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Musicals What is a Musical? The word Musical is a short form of the english words "musical comedy" and "musical play". It is a form of theatre where the actors sing, dance, act and talk. The history of Musicals Musicals developed from the operetta in the late 19th century in the USA, particularly at the Broadway in New York as many influences like cultures, religions, social positions and skin colours came together in a small area. The first musical was "The Black Crook" which was produced in 1866, based on a book by Charles M. Barras and had its premiere at Niblo\'s Gardens in New York on 12th September 1866. In the so called Roaring Twenties (1920 - 1929) musicals did not include star actors and actresses, star dancers and popular songs and the musical play plots were skimped.
On 27th of December 1927 "Show Boat" (based on Edna Ferber's novel, music by Jerome Kern, book by Oscar Hammerstein II) celebrated premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York. It is generally considered to be the first American Musical as being new in using music which developed directly from the plot making the action more dramatic. Further it integrated social criticism like the black's situation in America. Actuated by Show Boats success, in the 30s the form of it was the base of many following musicals. In that period the Pulitzer-Price, a literary award in the USA, was won by a Musical (The Band Wagon, 1931) for the first time. In 1943 "The Golden Age" (40s/50s/60s) began with the Musical "Oklahoma!" It became the first blockbuster at the Broadway.
From now on composers and lyricist were dramatists using everything like music and costumes to develop a character and advance the action. More and more people created musicals and they became very popular. Then, the musicals developed from year to year. Today, they are nearly as successful as cinema. The Broadway Broadway is the street in New York that has come to symbolize live theatre entertainment throughout the world. Today, the area stretches from West 41st street up to West 53rd street.
1893 Charles Frohman opened the "Empire Theatre" at the now known Time Square. 1900 In this year, the Musicals at the Broadway ( from 13th street to 45th street ) began. 1942 The "Stage Door Canteen", part of the 44th street theatre, opened its doors. This canteen was designed to entertain the servicemen and giver them food. 1948 The theatre industry wasn't very profitable and many theatre houses in the Broadway area were closed. 1949 The United Service Organization ( USO ) was found, which entertained American Soldiers 1975 The "Saga Of Broadway Gypsies", which was played at the Broadway, won the Pulitzer Price and nine Tony Awards.
1982 Producer Cameron Mackintosh imports the mega-musical "Cats" to the Broadway. Today The Broadway is very famous and successful. The Musical "Lion King" is Broadway's award-winning best Musical. The film Musical The film Musical developed in the 1930s as the talkie was found. With the film musical, a new way of recording technology was invented, the so called Overheadshots, which was able to record a big group of people who danced. A typical film musical is "Singing in the rain" in which the film industry was derided.
After an idea exchange between the Broadway and Hollywood, many Broadway-successes were filmed. The medium "film" opened the musical new possibilities, because of the big fittings. For example, it was possible, to change a fast scene and to build in many special effects, which made the Musical more realistic. The Lion King The stage show first opened on November 13, 1997 in New York City, and was a great success. It is also playing in Toronto, London, Sydney and Hamburg. The story: A young lion prince called Simba is born in Africa and Scar, his uncle, wants to be the King.
So he kill the king Mufasa and Simba is led to believe by Scar that it was his fault, and so flees the kingdom in shame. After many years he return home to fight against his uncle, who is a very bad King. At the End of the Story, Simba wins the fight and become the new king. Musical Origins Michael Eisner, chef of the "Walt Disney Company", had the idea to do Lion King on Broadway. At the beginning, they all said, that it is a crazy idea, because there are so many animals and it is difficult to bring them on the stage. But some times later, the producers of musicals were ardent and started with the production.
Julie Taymor, costume designer and co-designer, said: "Although the story is told by animals, it is a human story, a story of us. I want, that you can see always the human aspects of the story." She was inspired by african masks. The mixture of, people, dolls and masks is what the Lion King makes so successful. Setting the stage There was a team, who designed the costumes, masks and dolls and produced them all self. They had ideas, for example, that the savannah people could rise up out of the floor with grass hats and after a song, they became grass again.
The beautiful make up and the warm lights fit together with the story. Screen to stage First they figured out, what the story is and how do they tell it. The basic story is so strong and so classical, it's a story for all times. The combinations of the music, the Elton John songs joined with Lebo's African influences and with the choirs, were fantastic and very unusual for a Broadway musical. They widened the role of Simba to find out, who he really is. Visually, Julie Taymor invented the film new, but thematically she kept the story, the emotions and themes.
It was a great mixture of people who write and create together. The music The music brings the feeling of Africa on the stage and the live band with drums contributes to it. Some African instruments used in The Lion King: - Bongos: Cuban name for a pair of small hand drums. The two drums are joined together, and usually held between the knees when played in a sitting position. - Brekete: West African drum, played with sticks. - Washboard: A washboard that is struck and rubbed with a mallet.
- Caxixi: A small wooden grass shaker - Triangle: A metal triangle hit with a mallet that produces a metallic bell sound.
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