Today, if you invite a person to go to an opera, operetta or musical, he will most likely choose the latter. Let's see why, of all the varieties of musical and theatrical genres, it was the musical that gained such massive popularity ...
Let's start right away with the main thing. A musical is a musical stage work that combines dramatic, musical, vocal and choreographic arts. Such an extensive set of functions allows it to be more spectacular, colorful, dynamic and thus more accessible to perception.
In fact, a musical is a story told through songs, based on a simple plot, active stage action and music. It was preceded by light musical genres such as operetta, burlesque, vaudeville. Many even consider it to be one of the types of American operetta, but nevertheless they differ significantly from each other: the operetta is based on musical symphony, which retains consistency of form and libretto, while in the musical the emphasis is on theatrical action with musical accompaniment.
The ideal embodiment of this genre of lard is the work of the composer J. Kern and the librettist O. Hammerstein "The Floating Ship" (1927). At that time, this creation was not yet called a musical, but a musical comedy. However, the stereotype that the musical is exclusively a kind of comedy genre quickly began to disappear with the emergence of jazz, which gave unexpected depth to superficial musical performances.
The official date of birth of the musical is considered to be March 1943, when the premiere of the play "Oklahoma" by R. Rogers and O. Hammerstein took place on Broadway. This production distinguished itself by its end-to-end drama, which was developed in symbiosis by all types of creativity: acting, music, vocals, plastic, etc. It could no longer be called a "light comedy", because it carried such values as love and patriotism. That is why, over time, the music from this musical became the official anthem of the state of Oklahoma.
After this explosive performance, which took two Oscars and did not leave the Broadway stage for many years, began new era first American and then world musical theater, which was headed by such composers as J. Gershwin, L. Bernstein, E. Lloyd Webber, R. Rogers, etc.
Broadway "hangouts" became known all over the world. The musical flourished! The repertoires of the theaters were annually replenished with new works: Rosemary, I Sing About You, Threepenny Opera, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Hello, Dolly! etc.
But the development of the creative industry cannot be stopped, and at the end of the 60s, new musical genres, such as rock and disco, turned all the arrows on themselves and the popularity of musicals faded away. Fortunately, the musical is a multifunctional genre and was quite ready to support and combine new musical trends. This symbiosis was pioneered by Galt McDermott with his rock musical Hair. Then came Chicago, Corps de Ballet, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's super famous rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.
In Europe, they also fell in love with the musical, but they turned out to be red and more conservative for me. It was more like chamber concerts. The reason is, of course, in methods and forms. On Broadway, they preferred an entreprise: one troupe - one project (musical); European theaters were characterized by a stationary cast of actors and the absence of bright decorations.
In Russia, the new genre was accepted with joy. The first signs of it could be seen in the films "Merry Guys" with the participation of Leonid Utesov and a jazz ensemble, "Circus", "Volga-Volga". Rock music was used in the staging of the performances "The Wedding of Krechinsky", "Til", known to all "Juno and Avos".
Western musical trends have been gaining ground in Russia since 1999. For example: Metro, Notre Dame de Paris, Chicago, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, etc. Over time, the musical from a musical stage performance turned into a large-scale musical show, and it is highly likely that this genre will not lose its popularity and will rapidly develop, taking into account the needs of the time.
Marina Chursinova
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Musical
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A musical (sometimes called a musical comedy) is a musical stage work in which dialogues, songs, music, dances are intertwined, while the plot is usually straightforward. Many genres have had a great influence on the musical: operetta, comic opera, vaudeville, burlesque. For a long time it was not recognized as a separate genre of theatrical art and is still not recognized by everyone.
Musical is a staging genre, work on each project begins with writing a play. The production of the play is carried out by the stage director. Choreographers and singing specialists can also participate in the production.
The musical is one of the most commercial genres of theater. This is due to its spectacularity, a variety of themes for staging, unlimited choice of means of expression for actors.
When staging musicals, crowd scenes with singing and dancing are often used, various specials are often used. effects.
In form, a musical is most often a two-act performance.
