particular show that piques your interest and then go online to read more. You’re bound to find lots of articles about the show, as well as photos, recordings, and even videos.

This chapter gives an overview of how musical theatre evolved and highlights the shows you need to know about if you want to chat musical theatre at your local piano bar.

Let’s Start at the Very Beginning — Before Show Boat Sailed to Broadway

Most Broadway fans can name most musicals playing on Broadway today. And most can confidently say that these types of musicals all derive from the writing of Oscar Hammerstein. Yet, some call Hammerstein’s Show Boat the first modern-day musical because if combined the plot and the songs seamlessly and some call Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! the first modern-day musical because it combined plot, songs, and dance. For the sake of stopping an argument before it begins, I’m going to create new verbiage and call Show Boat the grandparent of modern-day musicals and Oklahoma!, the parent.

Ah. I just averted a musical theatre scholar fistfight.

And in terms of leading to modern-day musicals, if you saw a production of Show Boat today, it wouldn’t immediately make you think of Hamilton. You’d probably feel it was old-timey in terms of the style of the songs (similar to light opera) and dialogue, but it definitely laid the groundwork for today’s musicals. P.S. It should be known that Show Boat wasn’t the first musical ever performed. Plenty of shows and styles of shows led to Show Boat, and I delve into them in the following sections. (I discuss Show Boat in greater detail in the section, "The Birth of the Musical As It’s Known Today," later in this chapter.)

A lighter shade of opera

Operas have been around since the late 1500s, and they were the great-great granparents to today’s musical theatre. In many ways, operas and musicals don’t differ much; they both involve people onstage who sing to advance the plot. The difference is in music versus lyrics. In opera, music is the most important aspect. Yes, music is often what makes people want to see musicals, of course, but the words in a musical are much more important than the words in an opera. Basically, the melodies of operas are beloved, but the music and lyrics combined are what’s beloved in musicals.

THE BEGGAR’S OPERA (THE MAMMA MIA OF THE 1700S?)

In 1728, John Gay created The Beggar’s Opera using the genre of what was called the ballad opera. If you had a ticket to The Beggar’s Opera back in jolly olde England (see the upcoming figure), you wouldn’t have been surrounded only by the typical opera audiences of nobles and the upper class. You’d see that all classes were in the audience.

Archivist/Adobe Stock

The Beggar’s Opera was the The Phantom Of The Opera of its time. No, it didn’t run for more than 30 years, but it ran an unprecedented 62 nights. The Beggar’s Opera is considered a predecessor to today’s musicals because instead of the opera’s signature sung dialogue (recitative), it had speaking parts. And instead of composing highfalutin music, Gay used popular songs. Some were from operas, but they were the very well-known arias, plus he used church hymns and folk songs. The result was that the audience was able to sing along and/or leave the theatre singing the tunes. Sound familiar? Yes, it was basically the first jukebox musical! (Chapter 11 discusses jukebox musicals in greater detail.)

Another big difference: Opera has no spoken dialogue. Conversation or monologues between songs that are spoken in a musical are instead sung in opera in what’s known as recitative. Note: Some musicals do have recitative (those musicals are called sung through or through sung), but they are the exception, rather than the rule.

Operettas

Operetta is the Italian diminutive term for opera. Operettas, sometimes called light opera, are clearly the predecessors to musicals. Even though everything is sung in an opera, operettas often contain spoken dialogue between songs, like in most musicals. Plus, one of the most popular genres of musicals is the musical comedy, and operettas are often comedic or satirical. While the United States can claim to have created musical theatre, the creation of the operetta was in France, around 1850.

The most famous operetta is Die Fledermaus by German composer Johann Strauss II (libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée). Fledermaus means bat in German, but this operetta shouldn’t be confused with the frightening Bat Boy, a half man/half bat who, according to the Weekly World News, terrorized people in the 1980s. (The story of this half man/half bat was musicalized in Bat Boy, a fantastic Off-Broadway musical, which I discuss in the book’s Cheat Sheet at www.dummies.com — just search for Musical Theatre For Dummies Cheat Sheet). The operetta eventually made its way to England, where two brilliant gentlemen wrote lots of them. Many are still performed all over the world, especially in American colleges and universities. Yes, I’m talking about …

Gilbert & Sullivan (or, as insiders/nerds call them, G&S)

W. S. Gilbert (book/lyrics) and Arthur Sullivan collaborated on 14 comic operettas in the late 1800s. The audiences for theatre in England was growing at this time, and one of the reasons was street lighting. Why? Because it made it safer to travel home after a show!

