Contemporary Theatre

Question 1

Vaudeville

Answer 1

variety show from the early 1900s featuring music, comedy, dance, and anything entertaining.

Question 2

circuit

Answer 2

Chain of variety theatres performers travelled between.

Question 3

Famous Vaudvillians

Answer 3

Will Rogers, Bob Hope, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Fanny Brice

Question 4

play

Answer 4

set texts written by playwrights, performed by actors under the vision of a director.

Question 5

musical

Answer 5

singing & dance + dialogue to tell the story

Question 6

documentary theatre

Answer 6

uses news, interviews, gov. reports etc. for source material.

Question 7

Monologist

Answer 7

lone person playing all characters & presenting all material to an audience.

Question 8

esoteric theatre

Answer 8

Less mainstream forms of theatre including puppetry, improv, street theatre, and performance art.

Question 9

Viola Spolin

Answer 9

Turned improv from solely a teaching tool to a form of performance.

Question 10

performance art

Answer 10

Umbrella term for any form of art meant to be viewed in real time by an audience.

Question 11

Broadway Theatre

Answer 11

A theatre in Manhattan which must have 500 or more seats.

Question 12

Musical Theatre

Answer 12

A form of theatre considered on of the few distinct American art forms which must include music as a form of storytelling.

Question 13

ballad opera

Answer 13

founded English language musical theatre with The Beggar’s Opera.

Question 14

Light Opera

Answer 14

Created by WS Gilbert & Sir Arthur Sullivan, light hearted comedic operas.

Question 15

Musical Comedy

Answer 15

Includes the American operetta & musical reviews, usually with light, frothy plots.

Question 16

Golden Age Musicals

Answer 16

Music is integrated into all elements of production; began with Oklahoma! in 1943.

Question 17

Concept Musicals

Answer 17

Musicals which focus on ideas over plot.

Question 18

Mega-musical

Answer 18

musical aiming for world renown, often highly branded/advertised such as The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, or Les Mis.

Question 19

playwright

Answer 19

one who writes, or more accurately, crafts a play

Question 20

Stephen Sondheim

Answer 20

Broadway lyricist & composer considered one of the most influential of all time; known for highly relatable lyrics & characters with nearly conversational flow.

Question 21

Oscar Wilde

Answer 21

Playwright known for satirizing British manners, marriage, & mating.

Question 22

Vaclav Havel

Answer 22

Playwright known for using drama as political protest; became president & democratized Czechoslovakia.

Question 23

Arthur Miller

Answer 23

Playwright who explored “the death of the American dream” aka the disillusionment of the latter 20th c.

Question 24

Caryl Churchill

Answer 24

Female playwright who explored sexual politics and feminism; laid the groundwork for modern edgy theatre.

Question 25

biomechanics

Answer 25

Created by V. Myerhold, a style of acting favoring physical communication over verbal.

Question 26

The African Grove Theatre

Answer 26

1821, the 1st theatre to be opened by an African American..

Question 27

Bert Williams

Answer 27

A comedian in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1910, he was the 1st African American to perform with caucasians.

Question 28

Shuffle Along

Answer 28

The first play written by and starring only African Americans, it was also the 1st realistic depiction of African American romance.

Question 29

A Raisin in the Sun

Answer 29

1st Broadway show written by a black woman, Lorraine Hansberry; A black family struggles with financial problems and what to do with insurance money, eventually realizing that sticking together is the best thing for them.

Question 30

Anna Deavere Smith

Answer 30

playwright known for using documentary theatre to explore issues of race.

Question 31

Luis Valdez

Answer 31

Playwright known as the father of Chicano Theatre

Question 32

Feminist Theatre

Answer 32

Inclusive, collaborative, women-centered theatre often rejecting linear narrative which explores sex & gender roles, stories of historically important women, unjust stories of oppressed women, critiques of oppressive systems of power.

Question 33

Tea & Sympathy

Answer 33

1953 play exploring themes of prejudice

Question 34

The Boys in the Band

Answer 34

play which helped to inspire the Stone Wall Riots.

Question 35

The Other Side of Silence

Answer 35

The first professional gay theatre company.

Question 36

Tony Kushner

Answer 36

Acclaimed playwright who explored the minority experience in America, esp. the effects of big social movements on society & individuals; known for Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, A Bright Room Called Day, & Caroline, or Change.

Question 37

West End

Answer 37

London theatres equivalent to Broadway; heavily funded and advertised featuring sought-out productions.

Question 38

London non-commercial theatre

Answer 38

theatre companies often government funded and prestigious such as the Natl. Theatre, the Barbican Center, The Globe, and the Old Vic.

Question 39

Off-West End

Answer 39

theatres featuring smaller, quirkier productions

Question 40

Fringe theatre

Answer 40

inexpensive, highly experimental theatre, usually in “found” spaces.

Question 41

NYC non-commercial theatre

Answer 41

No federal funding or natl. theatres; less prestigious than London’s

Question 42

Off-Broadway

Answer 42

smaller theatres with less budget, often more experimental.

Question 43

Off-off Broadway

Answer 43

fringe theatre, usually very small & informal; much more likely to be experimental.