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Music Theatre is an umbrella term refering to many different ways of creating a piece of theatre using sound made from body, voice, a musical instrument and even your general surroundings, often in an unconventional and untraditional way. It is an ever-evolving and varying form of theatre in which music is included in the text. Kurt Weill wrote that Music Theatre can often be 'fringe or experimental opera'. He also said that Music Theatre is a 'performance' of a 'simple, strong story.' These stories are musically driven or have essential musical elements.
As Music Theatre is always evolving, its performance is frequently raw, controversial, experimental and original.
However, many existing and more easily defined genres of theatre come under the Music Theatre Umbrella. These include Opera, Musical Theatre, Pantomime, Shakespeare, Artuadian and Brechtian theatre.
Though commonly the word ‘Theatre’ is used to describe a structured performance, ('any space that permits actors and singers to be seen and heard might serve as a theater' ) and when combined with the word ‘Music’ the boundaries become less defined. Therefore anything that uses music with the intentions of providing entertainment could be classed as Music Theatre, and 'indeed anything that brings theatre to the concert platform'.
In these broad terms the genre could also included online channels, beat boxing, performance art, actors playing instruments and even musical artists such as Lady GaGa and David Bowie. Ruth Leon wrote that 'It's simply a way to combine the most basic of our human actions,' thus allowing us as humans to experement and use the voice and movements to create sounds and to develop ways of moving to create a piece of theatre.
Origin
The term 'Music Theatre' has developed over time and orriginally came from the German 'musiktheater' which can refer to a building as well as a certin kind of instrumental/vocal avant-garde performance associated with composers like Stockhausen and Kagel.
Music Theatre in Popular Culture
If we were to look at London's West End today we can see a number of 'shows' that fall into the theatrical genre of 'Music Theatre.' Obvious examples include Musicals such as Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King and Shrek the Musical. Less obvious examples may include 'stright plays' such as War Horse where music plays a big part in creating the atmosphere and feel of the production. Other interesting examples may include Blood Brothers where most of the story is told through dialogue/text but still has songs to help move the story along. Willy Russell once said that his musical was more a play with songs so it creates the interesting question - is this a play or a musical? - The concept of 'Music Theatre' helps to encompass 'shows' that do not fall neatly into a specific category.
See Also
Notes
- Salzman, Desi, 2008
- Bawtree, Michael, 1991, Back Cover
- Leon,2010
- Salzman, Desi, 2008.
References
- Salzman, Desi, 2008, The New Music Theater, The Oxford University Press.
- Bawtree, Michael, 1991, The New Singing Theatre: A Charter for the Music Theatre Movement, New York and Bristol, The Oxford University Press and The Bristol Press.
- Leon, 2010 The Sound of Musicals, Oberon Books.