Content
1. History
1.1 The origins of the musical
1.2 Development in America
1.3 Further development
2 Most famous musicals
2.1 Broadway musicals
2.2 French musicals
2.3 Austrian musicals
2.4 Russian musicals
Story
The origin of the musical
The musical's predecessors were many light genres, where variety shows, French ballet and dramatic interludes were mixed. In September 1866, a production of Black Crook took place on the stage of New York, where romantic ballet, melodrama and other genres were intertwined. It is she who is considered the starting point of the new genre. The English producer George Edwards described one of his hits "The Chorus Girl" as a musical comedy. A musical comedy meant a light entertaining performance, where the plot was not important, but rather popular vocal numbers performed by the audience's idols. Edwards' productions won overwhelming success in New York, and until the beginning of the 20th century, English performances dictated fashion in the new genre.
Development in America
In the years leading up to World War I, the talented emigrants Herbert, Friml, Romberg and others gave impetus active development musical in America. During the 1920s and 1930s, with the arrival of new American composers Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Col Porter and others, the musical takes on a true American flavor. The libretto became more complex, the influence of jazz, ragtime became noticeable in the rhythms, typical American turns appeared in the songs. Many songs from musicals have become musical classics. Has increased significantly acting skills singers. In 1932, the composer Gershwin was first awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his work on the musical Of Thee I Sing (1931). With the collaboration of Rogers and Hammerstein II, productions such as Oklahoma! ("Oklahoma!", 1943), "Carousel" ("Carousel", (1945), "South Pacific" (1949), distinguished by a high level of drama. They were an overwhelming success with the public.
After World War II, the plot of musicals became more serious, and Leonard Bernstein's "Westside Story" (1957) appeared. The production is based on Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet", while the action takes place in modern New York. The expressiveness of the dances indicated the growing importance of choreography.
Further development
At the end of the 60s of the XX century, under the influence of new musical styles, a new understanding of the musical as a genre comes. The play "Hair" (1967) reflected the then fashionable ideas of hippies, thus the production was called "the musical of primitive American lyric rock." Since the 70s, the number of performances has been decreasing, but the sets and costumes of new musicals are becoming more luxurious. The 1971 production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and librettist Tim Rice brought about a dramatic change in the concept of a musical. The serious theme of the musical "Evita" (1978) proved the long way that the genre has traveled during its development. Creation of Webber "Cats" ("Cats", 1981) based on the poetic cycle of T.S. Elliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" presents vivid, memorable images, cat intonations are recognized in the music, dances are flexible and plastic. Another popular work of Webber was the musical "The Phantom of the Opera", which combines elements of detective and thriller.
The Anglo-American musical monopoly ended in 1985 when the premiere of the French production Les Miserables, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, took place on the London stage. The authors are the composer Claude Michel Schonberg and librettist Alain Bublil. The high level of the musical as a genre is proved by "Miss Saigon", a modernized opera by Puccini "Madame Butterfly".
The most famous musicals
Broadway musicals
Broadway musicals brought world fame to the genre.
My Fair Lady: Music: Frederick Lowe, libretto and song lyrics: Alan Jay Lerner (1956)
Sound of Music, The / "Sound of Music" music: Richard Rogers, libretto: Howard Lindsay & Russell Cruise, song lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein (1959)
Oliver! / "Oliver!": Music, libretto and song lyrics: Lionel Barth (1960)
Fiddler on the Roof Music: Jerry Bock, libretto: Joseph Stein, song lyrics: Sheldon Harnik (1964)
Jesus Christ Superstar Music: Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Lyrics: Tim Rice (1970)
Les Miserables / Les Miserables: music: Claude-Michel Schonberg, libretto: Alain Bublil (1980)
Cats / "Cats" music: Andrew Lloyd-Webber, libretto: TS Eliot (1981)
42nd Street / Forty-second Street: Music: Harry Warren, Lyrics: Al Dabin, Libretto: Mark Bramble & Mike Stewart (1981)
Phantom of the Opera, The / "Phantom of the Opera" music: Andrew Lloyd-Webber, libretto: Richard Stilgow and Andrew Lloyd-Webber, song lyrics: Charles Hart (1986)
Jekyll & Hyde / "Jekyll and Hyde" music: Frank Wildhorn, libretto and lyrics: Leslie Brickass (1989)
The Threepenny Opera / Music: Kurt Weill, libretto: Bertolt Brecht (based on The Threepenny Novel)
French musicals
At first, in France, musicals took a different path: they were less spectacular and cost a minimum of scenery (compared to Broadway ones) and, in general, were more reminiscent of the concerts of several pop singers. A striking example of this is the original version of the musical Nôtre-Dame de Paris by Riccardo Cocciante and Luc Plamondon. But over time, tastes have changed, and in recent years France has presented quite colorful, in terms of costumes and scenery, musical performances, such as Romeo et Juliette, Autant en Emporte le Vent, Le Roi Soleil, etc.
