Essay+on+the+music+in+Broadway+Musicals

Essay on the Music in Broadway MusicalsBroadway as a street is located in Manhattan, New York City in the United States, and it is known as one of the most prosperous street around the world. All kinds of theaters are gathering at the street, which makes Broadway the most important womb of musical in the US. Nowadays, Broadway is regarded as a synonym of musical, modern art of song and dance, and the US entertainment industries.In the 19th century, the Broadway musical came into existence and Broadway became the center of drama then. “The collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein marked the beginning of a golden era for American musical theater.”(Wright Craig, 1144) The 1920s witnessed the prosperity of Broadway shows, though the Economic Crisis happened in the 1930s ended the good times. After so many years of development, the Broadway musicals are considered to become an inseparable part of the US culture. Touring the world makes it more popular and watching a Broadway musical is a chic not only to local residents but also to the tourists from all over the world.Many talented musician, composers and songwriters such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Claude Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil have been making tremendous contribution to the thriving of the Broadway musicals. Some of the most famous Broadway musicals are Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. These four are known as the four most classic musicals and they were composed by the British people thus claiming a golden age of the Britain musicals. Others likeMamma Mia, Avenue Q, My Fairy Lady, and Oklahoma! have also come down to the modern days.There are several distinguished characteristics of the Broadway musicals as follows. Most of the Broadway musicals are quite elegant since always, and most of them are classic ones. In a musical, the costumes, body language, music by musical instruments of various kinds and spectacular singing with all kinds of styles are all aiming at illustrating the theme of the musical. Usually, the keynote of the Broadway musicals are black, exaggeration, humor, ease and vividness. Besides, the musicals are quite mass style so that common people can understand what they are saying thus have fun with the entertainment. This is a main reason for the popularity of the Broadway musicals. However, the musicals are never being common, they are professional and exquisite. The music, each and every rhythm, bass tone, accessory tone, and period are carefully chosen by expert hands.In the Broadway musicals, music has been playing an important role all the time. Without music, it can not be called as a “musical”. All the sounds and voices can be called music on the stage. Acappella and instrumental can all be used in the musical to express the feelings of a character, the mood of a condition, the weather or some other factors that are initial to the understanding of a story since almost every musical has a theme and tells a story to reflect the theme. In the Broadway musicals, all kinds of music are utilized to reveal what the dramatist and the performers. And the music used is with some common features as follows.Stong theming: Different musicals have different themes. “The early Broadwaymusical was often about romantic love, focusing on the problems of the proverbial American man in the street and his ‘gal’, both of whom just happened to live in New York. West Side Story and, more recently, Rent, among others, retain the American setting but extend the subject matter to pressing racial and social issues.”(Wright Craig, 1155) Nowadays, the choices of the subjects and sources of musicals are quite universal. Take Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera as an example. Webber tends to choose some topics with serious meaning and profound ideological content which can cause heart resonate widely. Due to the dramatic conflicts of the musicals, he can use his music freely to connect the drama with the rhythm. Phantom of the Opera is a musical full of adventures and suspenses which are appealing to the audiences. It can be called as a megahit. The stroy is set in an opera, thus he chooses the musical language which is used only in the Opera seria- the noble and 'serious' style of Italian opera. With classical music being the mainstream of the musical, opera aria is also inserted in it. Thus music making the whole play quite noble, normal, official and exquisite. A ghost with a horrible and scary outlook has a beautiful mind. This character is portrayed vividly. And his whole process of forsaking darkness for light is well illustrated by the music. At the same time, the ups and downs of the whole story are accompanied by the changes of the melodies in the musical. Without the interpretation of the music, the story will not be that memorable since the audiences do not have stronger shock on the mind.Diversity but integrity: In one musical, there tends to have more than one rhythm or one song in it but many different ones in different stages of the musical to express theactors’s feelings. The creation of a musical needs to be comprehensive since the musical is telling a complete story with connected plots. This calls for the integrity of all the music which is a clue for the story in the musical. In the Broadway musicals, the integrity of the music is well-built from the prelude to the interlude music, and to the curtain call music. For instance, Webber has managed to integrate the bel canto，popular music and pop music. Besides Orchestra, he chooses electronic musical instrument and chorus of classicism at the same time to render the story. He divides the different genres with different music, thus the audience are approval of the mix. In Cats, Webber adopted solo, chorus, and ensemble to display the unique characteristics of each cat. He even inserted the HaLLeLuiah into the musical which made the whole musical full of religious tone and happy atmosphere simultaneously.Marketing: From the aspect of entertainment marketing, those who can move or entertain the audiences will be thriving and bring huge wealth, no matter what. The Broadway musicals are quite successful from this point of view. The themes of the musicals are practical ones which directly reflect the life of the people, the music is catchy, the settings are appropriate, and the performance of actors is impeccable. Thus the Broadway musicals can be popular all over the world and win the worldwide fame.Theatricality: The theatricality of the music in Broadway musicals must not be overlooked. Especially in the musical named Les Miserables’, the music is of lyricism, narrativity and conflict. In the beginning of the musical, Fantine sings the song I Dreamed a Dream. The song opens with a rec itative monologue:“There was atime when men were kind, when their voices were soft, and their words inviting; there was a time when love was blind, and the world was a song....” The “soft” is uttered softly according to the scene. Another memorable song in the musical is the multiple duets Do You Hear the People Sing. It is a mix of solo and chorus in which the solo is high lightened. (Lili Gao, 2012)When Jean Valjean sings the song, he utters every letter and every word with all his strength just like exhaling all the depression buried in his chest all the time. Thus the angry feeling of Jean Valjean and other people living in the underclass is expressed vividly.Melody character (Melodic):Melody is the soul of a music. Beautiful melody is necessary for each successful musical. “The true goal of music—its proper enterprise —is melody. All the parts of harmony have as their ultimate purpose only beautiful melody. Therefore the question of which is the more significant, melody or harmony, is futile. Beyond doubt, the means is subordinate to the end. —Johann Philipp Kirnberger, 1771” (Forte, A. 1962) To some extent, the classical melodies make the musicals classic. Speaking of the Broadway musical Turandot, Nessun dorma the aria jump into our mind. Speaking of Cats, the melody of Memory rings around the head. Thus, a outstanding melody can affect the whole musical. Evita was a hit firstly performed in the year of 1978, and the song of Don't Cry For Me Argentina became famous and the fame of the song have earned the musical popularity in return. Above all, music has been playing an important role in Broadway musicals and even makes the Broadway musicals successful. Memory in Cats, I Dreamed a Dream and Do you Hear the People Sing in Les Miserables and I Still Believe in Miss Saigon areall extraordinary music. As a main part of a musical, the music can never be neglected, nither in the past nor nowadays.References:Wright, C. (2013). Listening to music. Cengage LearningForte, A. (1962). Tonal harmony in concept and practice. p203. New York: Holt, Rinehart and WinstonSwain, J. P. (2002). The Broadway musical: a critical and musical survey. Scarecrow PressLili Gao (2012). The factor analysis of theatrical musical of the musical ’Les miserables’Hugo, V. (1862). Les Miserables (Abridged)Laufe, A. (1969). Broadway's greatest musicals. Funk & WagnallsGottfried, M., & Frankel, L. (1984). Broadway musicals. Abradale Press/。