Theatre Terms Chapter 12

Categories of Theatre

• Two main categories: plays with music and straight plays (plays without music).

Types of Musical Theatre

• Opera: Entirely sung, typically set to classical music. Originated in the late 1500s during the Italian Renaissance.
• Operetta: Light opera featuring comic themes, spoken dialogue, and some dancing.
• Musical Comedy: Light-hearted, fast-paced stories with dialogue interspersed with popular music.
• Straight Musical: Focuses on serious plots and themes.
• Rock Musical: Incorporates rock music from the 50s to contemporary pop.
• Revue: A collection of satirical sketches, songs, and dances centered around a theme.
• Variety Show: Unrelated acts of singing, dancing, and comedy, evolving from vaudeville.
• Vaudeville: Popular stage entertainment from the 1880s to the 1940s, featuring a variety of acts.
• Burlesque: Musical entertainment originating in the 1840s, characterized by bawdy songs and skits.

Structure of Musical Theatre

• Components include music (by the composer), lyrics (by the lyricist), and books (spoken dialogue by the librettist).
• Differentiations include book musicals (well-developed stories), dance musicals (featuring choreography), and operatic musicals (mostly sung with little dialogue).

Musical Terminology

• Overture: A preview medley of the show's songs.
• Ballad: A love song.
• Comedy Number: Provides comic relief within the musical.
• Showstopper: A notable big production number.
• Reprise: Repetition of a song with new or altered lyrics to make a dramatic point.

Historical Development of Musical Theatre

• American Invention: Musical theatre in America merged various traditions from other cultures.
• The Black Crook (1866): Considered the first modern American musical; a financial success that lacked strong narrative depth.
• African American Musicals: Early works like A Trip to Coontown (1898) laid the foundation for future contributions by African Americans in musical theatre.
• World War I: The musical comedy genre thrived with composers like George M. Cohan and Irving Berlin shaping Broadway.
• Showboat (1927): A landmark production that combined musical comedy with serious storytelling, changing the landscape of American musicals.

Key Musicals and Their Impact

• Oklahoma! (1943): Integrated serious themes into musicals, featuring well-developed characters.
• West Side Story (1957): A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, showcasing Broadway's evolution.
• Cabaret (1966): Addressed cultural issues in pre-Nazi Germany.
• Hair (1967): Introduced rock music and themes of counterculture to the musical format.

Contemporary Context

• The rise of Bollywood has shifted the center of musical production and popularity from the U.S. to India.
• U.S. musicals face high production costs, leading to a trend of revivals and adaptations from Hollywood movies.
• Successful recent musicals include Mamma Mia! (2001) and Jersey Boys (2005), demonstrating the genre's evolution.

Current Trends

• A diverse range of musicals now exists to cater to various audiences, including modern rock musicals and classic revivals.
• Despite financial challenges, American musical theatre continues to innovate and adapt to contemporary tastes and influences.

Explore key terms related to theatre from Chapter 12. This quiz focuses on important categories and forms of theatre, including the distinctions between opera, operetta, and straight plays. Test your knowledge and enhance your understanding of these theatrical concepts.