Starmania: Music: Michel Berger, libretto: Luc Plamondon (1979)
Misérables, Les / Les Miserables: music: Claude-Michel Schonberg, libretto: Alain Bublil (1980)
La legende de Jimmy / The Legend of Jimmy: music: Michel Berger, libretto: Luc Plamondon (1990)
Nôtre-Dame de Paris / Notre Dame: music: Riccardo Cocciante, libretto: Luc Plamondon (1998)
Romeo et Juliette / Romeo and Juliet: music: Gerard Presgurvik, libretto: Gerard Presgurvik (2000)
Ali Baba / "Ali Baba": Music: Chatel Aboulker (12 June 2001)
Les Dix Commandements / "10 Commandments": music: Pascal Obispo (2001)
Le Petit Prince / " Little Prince": Music: Riccardo Cocciante, libretto: Elisabeth Anais (2002)
Don Juan / Don Juan: Music: Felix Gray (3 August 2003)
Le Roi Soleil / The Sun King: music: Albert Cohen, libretto: Eli Shuraki (2005)
Dracula, Entre l'amour et la mort / "Dracula: Between Love and Death": music: Simon Leclerc, libretto: Roger Tabra (2005) - Canadian musical in French
Cléopâtre, la dernière reine d'Egypte / "Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt": (2009)
Austrian musicals
Elisabeth / Elizabeth: Music: Sylvester Levy, libretto: Michael Kunze (1992)
Tanz der Vampire / Vampire Ball: Music: Sylvester Levy, libretto: Jim Steinman (1997)
Mozart! / "Mozart!": Music: Sylvester Levy, libretto: Michael Kunze (1999)
Rebecca / "Rebecca": music: Sylvester Levy, libretto: Michael Kunze (2006)
Russian musicals
Orpheus and Eurydice is perhaps the founder of the Russian musical. It still sounds performed by the St. Petersburg Theater "Rock Opera"
"Juno and Avos" is a rock opera by Alexei Rybnikov, first performed on the stage of "Lenkom" in 1981.
"The Star and Death of Joaquin Murieta" - the play was released on a vinyl record in the USSR.
"Nord-Ost" is the first world-class Russian musical. Staged by Georgy Vasiliev and Alexei Ivaschenko
“Www.silikonovaya dura.ru” is a musical by Alexander Pantykin and Konstantin Rubinsky, staged in Yekaterinburg in 2007 and received two “Golden Masks” in 2008 in the nominations.
Open Doors Night is a musical by Yevgeny Karmazin and Konstantin Rubinsky, staged in Yekaterinburg in 2005 and received a Golden Mask in two nominations, including Best Performance.
"12 Chairs" is a Russian musical based on the novel of the same name by I. Ilf and E. Petrov.
Mowgli is a Russian fantasy musical staged at the Moscow Operetta Theater. It has been running in Moscow since 2005. Music and libretto - Vlad Stashinsky, stage director - Alina Chevik, music director - Vlad Stashinsky, choreographer - Boris Baranovsky, artist - Victor Arefiev, costume designer - Valentina Komolova, makeup artist - Andrey Drykin, lighting designer - A Kuznetsov, choirmaster - P. Suchkov.
