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"DR. IOAN MESOTA"-
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SUMMARY
I.
1.1. History
1.2. Route
II. Musical Theatre
2.1. Origin
2.2. Modern Musical
2.3. Post- World War II Era
III. Famous Musicals
3.1. The Cats
3.2. The Phantom of the Opera
3.3.
3.4. Westside Story
3.5. Les Miserable
3.6. The Producers
3.7. Sound of Music
4. Bibliography
Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in New York City. While New York has several other Broadways, in the context of the city it usually refers to the Manhattan street. It is the oldest north-south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. The name Broadway is an English translation of the Dutch name, Breede weg. A stretch of Broadway is famous as the pinnacle of the American theater industry.
1.1 History
Broadway was originally the Wickquasgeck Trail, carved into the brush land of Manhattan by its Native American inhabitants. This trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan Island. Upon the arrival of the Dutch, the trail soon became the main road through the island from New Amsterdam at the southern tip. The Dutch explorer and entrepreneur David de Vries gives the first mention of it in his journal for the year 1642 ('the Wickquasgeck Road over which the Indians passed daily'). The Dutch named the road 'Heerestraat'. In the 18th century, Broadway ended at the town commons north of Wall Street, where Eastern Post Road continued through the East Side and Bloomingdale Road the west side of the island. In the late 19th century the widened and paved part of Bloomingdale Road north of Columbus Circle was called 'The Boulevard' but at the end of the century the whole old road (the Bloomingdale Road and what was previously called Broadway) was renamed Broadway.
In 1885 the Broadway commercial
district was overrun with telephone, A view of Broadway in 1909
telegraph, and electrical lines.
This view was north from Cortlandt
and Maiden Lane.
1.2. Route
Broadway runs the length of Manhattan Island, from Bowling Green at the south, to Inwood at the northern tip of the island. Diagonally crossing the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 of Manhattan streets, its intersections with avenues have been marked by 'squares' (some merely triangular slivers of open space) and induced some interesting architecture, such as the famous Flatiron Building.
The section of lower Broadway from its origin at Bowling Green to City Hall Park is the historical location for the city's ticker-tape parades, and is sometimes called the 'Canyon of Heroes' during such events. West of Broadway as far as Canal Street was the city's fashionable residential area until circa 1825; landfill has more than tripled the area and the Hudson shore now lies far to the west, beyond TriBeCa and Battery Park City.
Broadway marks the east boundary of Greenwich Village, passing Astor Place. At Union Square, Broadway crosses 14th Street and continues its diagonal uptown course from the Square's northwest corner.
At Madison Square, Broadway crosses Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street.
At Herald Square, Broadway crosses Sixth Avenue (the Avenue of the Americas). Macy's Department Store is located on the western corner of Herald Square; it is one of the largest department stores in the world.
Broadway and 38th Street Broadway at Times Square
One famous stretch near Times Square, where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue in midtown Manhattan, is the home of many Broadway theatres, housing an ever-changing array of commercial, large-scale plays, particularly musicals. This area of Manhattan is often called the Theater District or the Great White Way, a nickname originating in the headline 'Found on the Great White Way' in the February 3, 1902 edition of the New York Evening Telegram. The journalistic sobriquet was inspired by the millions of lights on theater marquees and billboard advertisements that illuminate the area.
After becoming New York's de facto Red Light District in the 1960s and 1970s (as can be seen in the films Taxi Driver and Midnight Cowboy), since the late 1980s Times Square has emerged as a family tourist center, in effect being Disneyfied following the company's purchase and renovation of the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street in 1993. Until June 2007, The New York Times, from which the Square gets its name, was published at offices at 239 West 43rd Street; the paper stopped printing papers there on June 15, 1997.
At 99th Street Broadway passes between the controversial skyscrapers of The Ariel East and West.
At 107th Street Broadway intersects with West End Avenue to form Straus Park with its Titanic Memorial by Augustus Lukeman.
