Book musical

The book musical is a form of musical theater that became the dominant production form during the mid-20th century period that is now considered the "golden age" of the Broadway musical. The "book musical" gained gradual predominance from what were essentially musical revues, basically designed to showcase the work of songwriters, singers, dancers, and spectacular production values, in a series of often unrelated songs. In contrast, the "book musical" is heavily dependent on plot and character, integrates the script with the musical style and major musical themes, often contains as many scenes of spoken dialogue as it does musical numbers, and often seeks to use technical aspects that create an atmosphere of quasi-realism (as much as that remains a viable aspiration for a form where characters by definition spontaneously begin to sing and dance). Many more recent Broadway-style musicals have also been book musicals, but some of the most popular musicals since the early-to-mid-1970s have been "sung-through" musicals, in which virtually all the characters' lines are set to music, even transitional. This format, which more closely approaches the structure of opera, or rock concert, can be seen in such works as "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Les Miserables", "Rent" and "We Will Rock You".

Origins

The first successful book musical was 1927's "Show Boat", an adaptation of a widely read Edna Ferber novel of the era. Following this example, popular and classic literary works became a fertile source of adaptations by the creators of future book musicals.

Many imitators sprung up in the late 1920s and 1930s, often straying none too far from the musical revue template, with the emphasis on the songs and a flimsy romance or comedy thrown in chiefly to organize the musical numbers into a sequence. "Of Thee I Sing" (1931), with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Morrie Ryskind, Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" (1935), Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "The Boys from Syracuse", and Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson's "Knickerbocker Holiday" (both 1938) are examples of the trend toward more fully-integrated book musicals.

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Although these were highly popular and often widely acclaimed shows, it was with "Oklahoma!" (1943), the first in a series of collaborations between composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, that the form would really begin to peak in popularity and cultural influence. Future Rodgers and Hammerstein shows were huge successes almost without exception, and pivoted off the template set by "Oklahoma!": a regional or historical setting, a wide range of colorful and often complex characters, and structural borrowings from more "high art" forms (such as extended operatic arias or balletic dance sequences). The costumes, technical effects and dance choreography tended to emphatically echo the emotional structure of the story and the milieu the show was set in, rather than eye-popping extravagance for its own sake. Over time, many book musicals found ways to incorporate old-fashioned spectacle without violating the narrative element, usually through judicious choice of subject matter. See "Hello, Dolly!", "Funny Girl", and "42nd Street".

Other contributors

In addition to Rodgers and Hammerstein, the leading songwriters for book musicals were capable of becoming brand names in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, with numerous hit shows to their credit. Some of the most prominent of this period include Cole Porter, the team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Frank Loesser, Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, and Leonard Bernstein.

However, gifted librettists, directors and choreographers were also important contributors to many of the form's classics. Perhaps the greatest director and choreographer in Broadway history, Jerome Robbins, was perhaps the key creative force on what are now considered four of the very greatest book musicals: "On the Town", "West Side Story", "", and "Fiddler on the Roof".

Present day

Since the end of Broadway's "Golden Age" and the height of the Broadway musical's cultural influence and popularity, other artistically and/or commercially successful book musicals have included "Oliver!", "Follies", "Grease", "Chicago", "A Chorus Line", "The Wiz", "Pippin", "Dreamgirls", "Annie", "La Cage aux Folles", "Ragtime", "The Producers" and "AIDA".

ee also

*Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical