Show Tunes

Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.

Growing up in the 50s-60s, show tunes were ridiculed by my generation. The hip, cool kids made fun of the musicals because they were old fashioned and it was time for the rock and roll.

I remember “Oklahoma”, “The King and I”, “Fiddler On The Roof”, “Camelot” and “Carousel” were popular in the record bins. All the high schools were doing scenes from one of them regularly.

The musical just seemed like a play where everyone sang the lines then jumped and danced around. They were usually a love story with one star and a bunch of wannabes. It was fluff.

On second look, the musical and their show tunes are an important factor in performance entertainment. It has it all and I didn’t notice.

While all stage presentations are to tell stories, the musical has a variety of methods to accomplish the task.

Slow pacing, singing in German and stories no one remembers or understands holds Opera back. Symphonies are stoic with classical music hundred of years old and formal wear by seated actors except for the guy with his back to the audience and swings his arms. Plays have actors who walk around and shout at each other, then the scene changes during intermission and they go back at it again.

Musicals were sort of between a novel or a play and a hopped up opera. A musical can take a simple story, add some color and singing, throw in a dash of dancing and the audience will be entertained. The show tunes were little ditties written by pop jingle tin-pan alley writers that were short and sweet and simple to remember.

Seems any book or movie can be transposed into a musical. Cartoon characters, biblical stories, animals, gangs, newspaper boys, strippers, cowboys, nannies, horror, and a plethora more subjects have become Broadway hits.

The musical with its catchy show tunes, choruses, dancing, costume changes, sets, lighting, sound are as much of a rock show as a brief entertainment excursion. Actors and singers can become celebrities’ overnight and movie, television and stage celebrities can hold on to their career a bit longer doing a musical.

If you can’t get to New York or Chicago to see the original, don’t worry. The musical and cast will come to you. Movies have been made about popular musicals and vice versa.

So now that rock and roll has lost its edge and pop music is itself a commercial, the music is not a bad selection for singers, dancers, performers being supported by writers, riggers, artist, designers, directors, gaffers, agents and an industry trying to bring the unknown into the spotlight.     

Not sure a musical could be made from “Schinler’s List” or “The Exorcist” but you never know.