Interestingly, safety was a reason that musicals changed start times on Broadway. Back in the Golden Age of Broadway, curtain time was usually 8:30 p.m. When the 1970s began, Times Square became more dangerous, so shows moved their start times to earlier to save patrons from wandering around 42nd Street late at night. Now Times Square is safe again, but many people prefer the earlier curtain times so the 8:30 curtain never came back into vogue.

Back to G&S: Of the 14 comic operettas they collaborated on, their most famous are The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, and H.M.S. Pinafore. Sullivan’s music is extremely tuneful, but it’s the brilliant Gilbert lyrics that make their work closer to musicals than opera because, as I mention in the section, "A lighter shade of opera," earlier in this chapter, the lyrics in opera take a backseat. Gilbert’s lyrics (and Sullvan’s music) still hold up today. A 1980s Broadway production of Pirates of Penzance starred Rex Smith, Kevin Kline, George Rose, and Linda Rondstadt and was a huge hit. If you missed it, you can check out the film version.

Sethspeaks Maureen McGovern took over for Linda Rondstadt. Maureen was a pop star first known for belting the Oscar-winning theme to The Poseidon Adventure. How did the producers know she could sing the operatic role of Mabel? Well, Maureen hit the pop charts again with Different Worlds, the theme to the TV show Angie. At the end, she hits some high notes, and Maureen told me that the powers-that-be from the production of Pirates of Penzanze heard the song on the radio and knew she had the chops to sing high soprano!

The crowd pleasers

Before there were fully scripted musicals, people still gathered for live musical theatre adjacent performances. These shows had singing, dancing, and lots of comedy, but they didn’t have a throughline. Aspects of these types of show were incorporated into modern-day musicals.

THE SAD HISTORY OF MINSTREL SHOWS

Minstrels were racist entertainment that disparagingly depicted people of African descent, usually played by white people in blackface. Also called minstrelsy, they were the most popular musical stage shows of the early and mid-19th century. Minstrel shows had dancing and singing and comedy that depicted African-Americans as slow-witted, lazy, and buffoonish. Worst of all, they portrayed the enslaved as happy with their enslavement.

After the Civil War, all-Black minstrel shows became the only way Black performers could earn a living with their talent. The famous blues singers Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith began their careers in minstrel shows, but eventually they were able to become stars outside the confines of a minstrel show. The all-minstrel shows lost popularity by the early 1900s, but, sadly, performing in blackface remained and was incorporated in certain vaudeville shows.

The musical The Scottsboro Boys, with a book by David Thompson and a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, used the framework of a minstrel show with an all-Black (except for one) cast to tell the story of nine Black teenagers, falsely accused of raping two white women aboard a train near Scottsboro, Alabama. The idea was to use what was a form of racist entertainment to tell the story of a racist crime. The Broadway production garnered 12 Tony nominations and then had a very successful run in London.

Once I was a schleppa … The rise of burlesque

To burlesque something means to spoof it. Even though the majority of people nowadays think of burlesque as strip shows, burlesque actually began as comedy spoofs of famous operas, plays, and even politics; burlesque shows started around 1840 and lasted all the way to the 1960s. These shows were an early version of the Carol Burnett show’s movie parodies or SNL’s Weekend Update and were similar to the vaudeville shows (which I discuss in the next section) in terms of them being filled with music and comedy. The difference was the focus: women. Specifically, women’s bodies. Burlesque rose to popularity during the Victorian era when the fashion was for women to disguise their natural shape with hoops and bustles. Burlesque shows revealed their natural form and that sold tickets.