"Monte Cristo" is a Russian musical based on the novel by A. Dumas "The Count of Monte Cristo". Composer - Roman Ignatiev, libretto author - Julius Kim, musical producer - Vladimir Tartakovsky and Alexey Bolonin, stage director - Alina Chevik, choreographer - Irina Korneeva, stage designer - Vyacheslav Okunev, make-up and wig artist - Andrey Drykin, lighting designer - Gleb Filshtinsky, parkour stunt director - Oleg Krasnyansky
The Last Test is a fantasy musical by Anton Kruglov and Elena Khanpira.
Children of the Sun is an ethno-musical by Vladimir Podgoretsky.
The Bremen Town Musicians is a family musical based on the mega-popular songs by Gennady Gladkov and lyrics by Yuri Entin.
Musical - what is it? Definition, meaning, translation
(accent on "yu") is a theatrical and musical show, into which elements can be interwoven modern dance or classical ballet. We can say that the musical is an American version of the dance operetta. The main feature of the musical is that the public's attention is focused not so much on the intricacies of the storyline, but rather on the musical numbers performed by famous artists.
The word itself musical translated from English means "musical", and originally this genre was called in English "musical comedy". The development of the musical on the American theatrical stage has long gone beyond the comedy genre, and today musicals can have a dramatic or even tragic color. Heaped decorations and special effects play a significant role in modern musicals, so popular musicals are on the same stage for months.
You found out where the word came from, its explanation in simple words, translation, origin and meaning.
When the musical was formed as a separate theatrical genre, it began to gain more and more popularity in the world. Best plays, received the recognition of the viewer are transferred to the stage in different countries.
Musicals immediately captured the audience with an acute stage rhythm and through this rhythm they make them perceive a whole cascade of feelings: the tension of dramatic collisions, the humor of comic situations, even the lyrical sadness of the heroes. The audience receives a thorough emotional jolt. The rhythm is created by brilliantly executed crowd scenes, colorful scenery and costumes. In combination with a fast pace of action and energetic dances, bright colors add richness to the action. "Ideally, everything: words, voices, movements, arms, legs, dresses, hats, trousers, portals, roofs, ceilings and chandeliers - all this in the musical before the smallest details must merge together, reaching that unexpected unity, that brilliant culmination of perfection, which captures the audience with its dizzying splendor ", - wrote english artist Cecile Beaton, author of costumes for the play and film "My Fair Lady". All of the above is the expressive means used in the musical.
Therefore, from the above study, it can be traced that during the 19th century dance in almost all theatrical genres that preceded the formation of the musical was successfully used and gave such performances interest, brightness and entertainment. Therefore, it is quite possible to consider the role of the importance of choreography in the musical.
If earlier dance in the musical was given very little and these were mainly plug-in numbers, diluting the vocal performances, today dance occupies an important place in any musical. In the first years (1943) of the existence of the new theatrical genre, the musical was mainly attended by elements of tap dance. An example is the well-known production of the play "Oklahoma", which still pleases tap dancers all over the world. Ballet art became as follows dance style hitting the Broadway set. The staging "Massacre on Tenth Avenue" is considered to be a prominent representative of this genre. The famous choreographer Robert Alton added jazz rhythms and elements of Latin American plastics to the musical.
Dance plays an important role in modern musicals. Dance is a means of expressing the emotions and feelings of the heroes, with the help of the dance the era of the performance, the atmosphere of what is happening on the stage, is revealed. And choreography with the help of choreographic text enhances the characters' images, making them more expressive. Therefore, the expressive means of choreographic construction in the musical are an integral part. The concept of "expressive means" includes: the type of construction of the performance (divertissement, lyrical pictures, through symphonic development, etc.), a choreographic text consisting of solo and ensemble forms of various types of dance and dance characteristics, the interaction of choreographic and musical forms, ways of solving, bifurcation and reproduction of choreographic images, their philosophical meaning, the role of accessories and objects in the performance, scenography, etc. The concept also includes a set of means of stage expressiveness, which is: a plastic idea (vocabulary), a musical idea, a scenographic idea, an artist's individuality.