Further north, Broadway follows the old Bloomingdale Road as the main spine of the Upper West Side, passing the campus of Columbia University at 116th Street in Morningside Heights. Still in Morningside Heights, Broadway passes the handsome, park-like campus of Barnard College. Next, the beautiful gothic quadrangel of Union Theological Seminary and the brick buildings of the Jewish Theological Seminary with their beautifully-landscapped interior courtyards face one another across Broadway. On the next block is the Manhattan School of Music. Broadway then runs past the proposed uptown campus of Columbia University, and the main campus of CUNY-City College, the beautiful gothic buildings of the original City College campus are out of sight, a block to the east. Also to the east are the handsome brownstones of Hamilton Heights.
Broadway achieves a verdant, park-like effect, particularly in the spring, when it runs between the uptown Trinity Church Cemetery and the former Trinity Chapel, now the Church of the Intercession, New York near 155th Street. The springtime plantings in the median, maintained by Trinity Church, are spectacular.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital lies on Broadway near 166th, 167th, and 168th Streets in Washington Heights. At this point, Broadway becomes part of US 9. The intersection with Saint Nicholas Avenue (Manhattan), at 167th Street forms Mitchell Square Park.
Broadway crosses the Harlem River on the Broadway Bridge to Marble Hill and then enters The Bronx, where it is the eastern border of Riverdale and the western border of Van Cortlandt Park. After leaving New York City, it is the main north-south street of Yonkers, New York.
Great White Way
Plaza
Great White Way is a nickname for a section of Broadway in the Midtown section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, specifically the portion that encompasses the Theatre District, between 42nd and 53rd Streets. Nearly a mile of Broadway was illuminated in 1880 by Brush arc lamps, making it among the first electrically lighted streets in the United States.
The headline 'Found on the Great White Way' appeared in the February 3, 1902, edition of the New York Evening Telegram. The journalistic sobriquet was inspired by the millions of lights on theater marquees and billboard advertisements that illuminate the area, especially around Times Square.
II. Musical Theater
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece - humor, pathos, love, anger - as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called simply, 'musicals'.
Musicals
are performed all around the world. They may be presented in large venues, such
as big budget West End and Broadway theatre productions in
Some famous musicals include Show Boat, Oklahoma!, West Side Story, The Fantasticks, Hair, A Chorus Line, Les Misrables, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Chicago, The Cats, The Producers.
2.1. Origins
The
American musical actually began in 1796, with The Archers; or, The Mountaineers
of
The Black Crook finale
In
the years before World War I, several young operetta composers emigrated from
Europe to the
2.2. The Modern Musical
In 1914 the composer Jerome Kern began to produce a series of shows in which all the varied elements of a musical were integrated into a single fabric. Produced in the intimate Princess Theatre, Kern used contemporary settings and events, in contrast to operettas, which always took place in fantasy lands. In 1927 Kern provided the score for Show Boat, which had the first serious libretto; it was adapted from a successful novel by Edna Ferber (1887-1968). Such adaptations were common in post-1940 musicals.
Show Boat
Gradually the old musical formula began to change. Instead of complicated but never serious plots, sophisticated lyrics and simplified librettos were introduced; underscoring (music played as background to dialogue or movement) was added; and new American musical elements, such as jazz and blues, were utilized by composers. In addition, singers began to learn how to act. In 1932, Of Thee I Sing (1931) became the first musical comedy to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother, Ira Gershwin (1896-1983), Of Thee I Sing succeeded in intelligently satirizing contemporary political situations.
Of Thee I Sing
In
the 1920s and the '30s, satire, ideas, and wit had been the province of the
intimate revue. These sophisticated shows were important as testing grounds for
the young composers and lyricists who later helped develop the serious musical.
One composer-lyricist pair who started in the intimate revues, Richard Rodgers
and Lorenz Hart, wrote The Girl Friend (1926), A Connecticut Yankee
(1927), and Babes in Arms (1937). Their show, Pal Joey (1940),
introduced many of the elements of later musicals, including a book with
three-dimensional characters, but it was not a success until its 1952 revival.
Rodgers, with Oscar Hammerstein II as his new lyricist, produced
The choreographer-director was eventually to become vastly influential in the shape and substance of the American musical. Jerome Robbins, Michael Kidd, Michael Bennett, and Bob Fosse are among the skilled choreographers who went on to create important musicals, most notably Robbins's West Side Story (1957; film version, 1960), Bennett's A Chorus Line (1975), and Fosse's Dancin' (1978).
