Musical

I

Introduction

Musical or Musical Comedy, theatrical production in which songs, instrumental accompaniments, and often dance are integrated into a dramatic plot. The musical has been influenced by a variety of dramatic forms through the centuries, with the modern version emerging in the United States and Britain in the second half of the 20th century. Today, the stage musical is one of the most popular forms of live entertainment.

II

Origins

There are a variety of types of entertainment over the history of Western music that paved the way for the development of the modern musical. The use of musical interludes to enliven plays dates back to the Europe of the Middle Ages. By the 19th century the European comic opera—opera buffa in Italian, singspiel in German—was a popular art form that interspersed songs with a humorous plot. The modern musical also was influenced by such largely American forms as the minstrel show, burlesque, pantomime, extravaganza, operetta, and vaudeville.

A

Minstrel Shows

The minstrel show originated among black slaves of the American South as a means of entertaining their white masters. This type of entertainment, which first appeared in the early 1800s, consisted of musical acts involving songs, dances, and humor inspired by African American culture. It was quickly adopted by white performers, who would blacken their faces and act out racial stereotypes of black people in a form of entertainment that came to be known as blackface.

Many popular American songs emerged out of the minstrel show, including “Dixie” (1859), a song written by Daniel Emmett for the Virginia Minstrels that became the unofficial anthem of the American Confederacy; the works of James A. Bland (“Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,” 1878); and songs by composer Stephen Foster (“Camptown Races,” 1850).

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B

Burlesque

The burlesque of the early 19th century—not to be confused with later presentations that exploited sex and the female figure—was a show that mocked the melodramas of the day. Burlesque shows were performed between “olios,” or variety shows, where comedians flapped around brandishing fright wigs, pistols, and slapsticks (two slats of wood that made a loud noise when used to swat a person’s rear end). In 1828 John Poole presented a burlesque of Hamlet in New York, and its success prompted the creation of other shows based on William Shakespeare plays.

By the early decades of the 20th century a bawdier form of burlesque had developed. A typical burlesque show of 1910 began with a blare from a band in the stage pit as the curtain rose and chorus girls burst from the wings. After the opening number of song and dance, the leading lady (called a soubrette) was introduced. A comedian then barreled on stage and began a comic sketch. A skit might follow parodying a tragedy by playwright Eugene O’Neill or a similar work. The second olio might feature songs and dances. This alternation of story and song became a vital part of early musicals.

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