Musicals are vibrant stage works in which actors can dance and sing. The genre is based on vaudeville, operettas and burlesque. Musicals are the most expensive and spectacular performances that can be of interest to a wide variety of age groups.
The history of the musical
The musical grew out of a mixture of a variety of light entertainment genres - from variety shows to ballet. The first musical "Black Crook" was staged in New York back in 1866. It was a mixture of ballet, melodrama, comedy and operetta. It was this performance that became the basis for a new, unusual genre. Musical comedies, which gained popularity a little later, continued the idea of "Black Crook", however, in them actual musical melodies performed by famous actors came to the fore, and the plot was an optional, almost secondary element.
Since then, the most relevant and popular musical movements and themes characteristic of the time of their writing have been preserved in musicals. The genre of musical comedy developed rapidly, and famous and talented composers began to turn to it. In collaboration with distinguished poets and writers, they created full-fledged stories, clothed in an easy and understandable musical form for the viewer. For a long time, all musicals were produced exclusively in America and Britain, but in 1985 Les Miserables thundered, which became the first French musical. In fact, they served as the impetus for the writing of many other French, Austrian, German and Hungarian works.
The most famous musicals
The list of the most famous works in the musical genre is undoubtedly headed by "My Fair Lady". The libretto for the musical was created by Alan Lerner based on the play Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw. The music for the musical was written by Frederick Lowe. The plot of this musical as a whole repeats the plot of the play. It tells how a famous professor of phonetics entered into an argument with a friend of his that he could turn an ordinary flower girl into a sophisticated young lady. The professor won the argument, but this led to unexpected consequences. My Fair Lady premiered on Broadway in 1956. The show was a wild success, tickets were bought in six months. A few years later, the film "My Fair Lady" was shot, in which the inimitable Audrey Hepburn played the main role.
There is a studio album, Jesus Christ Super Star. On this recording, all the roles are played by prominent rock vocalists of their time.
Based on the "Berlin Stories" by Christopher Isherwood, a unique musical "Cabaret" was created. Cabaret is about a young American writer who happened to be in Berlin in the early thirties, where he fell in love with a cabaret singer. Their romance turned out to be unusual and very bright. But when the writer is about to move to Paris, his beloved refuses to follow him. As the action progresses, the cabaret is filled with people with swastikas on their sleeves. Music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Cabaret premiered on Broadway in 1966. Later, the legendary film was shot with Liza Minnelli.
In the film "My Fair Lady" professional singer Marnie Nixon sings instead of Audrey Hepburn.
The controversial and famous musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" was created by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rye. Initially, they were going to create an opera using modern musical means, but at the same time quite traditional. But it turned out to be a rock opera, in which dramatic elements are completely absent, and the whole action is based on recitative and vocals. In the lyrics of the arias, a completely modern language is used, and the arias themselves are stylized under the work of famous rock bands. The musical tells the story of the last week of Jesus' life. In fact, the main character of the musical is the disappointed Judas Iscariot. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1971.
