American Musical Theater Flashcards
Musical theater is considered to be one of the only true
American Art Forms
For over ___musicals have found a connection with audiences like no other shows.
100 years
In the late 1800ś, before musicals had storylines, Broadway was a home for the
Variety Shows
The most famous producer of the time ___, was known for his variety shows considered by many the largest and most spectacular- _____
1)Florence Ziegfeld
2) The Ziegfeld Follies
It was during the variety shows that many ____ and ___ became famous across the county through their performances and records.
1)performers
2)writers
Who was one of the most popular songs and dance men from this period?
George M. Cohen
He helped to make ___ - the place where many subway trains met in New York City- a famous landmark for performers
Times Square
True or False- In fact, the only statue of an actor to exist in New York is that of Cohen in Times Square
True
What also became famous during this period?
Song Writers
One of the most influential writers was who?
Irvin Berlin
What kind of music style did Irvin Berlin make famous?
Ragtime
True or False- He became one of the most important creates for Ziegfield and his follies.
True
Another popular songwriter was ___ who helped transform ragtime into the sounds of ___.
1)George Gershwin
2)Jazz
Why was George Gershwins’ music so popular?
He wrote to form artistic unity through music
In the early 1900ś what was formed after a successful strike against unfair work conditions in the theater?
Actors Equity Association
What was Tim Pan Alley?
Place where writers wrote and got sheet music
What song did Irvin Berlin also make
God bless America
what were artist’s goals?
to unify sound and glory
This marked the first time actors had guidelines to protect them and ensure they received what?
Fair pay and treatment for work done
True or False- Showboat was the 1st musical?
True
What was a nickname that remains to his day, but another name for the area that was taken by the city as its own moniker
The Great White Way
The Big Apple is
what we all aim for
In 1917 Florence Ziegfeld and who began to produce a show that actually had a story.
Jerome Kern
The musical by Florence Ziegfeld and Jerome Kern that actually had a story was called?
Showboat
When the show opened to rave reviews it marked a turning point in theater history that set the groundwork for the what of musical theater?
Golden Age
Due to the social problems at the time, the period around the what inspired a new era of creativity on broadway?
Great depression
what does WPA stand for?
The Works Progress Administration
The WPA created the what?
Federal Theater
During its time the Federal Theater performed for how much of the economy?
1/4 of the country’s population
Federal Theater project 891 was the production of what?
The Cradle Will Rock
On Opening night the WPA demanded for what to happen.
the Theatre Closed and The show Cancelled
The Audience of a Cradle Will
Rock was taken to a new theater and the performers still performed the show in defense of the WPA and the AEA at the risk of what?
loosing there jobs
Their performance was seen as a statement of what?
freedom of Expression
Soon after this incident, the WPA shut down that what?
Federal Theater
What did Rogers and Hammerstein write?
Oklahoma!
This was the first show that the __ was written before the __?
1) Story
2) Music
Oklahoma! established the ____ format, a style in which most musicals have been created in?
Book Musical
To this day Oklahoma! is the most ______, with at least 1 performance of the show happening ea/ch day somewhere in America
Performed Musical Of All Time
Name some musicals created by Roger and Hammerstein.
Cinderella, The King and I, Carousel, and South Pacific
Other shows created during the Golden age were?
My fair Lady, Guys andDolls, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, and Cabaret
It was also during this time the first what were given for excellence in the field of theater arts on Broadway.
Tony Awards
While there are awards given for performances and non-musical plays, the biggest award of the night is always the winner for
Best New Musical
The ____ was the next evolution musicals took toward modern musicals.
Rock Opera
These shows combined ____ of the time period with lyrics giving the shows a stronger connection to their audience, especially ____.
1) Popular Music
2) young People
In the 60’s and 70’s social dissary brought on by the ____ and the ______ lead many young people to stand up to the established society by creating culture movement.
1) Vietnam War
2) Civil Rights Movement
It was also during this time that the show ___ was first created and performed.
Hair
Hair was also the first what?
Generational Show and Rock Opera
Generational Shows are shows that?
make the youth have a strong connection to a musical and it helped the older audience develop a understanding of what the youth were going through.
In the late 70s early 80s broadway was dying out as business due to an ____.
Economic Bennet
It wasn’t until who and his groundbreaking show ____ came to the stage that audience began to return to theater.
1) Michael Bennet
2) A Chorus Line
Bennet revolutionized the creative process for musicals by creating the _____.
Workshop Process
What is the Workshop Progress?
where actors and creators come together to create a show through experimental rehearsals.
During this time ____ became the only person in history to win an Emmy (for television), an Oscar (for film) and a Tony(for theater) as a _____.
1) Bob Fosse
2) Director
Bob Fosse was and still is considered one of the best what?
directors/choreographers
Bob Fosses’ most enduring musical on Broadway was?
CHICAGO
True or false- Another boost to lagging ticket sales was the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and producer Cameron McIntosh.
True
McIntosh brought huge hits from where to Broadway with huge ticket sales?
London
The first major work he brought was Lloyd Webbers ___ which ran for over 18 years on Broadway.
Cats
Name 3 Andre Lloyd Webber hits!!
Phantom of the Opera
Evita
Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Les Miserables
What is Les Miserables
A lavish musical based on Victor Hugos novel about the French Revolution.
Andrew Lloydwhat Webber was the what?
Most influential songwriter/composer in the 80s
The city government began the ______ as an effort to reach their goals.
The New Broadway Project
What helped the New Broadway project?
Walt Disney Company
What was Disny’s first musical on Broadway?
Beauty and the Beast
What theater did Disney buy?
The Amsterdam
What was the 1st show performed in the New Amsterdam theater?
The Lion King
Jonanthan Larsons _____ was based on his own experience growing up in New York during the 80s it is a rock opera that tells the story of a group of friends struggling and string to survive during the ______ Epidemic.
1) RENT
2) AIDS
Larson became an iconic creator who instantly connected to his show due to his what?
Unexpected Death before the show opened
when was Broadway shut down for the first time in decades?
9/11
true or false- Performers became a source of Hope and inspiration after 9/11
True
Just as after _____ Broadway was a place to escape reality.
WWII
Many ____ and popular revivals sold out performances months in advance
Musical Comedies
Shows have become ____to produce.
More expensive
Now shows cost _____ of dollars
Millions
What was Wicked based on?
It was a alternative take on the Wizard of Oz where the wicked witch is good but them turns evil
Broadway is and always will be the what?
The Heart of Theater around the world
List all the Generational shows.
Hair
Hamilton
A Chorus Line
RENT
Cats
American Idiot
