Topics in Musical Theatre – serie

Orchestration in Musical Theatre offers an analytic and critical overview of the practice, execution, and effects of orchestration in musical theatre since the time that rock music became significant in the genre. Broadly described as the art of arranging a piece of music for a particular musical ensemble, orchestration is a specific skill that few composers or songwriters possess. This volume helps the reader understand and appreciate the art of orchestration and traces how the incorporation of rock and other types of popular music into scores for musical theatre on Broadway and in the West End fundamentally changed the genre’s sound. From discussions of specific instrumentation through to a brief history of the art, this book demystifies how different instrumentation contributes to a show’s soundscape.Featuring case studies from shows such as Hair, The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Wicked, and Hamilton, this accessible and engaging volume in the Topics in Musical Theatre series gives students the tools to identify and discuss how orchestration contributes to the drama, characterization and dramaturgy of the modern musical.

Queer Approaches in Musical Theatre introduces readers to a facet of musicals often assumed but misunderstood: how queer approaches in musical theatre extend deeper than fabulosity. Queerness in musicals challenges their typical heteronormativity but also sometimes simultaneously reinforces it.Featuring four case studies centered around musicals such as The Book of Mormon, Cabaret, Fun Home, La Cage aux Folles and Rent, this concise study examines the stakes of representation in the theatrical genre most often presumed to be openly queer.Providing readers with an understanding of the historically-shifting terminology of queerness, this foundational book offers a brief overview of how queer studies informs the analysis of musicals themselves, and introduces histories of queerness in musicals as well as methods of how to examine the historical context, text, staging and reception of these works.

From Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins's 1879 musical Peculiar Sam to Lynn Nottage's 2021 musical MJ, the 'Black musical' does not get the credit it deserves for sustaining the genre we know and love. This introductory book is devoted to representative African-American perspectives in musical theatre from the literature of slavery and freedom, 1746-1865, to the contemporary period, offering the reader case studies of what the 'Black musical' is, how it works, and why it matters.Based on Glover's experience teaching Black musical theatre at a conservatory and in the liberal arts, he draws his close readings of Eubie Blake, Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins and Charlie Smalls from theory and practice. Moreover, Glover investigates how the ballet, the musical comedy, the opera, the play with music and the revue are similar and different narrative sub-genres. Finally, the book reflect on issues such as blackface minstrelsy, ‘the Chitlin Circuit’, non-traditional casting and yellowface.Published in the Topics in Musical Theatre series, this short book gives the reader new ways of seeing the aesthetically and politically capacious category of Black musical theatre from an anti-racist approach.

Hip-Hop culture’s explosive arrival on the art scene of New York in the boroughs of Queens and the Bronx in the 1970s began to influence all aspects of musical theater from singing to scenic design. Hip-Hop in Musical Theatre takes an intersectional standpoint to explore Hip-Hop’s influence on musical theater practice and aesthetics by giving the reader a comprehensive map of musical theater productions that have been impacted by Hip-Hop music and culture.Offering insightful briefs on musical theater productions that contain aesthetic, musical and embodied references to the global phenomenon of Hip-hop culture, this volume takes the reader through a virtual tour of Hip-Hop’s influence on American musical theater. From early traces of hip-hop’s rap scene in the 1970s that appeared in musicals such as Micki Grant’s Tony Award nominated Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope (1971) and Broadway smash hits such as The Wiz (1974) to international juggernauts such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (2015), this introductory book decodes the sights and sounds of Hip-Hop culture within the socio-cultural context in which the musicals are produced.Published in the Topics in Musical Theatre series this volume presents fact-filled and insightful summaries of musicals that give the reader a snapshot of the musical and narrative content while highlighting which aspect of the music and culture of Hip-Hop informs acting, dancing, singing, design, and music in the selected musical while offering insightful analysis on the ways that hip-hop styles and politics have changed the shape of musical theater practice.

While most discussions of race in American theater emphasize the representation of race mainly in terms of character, plot, and action, Race in American Musical Theater highlights elements of theatrical production and reception that are particular to musical theater. Examining how race functions through the recurrence of particular racial stereotypes and storylines, this introductory volume also looks at casting practices, the history of the chorus line, and the popularity of recent shows such as Hamilton.Moving from key examples such as Show Boat! and South Pacific through to all-Black musicals such as Dreamgirls, Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, and Jelly’s Last Jam, this concise study serves as a critical survey of how race is presented in the American musical theater canon.Providing readers with historical background, a range of case studies and models of critical analysis, this foundational book prompts questions from how stereotypes persist to “who tells your story?”

How does a feminist spectator navigate misogynist representations of women?Musicals have always appealed to women as audience members and fans, even as most artists and producers were (and are) men. Feminist Approaches in Musical Theatre untangles these contradictions that are woven into the very fabric of this beloved, unapologetically commercial art form. This book offers a concise history of feminism’s encounter with musicals and outlines methods through which to interpret musicals from a feminist perspective. Through case studies of shows such as The Music Man, Evita, Fun Home, and SIX, Feminist Approaches outlines techniques for analyzing musical theatre from a feminist perspective, modelling these methods.Published as part of the Topics in Musical Theatre series, this foundational book provides readers with an understanding of feminist approaches as well as offering a brief overview of how feminist theory informs the study of musicals themselves.

