Alternative Paths to Performance

The American Musical

Musicals were once simple stories told through song and dance. Throughout time, musicals have changed and transformed themselves to adapt cultural phenomenon of the time periods in which they occurred. Early on, musical theatre explored multicultural textual elements and themes.  They explored racial themes before society as whole even began to deal with such issues.

South Pacific Musical

 

An example of a musical that explores multicultural textual elements and themes is South Pacific Musical. In this musical, an American nurse falls in love with a French individual. It takes place at a U.S Naval Base during World War II. The French individual has two children who are mixed-race. The American Women has a hard time accepting his children because of the race fact. Additionally, in the musical, a second romance occurs between a U.S. Lieutenant and a young Asian Woman. Throughout the musical, the issue is explored deeply. 

Hairspray

 

One of the major elements in Musical Theatre is dance. Over time dance began to change from entertainment to playing a vital part of the dramatic text. For example: dance is used to further the plot or reveal a character's state of mind or emotions.

 

Mama Mia

Musical theatre tends to have very little to no dialogue at all. Instead, dance sometimes combined with lyrics, represent the pure sensation and emotion. An example of this can be Mama Mia the musical, in this scene both actors do minimal talking and instead use dance and lyrics to convey their emotions, in this case, love.

 

Phantom of the Opera

 

Musicals can range from a variety of genres. Some are funny, romantic and others are discuss serious topics. A personal favorite of mine is the Phantom of the Opera. It is about a musical disfigured genius who is obsessed with a beautiful young performer. Although, this musical does not utilize a lot of dance, it relies on the emotions being conveyed through song as depicted above.

Works Cited

Felner, Mira, and Claudia Orenstein. The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2006. Print.
Hairspray the Musical at Royal Variety Performance 2007. YouTube. YouTube, 09 Dec. 2007. Web. 07 Mar. 2013.

Lay All Your Love On Me. YouTube. YouTube, 07 Dec. 2010. Web. 07 Mar. 2013.

The Phantom of the Opera. YouTube. YouTube, 20 Jan. 2010. Web. 07 Mar. 2013.

You've Got To Be Carefully Taught. Perf. Matthew Morrison & Paulo Szot. YouTube. YouTube, 06 Sept. 2010. Web. 07 Mar. 2013.