A typical example is the legendary musical "Cats" by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber - a fascinating and bewitching spectacle. Despite the popularity of the soundtrack to "Cats", it is the dancing that creates the beauty and the image of the musical. At the same time, in addition to the main characters, there are extras in the musical - they create mass character, give the musical additional attractiveness, fill the space, create a seemingly single image, but in this extras each actor has its own character - each cat, which does not even have a name and a specific role. And the features, demeanor is created by the dance movement.
If you look at dance as an aesthetic act, decoration, then you can also find a number of features in it: gestures, postures, facial expressions, foreshortenings, each step has its own meaning. Therefore, dance is used to express any action.
The director, creating an artistic and plastic construction on the stage, thinks in plastic images, translates the psychology of words and content into a vivid theatrical performance, seeks original expressive techniques for the fascination and infectiousness of the theatrical show. The language of choreography in a vivid form reveals the content of the performance and is one of the expressive techniques of the director.
The main thing for the director is the expressiveness and infectiousness of his work. Creating images, he selects and comprehends every detail in order to discover the essence of a thing, its important qualities and properties. All this is necessary in order to draw attention to what is shown. The director seeks to emotionally stir up, amaze, amaze with the discovery of the content of his viewer, thereby making him feel, think, imagine, associate, make generalizations.
Opera and operetta accustomed the viewer to divertissement-type ballet scenes: sometimes these are separate numbers, sometimes whole suites interrupting, stopping the development of the main intrigue. The musical, in its best examples, connects such scenes with the plot, with the development of characters. Thus, ballet episodes cease to be inserted numbers and become part of the action. But this is not enough: choreography and plastic become the most important element in the system of expressive means of the musical along with singing. Musical numbers, as a rule, are also solved plastically. The characters of the characters are revealed both in singing and dancing.
Also, in a modern musical, the expressiveness of choreography is given by interesting scenographic techniques aimed not only at creating special effects that can surprise and amaze the viewer, they are also addressed to associative perception. Scenographic images and metaphors, woven into the choreographic text of the musical, prompt the viewer to analyze the interaction of dance drama and visuals. For example, the use of buckets in the setting as a decoration and props, which act as a symbol of the hearth, or a fog (smoke) screen is a device that creates a flat surface from small water droplets for displaying images or videos. The key feature of the smoke screen is the ability to freely walk through the installation without destroying it (such decorations help dancers move freely around the stage). At the same time, choreographic numbers can acquire an "unreal" sound, and the dancers seem unusual, like a vision.
Also interesting are the scenographic findings of the musical "Cats" (composer - Andrew Lloyd Webber, choreographer Gillian Lynn). The original design of the musical was created by designer John Napier. The hall and the stage are a single space, and the action unfolds not frontally, but along the entire depth. In the musical with extraordinary skill, an important means of expression was used - make-up, which was developed individually for each actor and served as a visible display of the character of each hero of the musical. Actors are reincarnated as graceful cats using multi-layered makeup, hand-painted tights, wool wigs, fur collars, tails and shiny collars.
I would like to note that contemporary musical XX century is based on the idea of a harmonious and complete synthesis of the stage arts-components (choreography, music, costume, make-up, stage effects). The components of the visual information series (costume, stage design) "accompany" the plastic expressiveness, complement the content of the choreographic text in the musical.
The musical owes its birth to chance. In 1886, in one of the New York musical theaters a fire broke out and the ballet troupe was left without work. The producer of Pogoreltsev turned to a colleague from the drama theater, where the melodrama was rehearsed. Together they came up with an original move: they connected both troupes and showed an unusual musical performance. It lasted five and a half hours, but the audience did not tire - they accepted it with enthusiasm. The success inspired the directors of theaters, and similar performances began to appear on various stages.
It follows from the above that the genre nature of the musical is largely due to the practice of theatrical entrepreneurship in the United States. American theater is primarily a commercial enterprise, and has developed as an extremely light genre art, generally focused on entertainment. Thus, the musical has a twofold nature: it is, on the one hand, art and, on the other, a powerful entertainment industry.