Musical theatre: Culture and Travel Context

Musical theatre, or just musicals, is an art form at the intersection of theatre and music. It is a relatively new genre, and widely regarded as distinct from opera, though the distinction between the two genres can often be rather poorly defined. There is also some overlap between "concept albums" and musicals. A concept album is a piece of popular music that consists of several discrete songs that nonetheless dwell upon a common theme or tell a coherent story. Indeed some musicals were initially written as concept albums and vice versa.

The term "musical theatre" originated as a descriptive term for any theatrical performance that included music, but today specifically refers to a piece of theater where much — or all — of the dialogue is sung. Although considered by most experts to be a distinct genre from opera, the distinction between the two art forms is often not very well defined, and there are several high-profile works that straddle the boundaries of the two. Many musicals contain some spoken dialogue, but many are entirely sung-through (or rapped-through) with no spoken dialogue at all. An actor in a musical can be reasonably expected to be a "triple threat" who is reasonably competent in singing, dancing, and acting.

While not all musicals include choreography or dancing, it is often said "When the emotions get too strong for speaking, the actors sing and when the emotions get too strong for singing, the actors dance."

A major limitation of the musical compared to straight theater is that while it is primarily a narrative form (unlike opera where the plot is often secondary), a minute of song usually contains fewer words than a minute of spoken dialogue, and due to the structure of song, much of that is repeated. Musicals thus have to place a great emphasis on reminiscence themes, choreography and other cues to transport what would be done by text in other theatrical productions. Those factors and the relatively recent emergence of the art form have led some to dismiss the musical as incapable of telling the complex stories of theater or reaching the musical complexities of opera, but there are in fact no limitations on what musicals can do, and a well made and performed musical has no reason to be considered a "lesser art form" in any way. That said, countries that subsidize certain operas or theaters as "high culture" usually do not do the same for musicals.

On Broadway or the West End, performances are always accompanied by a live orchestra, if you define that loosely as consisting of at least a few instrumentalists who may also act. However, some amateur or lower-level professional productions may make use of pre-recorded music instead.

Musical theatre grew out of the operetta, a type of light opera which featured light-hearted plots, catchy music, and often risqué humour. This genre developed in France, Austria and Germany in the 19th century, with Jacques Offenbach and Johann Strauss II being its most famous composers. The genre spread from the Continent to Britain, where it developed in a unique direction with the work of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, and to America, where it was further developed by the work of Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart. It was these forms that evolved into modern-day musical theatre.

The Black Crook, which premiered on Broadway on 12 September 1866, is considered the first musical. Although musicals have developed within the last two hundred years, they only became extremely popular in areas like New York's Broadway in the early 20th century and were a major form of entertainment in the United States for over 50 years. During the 1930s, musicals reached their greatest audience and became an important form of entertainment in America.

One way to distinguish the predecessors of modern musicals from the modern form is the tone of the work. While many early forms of musical entertainment went for nothing but laughter, modern musicals can be quite sad and dark or even political, transmitting a serious message. Many historians of musical theatre consider Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Show Boat (1926) the first modern musical, because unlike the popular musical comedies of George M. Cohan and his predecessors, it dealt with controversial issues — in this case, miscegenation (interracial marriage) and racial discrimination — and used a mixed-race cast. While many light-hearted musical comedies have continued to be written and performed, quite a number of serious musicals have made an impact since 1926 (too many to mention, but South Pacific [1949 opening on Broadway], West Side Story and Rent are a few examples).

The concept musical is a genre popularized starting in the 1960s, centered around a theme or a setting, rather than a plot. Some famous authors are Andrew Lloyd Webber (Cats, Starlight Express) and Stephen Sondheim (Pacific Overtures, Assassins). There is a certain overlap with a "concept album" which is an album organized around a common theme or plot - some musicals have started out as concept albums either in conception or release. (e.g. Hamilton or American Idiot)

A more recent development in musical theatre is the jukebox musical, which is a musical that makes use of only pre-existing songs and does not feature any original songs, the most famous examples being Mamma Mia (ABBA), Jersey Boys (Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons), Rock of Ages (1980s glam metal) and Motown: The Musical. While most film musicals have traditionally been adaptations of stage musicals, the trend began to reverse with 42nd Street in 1980, followed by The Producers in 2001, with Disney in particular having scored successes with stage adaptations of their film musicals like The Lion King, Aladdin, and Mary Poppins.

This cultural overview is an excerpt of a community travel guide. Confirm current access, schedules and prices with the venue before planning a visit.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Musical theatre by Wikivoyage contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.