After The Black Crook (which featured women in revealing outfits) played in the Broadway theatre Niblo’s Garden (refer to the section, "Before Cats, there was The Black Crook," later in this chapter), the next hit to play there was the burlesque Ixion. It spoofed mythology and featured women in, you guessed it, revealing tights. Another difference between vaudeville and burlesque is that vaudeville strove to maintain clean family entertainment; burlesque had ribald, sexually tinged humor. The hilarious 1970s musical Sugar Babies that starred Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney is an homage to burlesque songs and slightly dirty jokes. Here’s a classic example:

Hotel guest: I can’t get any sleep! There’s a lady next door who loves candy bars. All night long she keeps yelling, ‘Oh, Henry! Oh, Henry!’

By the 1920s, audiences were mostly turning to vaudeville, film, and radio for entertainment. Revealing tights weren’t enough to draw ’em in, so burlesque hauled out something none of the others had: stripping! Arguably, the two most famous strippers were Sally Rand and her fan dance and Gypsy Rose Lee, known to Broadway audiences as the subject of Gypsy. Going to burlesque strip shows was the only way men could see an (almost) naked woman. Burlesque was able to keep slogging along until nudity began to appear in theatre (the all-nude Oh! Calcutta! is one example, among others), which also coincided with the rise of pornographic films. Interestingly, even though vaudeville wound up being more popular at the time, there are no more vaudeville shows … but shows in the burlesque style still continue to be produced around the world.

There I was in Mr. Orpheum’s office

Vaudeville was popular all across America from the 1880s to the 1930s and was basically a big variety show. Picture America’s Got Talent without commercial breaks or the Golden Buzzer. Vaudeville shows consisted of a series of unrelated acts: singers, dancers, comedians, popular and classical musicians, ventriloquists, strongmen, animal acts, male/female impersonators, jugglers, mind-readers, clowns, acrobats, escape artists, short plays, and later on, short movies.

Plenty of amazingly talented people were in vaudeville, but performing talent wasn’t required … if you were famous. Non-performers like baseball legend Hank Aaron and the inspirational Helen Keller appeared. Sometimes, a la Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart in Chicago, an actual murderess would be in the mix! Vaudeville troupes traveled around the country to perform in chains of vaudeville theatres (like the Orpheum Circuit). These were the early versions of Broadway show national tours, and the common two-a-day show schedule was retained on Broadway with Wednesday and Saturday matinées.

Mr. Ziegfeld! Mr. Ziegfeld!

The Ziegfeld Follies began on Broadway in 1907 and ended in 1936. These spectacles had the variety show elements of vaudeville with comics such as W. C. Fields and Bob Hope, singers like Helen Morgan, and dancers like Gilda Gray (who popularized the shimmy), but the Follies were much grander than a vaudeville show. Beautiful sets and lavish costumes were de riguer. Borrowing from burlesque, beautiful women were one of the key attractions of the Follies: The so-called Ziegfeld Girls would parade up and down stairs in elaborate attire.

The musical Funny Girl is all about real-life singer/comedienne Fanny Brice becoming a Ziegfeld star. On a side note, there was once a production with a star playing Fanny who had the singing chops but not much else. Insiders noted her distinct lack of comedic chops by renaming the production; instead of Funny Girl, they referred to as simply Girl. #ShowBizIsHarsh

It’s a musical-ish

These next types of shows have lots of the essence of modern-day musicals, but they’re still missing key elements. Think of them as the bridge between the operettas of yesteryear and the Broadway of today.

Before Cats, there was The Black Crook

What main thing is Cats known for? Yes, it’s known for the song Memory. Yes, the so-called cat fur on the costumes is made from yaks. Yes, an audience member sued the actor playing Rum Tum Tugger for leaping on her seat and gyrating his pelvis. But the main thing? The tag line was Now and Forever. And for a while, it looked like that would be true. On June 19, 1997, it became the longest-running show on Broadway (eventually surpassed by The Phantom of the Opera).

Back in the 1800s a show called The Black Crook consisted of adaptions of well-known songs, plus a few new ones thrown in, ran for a record-breaking 474 performances — not as many as