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Musicals
What is a musical?
A musical is a type of performance that includes singing, spoken
dialogue as well as acting and dancing. The story told by a musical
can be anything! It could be funny, sad, emotive or even angry. The
story is communicated through spoken words, di erent types of
songs, background music, acting and dance routines. The musical
also has a variety of technical aspects relating to sound, staging
and special e ects.
The di erence between an Opera and a Musical
The musical has many comparisons to opera, however, it is
important to remember that the musical is not directly related to the
opera. An opera is a performance that takes place on a stage with
music. An opera would generally be sung throughout whereas a musical uses spoken
dialogue. Musicals generally use more elaborate set designs that change signi cantly
throughout the performance. Although an opera may well use complicated scenery it is
usually more simple and doesn’t often use technical special e ects. In a musical, the
dance numbers are often more elaborate and longer. Generally speaking, in an opera, the
music is at the forefront of everything. In the musical, dialogue is usually crucial to the
development of the story, or plot. A musical is normally performed in the language of the
country in which it is being performed. However, an opera would usually be in Italian or
German.
Where are musicals performed?
Musicals are usually performed in theatres and
involve a lot of people to make them work. These
include people to make and t costumes,
choreographers, singing instructors, scenery
designers, set builders, people to work on
lighting and sound and a whole host of other
members of the cast and crew that work
backstage.
There are two important places that are well
known all over the world for musicals and they
are the West End (in London, UK) and Broadway (in New York, USA). In both the West End
and Broadway there are a large number of theatres that put on a run of shows every night
of the week. For example, The Sound of Music was put on at the Palace Theatre in the
West End in May 1961 and it ran for a staggering 2,385 performances.
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What are well know Musicals and Who wrote them?
Musicals are often written by a few people. Usually, you have the composer who writes all of the
musical material and the librettist to write all of the scripts. The librettist may also write the lyrics
for the songs in a musical.
Musical Composer(s) Librettist(s)
The Wizard of Oz (1939) Harold Arlen E. Y. Harburg
The King and I (1956) Richard Rogers Oscar Hammerstein
West Side Story (1961) Leonard Bernstein Stephen Sondheim
The Sound of Music (1965) Richard Rogers Oscar Hammerstein
Grease (1978) Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey
Annie (1982) Charles Strouse Martin Charnin
Wicked (2003 Stephen Schwartz Stephen Schwartz
Hairspray (2007) Marc Shaiman Scott Wittman
Mamma Mia! (2008) Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus
Questions
1. How could you de ne what a musical is?
2. Name at least three di erences between a musical and an opera?
3. Where is the most famous place in New York to go to listen to a musical?
4. Where is the most famous place in the United Kingdom to go to listen to a musical?
5. How would de ne a composer?
6. How would you de ne a librettist?
7. Name at least three of the jobs you could do in a theatre?
Research Question
1. Research the plot for one of the musicals in the table above. Create your own
synopsis outlining the main parts of the story.
Make sure that you always answer in full sentences!
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