This book introduces readers to the widespread phenomenon of how social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok become an extension of long-standing aspects of musical theatre engagement. Although casual observers may dismiss social media’s import, social media has revolutionized the field of musical theatre since the early days of Web 2.0 with spaces such as AOL, LiveJournal, and Myspace. Now, as social media continues to grow in relevance, the nuanced ways in which digital platforms influence musical culture remain ripe for study. Social Media in Musical Theatre moves beyond viewing social media merely as a passing fad or a space free from critical engagement. Rather, this volume takes a serious look at the critical role social media play in musicals, thus challenging how social media users and musical theatre-makers alike approach digital spaces. This book introduces the relationship between musical theatre and social media in the 21st century as well as methods to study social media’s influence on musicals through three in-depth case studies organized around marketing on YouTube, fan engagement on Twitter, and new musical development on TikTok.

Short introductory books on significant theories, concepts, forms and elements of musical theatre.Adaptation in Musical Theatre positions musical theatre as part of a broader cultural trend of recycling, referencing, remixing and alluding to existing creative works and texts. Despite critics often dismissing stage adaptations as lazy and safe bet options for producers, this book argues that crafting an adaptation enables creative teams to take fresh and imaginative approaches to a source text, given the multitude of ways in which the structures and styles of two (or more) different media can be combined.From Les Misérables to Wicked, by way of Legally Blonde and Fun Home, this lively book addresses several modern musicals, each adapted from a different type of source – including fiction, film and graphic novels – and each offering a different approach to adapting existing work.Published in Methuen Drama's Topics in Musical Theatre series, this book offers students a concise and readable study of a key and ever-evolving forms within musical theatre studies using relevant and contemporary case studies.

Musical Dramaturgy in Musical Theatre discusses the form from the perspective of its most common element: the song. Using a historical approach it surveys how the role of music within a musical theatre structure changed over time, which in turn pushed the function of the score to new dramaturgical levels. After introducing the central idea of musical dramaturgy as one which has a pivotal effect on how musicals are constructed, it considers the principles of musical comedy throughout history and the interplay between the score and libretto. Using early European musicals as a case study it moves on to look at the integrated shows of Rogers and Hammerstein and other Golden Age composers who reframe the dramaturgical structures through the book. It continues to trace the history of the form through a chapter on Rock and concept musicals before finally considering how the Jukebox musical introduced the concept of non-narrative dramaturgy thanks to popular songs. The volume critically reflects on the debates on integration and narration in musical theatre and explores new ways of understanding how musical numbers contribute to the impact and appeal of the stage show. Published in the Topics in Musical Theatre series, it unpacks musical theories in an accessible style that doesn't rely on specialised musicological knowledge, making it perfect for students, scholars, musical fans, and musical creatives.

Fairy Tales in Musical Theatre surveys the importance of the genre of fairy tale to musical theatre in an accessible study that's ideal for students and theatre fans alike. The book explores narrative theory, discussing the importance of archetypal narratives and characters in musicals, and in psychoanalytical interpretations of fairy tales and their relevance to musicals that draw on fairy tale tropes.Fairy Tales in Musical Theatre analyses musicals from across the decades which have used fairy tales as an inspiration and source for adaptation, from Once Upon a Mattress and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, to the National Theatre’s The Light Princess and Hex, and the Disney canon that has brought fairy tales and musicals together for years. Published in Methuen Drama's Topics in Musical Theatre series, Fairy Tales in Musical Theatre is a concise and accessible academic study that highlights the meeting points between key features of both form and genre, demonstrating why the two are such a popular match.

Short introductory books on significant theories, concepts, forms, and elements of musical theatre.Latinidad in Musical Theatre offers an accessible exploration of the substantial contribution of Latine artists, specifically via music, dance, and choreography to the last century of the American Musical from Carmen Miranda to Lin-Manuel Miranda.Latine artists, music and dance have been influencing musical theatre since the early 1900s, but it’s only in the last 50 years or so that Latine artists have been able to fully contribute to the art form, not just via appropriation or stereotype, but by owning their own narrative, creatively and intellectually. This volume takes a survey approach that builds on case studies ranging from classic musicals West Side Story and Bye, Bye, Birdie through to the contemporary musicals In The Heights and Hamilton. As well as considering the shows themselves it also unpacks the careers and contributions of Latine artists such as Chita Rivera and Graciela Daniele.Published in Methuen Drama's Topics in Musical Theatre series, this volume is perfect for students of musical theatre and those wishing to deepen their appreciation of the artform.

This short book gives an overview of the relationship between class and musical theatre in Britain, and how the class system plays out through industry practices.Beginning with an analysis of the 2001 London production of My Fair Lady as an example of class representation, Class in British Musical Theatre argues how productions are marketed to particular groups, how audience segmentation practices feed into a classed discourse, and how all this shapes how musical theatre as a genre is received. It takes in contemporary musicals such as Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Matilda and looks back to Oh, What a Lovely War!. Published in the Topics in Musical Theatre series, this short book gives the reader new ways of seeing the aesthetically and politically capacious category of class in musical theatre from a fresh perspective.