2.3. Post-World War II Era
As
these and other innovations altered the face of musical theater, audiences came
to expect more variety and complexity; a host of inventive composers and
lyricists obliged. In 1949, Cole Porter, who had written provocative songs with
brilliant lyrics for many years, finally wrote a show with an equally fine
book: Kiss Me, Kate. The show won the first Tony for best musical in that year (its
revival by the British director Michael Blakemore won the Tony Award for the
year 2000 in that category). Rodgers and Hammerstein followed
The 1950s saw a number of composers gain prominence. Leonard Bernstein wrote the scores for Candide (1956) and West Side Story (1957). The latter, a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, mostly danced and heavily underscored, was greatly influential. Jule Styne (1905-94) wrote the music for Bells Are Ringing (1956) and Gypsy (1959). In the 1960s and '70s the composer John Kander and the lyricist Fred Ebb (1928-2004) collaborated on Cabaret (1966); composer Sheldon Harnick and lyricist Jerry Bock produced Fiddler on the Roof (1964); and Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy, did the entire scores for a series of musicals, including Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), and Sweeney Todd (1979).
A
show that opened on Broadway in 1968 and went on to affect world theater was Hair
(score by Galt MacDermott). Called a folk-rock musical, it had a situation
rather than a plot. Its youthful exuberance, ingenious theatricality, and
concentration on rock music produced many imitators-notably Godspell
with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and Jesus Christ Superstar,
both 1971-and rock was eventually integrated into what had been called "show
music" in most productions. The score for the latter was the work of the
British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who went on to write the hits Evita
(1978), based on the life of the Argentine political figure Eva Pern, and Cats
(1981), adapted from poems by the British writer T. S. Eliot (which by 1997,
with more than 7000 performances, had surpassed the previous longest-running
Broadway musical in history-A Chorus Line). On
The innovative Sunday in the Park with George (1984) by Sondheim to a book by James Lapine was a dramatization of the life of the French painter Georges Seurat, for which Sondheim and Lapine shared the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
With
the soaring costs of Broadway musicals that began in the early 1970s, potential
investors were increasingly timid about risking money on a production that was
not a certain box office hit. Through the '80s and '90s, Broadway musicals
continued to be drawn from five basic sources. The first was works that had
been successes in Europe, principally in
Revivals
of works that had been long-running hits when first presented, such as Show
Boat (1927; revived 1994), Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I
(1951; revived 1996), Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the
Forum (1962; revived 1996), and 1776 (1969, revived 1997) composed
by Sherman Edwards, were also produced. Critically acclaimed works were revived
as well, including Candide (1956; revived 1997) and
III. Famous Musicals
Cats
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. It introduced the song standard, 'Memory'.
The
musical first opened in the
Cats has been performed around the world in numerous productions and has been translated into more than 20 languages. It was also made into a 1998 video that has been broadcast on television.
Cats
was
first shown in
The
show made its debut on Broadway on
In 1998, Andrew Lloyd Webber produced a video version of Cats, based upon the stage version, starring Elaine Paige, who originated the role of Grizabella in London; Ken Page, who originated Old Deuteronomy on Broadway; Sir John Mills as Gus; Michael Gruber as Munkustrap; John Partridge as The Rum Tum Tugger; and many other dancers and singers drawn largely from stage productions of the show.[1] It was directed by David Mallet, with choreography and musical staging by the show's respected original creator Gillian Lynne in London's Adelphi Theatre, and was released on VHS and DVD, as well as broadcast on television worldwide.
The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantme de l'Opra by Gaston Leroux. The music was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. The musical focuses on a beautiful soprano, Christine Daa, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius known as 'The Phantom of the Opera.'
The Phantom of the Opera opened in
In 2004, the musical was made into a film, directed by Joel Schumacher, and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Plot
The story begins at the time of the first meeting of Erik (the Phantom) and a street singer named Christine. Erik was born and raised in the catacombs under the Paris Opera House and needs beautiful music - he cannot exist without it. He accepts Christine as his pupil, training her for the opera, but forbids her to see his face. Complications arise when Grard Carrière loses his position as head of the Opera house and therefore cannot protect Erik any longer.
