Musicals
The American musical has evolved over the last two centuries into what today has become one of the most popular theatrical genres. The basic roots of the modern musical began with the introduction of the minstrel show in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Some form of music had often accompanied stage performances in the eighteenth century, but the incorporation of music as an integral part of a show began with the development of minstrelsy, which featured song and dance. Melodrama, burlesque, vaudeville, opera, operetta, opera bouffe, and musical revues and extravaganzas followed the minstrel show as popular forms of entertainment in the nineteenth century, spilling over into the early twentieth century as well. Its broad appeal helped to establish musical theatre as a mainstay in both professional and amateur venues.
With the advent of the Broadway musical in the twentieth century, music became
the dominant vehicle to move the plot forward rather than merely serving as a
supportive component in a show. In 1927, the musical Show Boat became a
turning point in the development of American musical theatre. The collaborative
team of Oscar Hammerstein II, writing the book and lyrics, and Jerome Kern, composing
the score, created a musical comedy that fused music and action in a way previously
unseen.
The next revolution in form came in 1943, when Richard Rodgers teamed with Oscar
Hammerstein II in their first collaborative effort, creating the musical Oklahoma!,
which ran for a record 2,212 performances at the St. James Theatre in New York.
Their successful legacy and collaboration set the course for the Broadway musical
to dominate the New York theatre scene and to appear on stages across the country,
delighting scores of audiences.
The Black Crook
A precursor to the modern American musical, The Black Crook was a mid-nineteenth-century Faustian melodrama that was billed as a musical extravaganza. This play, with a production cost said to be $50,000, opened in New York’s Niblo’s Garden on September 12, 1866, and ran for 475 performances, becoming the first Broadway show to last for over a year. The extravaganza featured elaborate scenery, a large cast, and a dancing troupe of chorus girls who, clad in tights, created quite a sensation.
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Evangeline
In 1874, J. Cheever Goodwin and Edward E. Rice created a successful musical comedy, or “opera bouffe,” loosely based on Longfellow’s poem “Evangeline.” The show incorporated spectacular sets, which, as noted in the program, were “to have been painted by Titian and Rembrandt. Unfortunately they died too soon. Rather than disappoint the public though, another artist was procured.” Characters ranged from Evangeline to a dancing heifer, and the action took place in such exotic places as the Sahara Desert and the American West. Originally produced in Boston, Evangeline became a popular show staged throughout the United States in the late nineteenth century.
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Show Boat
This musical masterpiece, created by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern and based on the novel by Edna Ferber, irrevocably changed American musical theatre. Show Boat interlaced music and story to create a musical play. Its popularity with audiences endures seventy-five years after its premiere in December 1927. It has been revived countless times, translated into film, and given America songs such as “Ol’ Man River” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man.”
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Of Thee I Sing
Produced in 1931, George Kaufman’s political comedy, with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin, became the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize. Satirizing the American presidential campaign process, the Vice-Presidency, the Supreme Court, and Congress, Of Thee I Sing sought to lift the spirits of a country suffering through the Depression. Though now considered to be dated, Of Thee I Sing provides a nostalgic look at American political life in the early twentieth century.
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Freeman drew this image from the orchestra pit looking up to a contented audience
at a 1932 performance of Of Thee I Sing.
Anything Goes
From a book by Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse and with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, Anything Goes (1934) survives as one of the most outstanding musicals of the 1930s. Ethel Merman, William Gaxton, and Victor Moore composed the original cast for this lively musical, set on an ocean liner bound for Europe. Cole Porter’s score is considered to be rivaled only by his later Kiss Me, Kate (1948) and included such songs as “Anything Goes,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” and “You’re the Top.”
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South Pacific
Composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II became the quintessential collaborative team behind America’s modern musicals. The success of their first two creative attempts, Oklahoma! (1943) and Carousel (1945), left them unprepared for the commercial failure of their third collaboration, Allegro (1947). Eager to recapture their winning streak, the two decided to produce a show based on James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Tales of the South Pacific. The final product, South Pacific, set on a Pacific island during World War II, dealt with the sensitive issues of racial injustice and interracial romance.
Opening on April 7, 1949, in the Majestic Theatre, the musical garnered nine Tony
Awards, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize, only the
second to be awarded to a musical. Coinciding with the popularity of the musical
itself was the introduction of the cast recording that brought the music of Rodgers
and Hammerstein into the homes of countless Americans, many of whom had never
seen the show. This dynamic creative team went on to produce many other memorable
musicals, including The King and I (1951) and The Sound of Music (1959).
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Annie
In 1977, Harold Gray’s comic-strip character of Little Orphan Annie found her way onto the stage in an adaptation by Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse, and Martin Charnin. The result was the Tony Award-winning musical Annie. Contributing songs such as “Tomorrow” and “Easy Street” to the American musical repertoire, the show opened on April 21, 1977, starring Andrea McArdle in the title role, and ran for 2,377 performances. The lively story of a poor orphan girl adopted by millionaire Daddy Warbucks touched the hearts of theatre-goers of all ages, speaking especially to children. Revived in 1997 for the twentieth anniversary of the original show, Annie has found a new generation of fans.
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