Intro to Musical Theatre

1. Intro to Musical Theatre

2. What is Theater? • Theater as a PLACE • Theater as an ART

3. What is Theater? • Theater can refer to any space where performances take place • Plays, music or dance concerts and operas are all performed in theaters • A theater can be a formal building or a temporary platform placed inside or outside • Can also be known as an auditorium or stage

4. What is Theater? • Theater also refers to everything connected with the theatrical arts • The play itself • The stage • Scenery • Lighting • Makeup • Costumes • Music • Dancing • Acting • Actors

5. Kinds of Shows • Broadway • Off-Broadway • West End

6. Kinds of Shows- Broadway • The term Broadway comes from the legendary street found in New York City: Broadway • A “Broadway show” is a play or musical performed in one of the specially designated theaters along or very near the street • It can also refer to a traveling show that has once been in one of these theaters • Many towns have a “Broadway Series” featuring the famous plays and musicals that have been performed on Broadway

7. Broadway St. New York City

8. Broadway Shows • The Lion King • Wicked • Spider-Man • Jersey Boys • Mary Poppins • Chicago • How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying • Sister Act • Phantom of the Opera • Mamma Mia • Billy Elliot • Anything Goes • Porgy and Bess • Godspell • The Addams Family

9. Kinds of Shows- Off-Broadway • Off-Broadway refers to theaters that are smaller than those on Broadway • These theaters show different kinds of plays or musicals that works better in small settings/areas • Draw smaller audiences and are about less popular topics • The longest running play in the history of New York, The Fantasticks, played Off-Broadway for 42 years!

10. Off Broadway Shows • Stomp • Blue Man Group • Rent • Avenue Q • The Fantastiks • You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown • Rock of Ages Shows that may no longer be showing on Broadway

11. Kinds of Shows-West End • In London England, Broadway style shows are called West End shows because they are performed in the West End of London • When people begin to see enough shows in one area, they begin to call the plays by that location • Depending on where you are, you might call the play a Broadway show, an Off-Broadway show or a West End show

12. Mary Poppins plays at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre

13. The Lion King plays in London’s Lyceum Theatre in the West End

14. Touring Shows • A show that is popular in New York or London is often restaged around the country or around the world. • A domestic tour is a show that is loaded into trucks so that the show can be seen all over the United States • An international tour is a show that is loaded into boats or airplanes and taken all over the world • The Lion King is performed in English, Dutch, German, Korean, Japanese and French!

15. Touring Show • Jersey Boys is currently performed on Broadway and is also a Domestic Touring show. • Currently showing at the Ohio Theater in Columbus August 17th through September 4th!

16. Other Theaters • Regional Theaters: professional theater companies located in cities throughout the United States • Actors Theatre of Columbus • California Shakespeare Theater • Children’s Theater Company • Cincinnati Theater in the Park • Old Globe Theatre • Players Theatre Columbus

17. Other Theaters • Summer Stock Theaters: plays put on in a tourist area by professionals and students. These shows are put together in only a few weeks • Carousel Theatre in Akron/Canton Ohio

18. Other Theaters • Community Theaters: plays put on by amateurs or people that are not paid. These are people that do it for the love of theater and to have fun with friends and other people who love putting on shows • Columbus: Curtain Players, Center Stage Players, Worthington Community Theatre, St. Brigid Players, Emerald City Players • Columbus Children’s Theatre?

19. Styles of Theaters • Just like there are lots of types of shows, there are many different kinds of theaters • The main thing that makes them different is where the audience sits in relation to the stage • There are several options

20. Proscenium • The most familiar kind, a proscenium theater is where the action of the show takes place on a stage at the front of the room and the audience sits facing the stage

21. Thrust Stage • A thrust stage is like a proscenium, but with an additional piece: the “thrust” is an extra section of the stage area that extends beyond the proscenium into the audience

22. Amphitheater • One of the oldest styles of theaters that was originally built outside, this theater is a half circle of seating raised up to look down on the stage

23. Theater-In-The-Round • Any theater where the audience is seated on all sides of the stage is known as theater-in-the-round but it can be not only round but square, triangular or any closed shape

24. Oklahoma! • A musical by Rogers and Hammerstein • Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein joined together to write many musicals together including Carousel, State Fair, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music • They have been awarded 34 Tony’s, 15 Acadamey Awards, 2 Pulitzer Prizes, 2 Grammy’s and 2 Emmy’s. • They are considered the most successful musical writers Broadway has ever seen.

25. Oklahoma! • Based on a play called Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs • Curly (good guy) and Jud (bad guy) are 2 cowboys who compete for the love of a girl named Laurey. • Eventually, Curly and Laurey fall and love and get married. • Jud picks a fight with Curly and is accidentally killed when he falls on his own knife. • Throughout the musical they are celebrating the new state of Oklahoma.

26. Oklahoma!

27. Oklahoma! Lyrics • Eller:They couldn't pick a better time as that in lifeAndrew:It ain't too early and it ain't too lateLaurey:Startin' as a farmer with a brand new wifeCurley:Soon'll be livin' in a brand new state • Company:Brand new state, gonna treat you great!Gonna give you barley, carrots and pertaters,Pasture fer the cattle,Spinach and termayters!Flowers on the prarie where the June bugs zoom,Plen'y of air and plen'y of room,Plen'y of room to swing a rope!Plen'y of heart and plen'y of hope.

28. Oklahoma! Lyrics pg. 2 • Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plainAnd the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweetWhen the wind comes right behind the rain.Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and ISit alone and talk and watch a hawkMakin' lazy circles in the sky.We know we belong to the landAnd the land we belong to is grand!And when we say Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!We're only sayin'You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!Oklahoma O.K.(REPEAT)

29. Oklahoma! Lyrics pg.3 • Okla-homa-Okla-homa-Okla-homaOkla-homa-Okla-homa-Okla-homa...We know we belong to the landAnd the land we belong to is grand!And when we say Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!We're only sayin'You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!Oklahoma O.K.L - A - H - O - M - AOKLAHOMA!Yeeow!