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In this article we’re going to try to explain just what it is that makes a musical a musical and go over the more technical aspects of the form.

By technical definition, musical theater is a form of theater that combines music, songs, dancing and spoken dialogue. It is actually closely related to opera, while purposely avoiding many of the conventions of opera in order to have a more general appeal.

The musical components of a musical is called the score. The sung lines are called lyrics as opposed to plain spoken dialogue which is simply called dialogue. Usually the person writing the lyrics to the musical is not the same person who has written the actual story. An example of this would be “Wicked” where the songs were written by Stephen Schwartz, the script by Winnie Holzman and the book that it came from by Gregory Maguire. This is not uncommon in musical theater.

A musical can be anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours long. The average running time for a modern musical is about two and a half hours with an intermission about half way through the play. Some musicals however do run straight through if they aren’t too long. The intermissions, when they are present, are about ten to fifteen minutes long. An average musical will have about twenty to thirty songs. Some will be very short pieces and others can be quite long. Most musicals usually start with an overture which highlights several of the songs that will be heard throughout the play and set the mood for what is about to come. Some musicals, like “Tommy” can be sung through from beginning to end, which can really blur the fine line between a musical and an opera. As a matter of fact, Tommy is actually considered a rock opera more than it is considered a musical.

Usually the highlights and most dramatic moments of a musical are done in song. The reason is because these are the moments that the creators want you to remember the most and it is much easier to remember a well done three or four minute song than it is to remember three or four minutes of spoken dialogue. If the emotion that needs to be conveyed is too strong even for song then in those cases dance is added to or even put in place of singing. A perfect example of this is the fight scene in “West Side Story” which was done entirely in dance.

Finding a balance between spoken dialogue and song is not easy. On top of that the writers must be careful to write songs for each character that actually fits the character. For example, a character who is an evil villain is not going to sing songs about being happy and in love.

Also, it is difficult to establish the drama in a musical because a five minute song has fewer words in it than five minutes of spoken dialogue. When an hour and a half of your musical is actual music, this makes it very important that the writers make very good use of the lyrics for each song as this will be the vehicle for telling most of the story.

Musical theater is a truly unique and wonderful form of entertainment. If you haven’t had the pleasure of going to see a modern day musical or even a revival of an old musical, you owe it to yourself to do so. It is an experience you will not soon forget.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Music
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In this article we’re going to present a brief history of musical theater from its early beginnings right up to the present day.

Musicals actually started with the ancient Greeks who put on plays with songs. While they weren’t called musicals at the time, that is indeed what they were. The music was crude by today’s standards and the stories were not very well done, again by today’s standards, but this was the early beginning of what was to become the modern musical.

In the 1700s there were many stage entertainments, though again they were not called musicals. The first English language work that had any lasting value was The Beggar’s Opera which was done in 1728. It was a satirical spoof of the times. This was typical of the type of entertainment one would find up until the 1800’s.

Musicals, as we know them today, started in the 1800s with the French and Viennese Operettas. The works of Offenbach and Strauss were the first musicals to achieve international popularity.

The contemporary Broadway musical, as we know it today, took its form from these operettas and was done in what we call Minstrel Shows. These eventually gave way to a new form of musical known as Vaudeville.

It wasn’t until 1860 with the success of The Black Crook that the American musical really began to take off. During this time we were treated to the great works of Gilbert and Sullivan from 1871 to 1896.

During the early 1900s, composers like George M. Cohan and Victor Herbert gave musicals a new sound and style that is still popular to this very day. This style was then updated by composers such as Jerome Kern, Guy Boulton and P.G. Wodehouse.

By the 1930s the American musical had reached popularity the like of which it had never seen before, with composers such as Rogers and Hart and Cole Porter dominating the era.

By the 40s and 50s we were treated to some of the greatest musicals in what was called the modern era. These musicals included such classics as Oklahoma, Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me Kate, The King and I, My Fair Lady, and the list goes on for miles.

In the 1960s we saw such great musicals like Hello Dolly, Fiddler On The Roof, and Hair, which was the first musical in the United States to feature nude actors.

By the 1970s musical theater had become pretty extravagant with the advances in technology and design. The 70s brought us such great shows as A Little Night Music, A Chorus Line, No No Nanette, Sweeney Todd and Evita.

But the hits kept coming and would continue to come, many from Britain. In the 80s we saw such great shows like Cats, Les Miserables and Phantom Of The Opera.

In the 25 years since, literally hundreds of musicals have hit the stage. Some great, some not so great. But what was once a humble beginning is now one of the major forms of entertainment, not only in the United States but all across the world.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Music
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In this article we’re going to cover one of the most unusual musicals of our time, the part human, part animated Mary Poppins.

Mary Poppins. It’s probably the one musical responsible for making Julie Andrews a household name. But Mary Poppins was more than just that.

The musical movie, made in 1964, was probably the crowning achievement in Walt Disney’s career. It was his first feature to mix real people with animated characters. At the time, this was some pretty cool stuff. And Disney made sure that everything for this movie masterpiece was just right. He hired one of the best songwriting teams of the time, the Sherman brothers, Robert and Richard. The score for this movie is still to this day considered the teams best ever. The movie itself was nominated for 13 Oscars. It won 5 of those nominations, including Best Actress, Julie Andrews, Best Musical Score, and Best Song, “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”

But Mary Poppins was more than just great music. It was a purely delightful story of two children in desperate need of their father’s love. Ultimately it took Mary Poppins to make the father realize that it wasn’t a nanny that the children needed but their father. As the movie goes on we get to see this man, who at first is only concerned with the bottom line figures at his bank, transform into a loving father who takes his children out to fly a kite. Ultimately, Poppins, who the children had grown to love almost as a mother, drops out of the picture at the end realizing that the children belong with their father and that she would only be in the way. The ultimate sacrifice one would say.

Musical highlights in this one are numerous. There is of course the ever popular “Spoonful Of Sugar” which Poppins sings to the children in order to get them to take their medicine after an outing in the rain. Then there is the classic “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” which was sung during the animated horse race that Poppins, Bert the chimney sweeper and the children attended. And if you want to hear one of the most beautiful songs ever, and sung by an angelic voice, there is “Feed The Birds.” This is probably the highlight of Andrews’ vocal performances. Aside from that, the story of the old lady feeding the birds is one that only a soul without a heart wouldn’t cry to. Of course you can’t leave out the Oscar winning tune “Chim Chim Cher-ee” which was sung during Poppins’, Bert’s and the children’s moonlight walk on top of the buildings of the city.

The great music just goes on and on. There isn’t a bad tune in this movie. The final tune “Fly A Kite” where the father and children are finally doing something together as a family is really what the whole thing is all about. Yes, a lot of this musical is pure fantasy. But the lessons taught are lessons that every parent in this world should long remember. Children need their parents, not a nanny.

Even if she can talk to animated creatures

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Music
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