Furthermore, Carlotta, the new diva and owner of the Opera, has such a terrible voice that the Phantom is in torment. His salvation must eventually come through Christine, whose voice is so beautiful that he falls in love with her. Later, it is revealed that Carrière, the previous owner of the Opera house, is actually Erik's father. Erik fears that he will be captured and treated like a circus freak because of his horrendous face (which is never seen). The police surround him and the chief of police tells his men not to shoot because they 'can take him alive!' Erik shouts out to his father for help. Carrière understands; he grabs a policeman's gun and aims at his son. After a struggle with himself, he fires, and the Phantom falls, calling out Christine's name.
The
original Broadway production opened
West Side Story
West Side Story is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical is based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Set in
The original 1957 Broadway
production, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins and produced by Robert
E. Griffith and Harold Prince, marked Stephen Sondheim's Broadway debut. It ran
for 732 performances (a successful run for the time), before going on tour. The
production garnered a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical in 1957, but the
award went to Meredith Willson's The Music Man. It won a Tony Award in
1957 for Robbins' choreography. The show had an even longer-running
Les Miserables
Les Misrables is a musical composed in 1980 by
the French composer Claude-Michel Schnberg with a libretto by Alain Boublil. Sung
through, it is perhaps the most famous of all French musicals and one of the
most performed musicals worldwide. On
The musical is based on the 1862
novel Les Misrables by Victor Hugo. Set in early 19th-century
The Producers
The Producers is a comedy-musical adapted by Mel
Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics
by Brooks and music by Brooks and Glen Kelly. As in the film, the story
concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich by overselling
interests in a Broadway flop. Complications arise when the show unexpectedly
turns out to be successful. The humor of the show is accessible to a wide range
of audiences, and draws on ridiculous accents, caricatures of homosexuals and Nazis,
and many show business in-jokes. The musical was a hit in
The musical opened on April 19, 2001 and ran for 2,502 performances,
winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards. It spawned a successful
The original Broadway production of The
Producers opened at the
After the opening, The Producers broke the record for the largest single day box-office gross in theatre history, taking in more than $3 million. It then broke its own record in 2003 when Broderick and Lane's return went on sale, with over $3.5 million in single day ticket sales.
Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. Many songs from the musical have become standards, including the title song ('The Sound of Music'), 'Edelweiss', 'My Favorite Things', 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain' and 'Do-Re-Mi'.
The original Broadway production, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened in November 1959, and the show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then. It has also been made into an Academy Award-winning 1965 film musical. The Sound of Music was the final musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein; Hammerstein died of cancer nine months after the Broadway premiere.
The final collaboration between
composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II who passed away nine
months after the opening, The Sound of Music is based on Maria Von Trapp's
autobiography The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. Originally, the musical
was to contain only actual music that had been sung by the Trapps in their
concerts, plus one original song by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The talented
songwriting duo balked at this, however, and eventually they were allowed to
contribute the entire score.
Set in 1938, The Sound of
Music tells the story of Maria Rainer, a free-spirited nun who is hired by
Captain George Von Trapp to care for his seven children. Although Captain Trapp
is engaged to a wealthy socialite, he and Maria eventually fall in love and
marry--but their happiness is soon shattered when the Nazis invade Austria.
The Sound of Music opened at
the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959 and would eventually become the
second longest running Broadway musical of the Fifties. The original production
featured Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel. The 1965 film version co-starred Julie
Andrews and Christopher Plummer.
Bibliography
Ewen, David. American Musical Theatre. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970
Green, Stanley. Encyclopedia of the Musical. London: Cassell & Company, 1976
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_theatre
https://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?vendorId=FWNE.fw..mu172500.a
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_(musical)
https://www.tuts.com/Images/SeasonShowDocs/Cats_synopsis.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamgirls
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera_(1986_musical)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_(musical)
https://www.lesmis.com/pages/about/story_4.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables_(musical)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Producers_(Broadway_musical)
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