Category Archives: Theory and Practice

Musical Theatre Sunday School: Divine Integration

Posted on August 31, 2014 by David Fick

There are three separate elements of divine integration in musical theatre: the book, the music and the lyrics. Continue reading →

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Dumbed Down Discourse: Challenges Facing Artists, Audiences and the Arts

Posted on December 31, 2013 by David Fick

Something’s been bubbling under for a long time. And IT has starting to erupt. IT started brewing a long time ago, and I’m only now realising what IT is… Continue reading →

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Musical Theatre Advent Calendar: THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS

Posted on December 6, 2010 by David Fick

Today’s musical is something of a Christmas event. It is playing on Broadway now and it will be gone in January. Nope, it’s not Elf. It is The Scottsboro Boys, the new John Kander and Fred Ebb musical, that transferred … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, Fun Stuff, Musicals, Off Broadway, Theory and Practice | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Musical Comedy vs. Musical Play

Posted on July 9, 2010 by David Fick

Following my 2010 redux blog on “Genres of Musical Theatre“, I received a message from Hans Anders Elgvang, a regular visitor of this site, asking: ‘What are, in your opinion, the differences between the form categories musical comedy and musical … Continue reading →

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“Showtunes” – an all-encompassing term?

Posted on July 1, 2010 by David Fick

A recent discussion on Musicals.net that debated the terminology that could be used to classify songs from musicals caught my attention. Thinking about it carefully, I realised that I do not feel that “Broadway” or “showtune” function well as an … Continue reading →

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Genres of Musical Theatre Redux: the 2010 edition

Posted on July 1, 2010 by David Fick

In a discussion around different kinds of musical theatre, I think the first step is to define the terrain of musical theatre. Musical theatre does not include all theatre that uses music. Musical theatre excludes – for example – opera, … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Dance, Musicals, Plays, Revues, Theatremaking, Theory and Practice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Defending Theory and Practice

Posted on July 1, 2010 by David Fick

Every now and then, I’ll get a nasty little message implying that discussions around musical theatre practice, debates around musical theatre terminology and so on are petty and worthless. Let me go on record saying that I do not think … Continue reading →

Posted in Musicals, Theatremaking, Theory and Practice | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Rhyme in Musical Theatre Lyrics

Posted on June 25, 2010 by David Fick

Here is an interesting question that I’d like people to consider: why do we expect musical theatre to make use of pure rhyme or celebrate lyrics that are crafted using pure rhyme more readily than those that employ other kinds … Continue reading →

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O/T: Brecht and Didactic Theatre

Posted on June 24, 2010 by David Fick

I was recently reading a rather mundane series of posts around the issue of adaptation at Musicals.net, which then delved into the realm of Bertolt Brecht and his vision of theatre. Here’s the bit that I found interesting: Hans wrote: … Continue reading →

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“Original” Musicals

Posted on June 15, 2010 by David Fick

As musicals based on movies become more and more frequently produced, discussions on musical theatre forums around the Internet regarding the lack of “original” Musicals” seem to become more and more prominent. Most people seem to forget, however, that truly … Continue reading →

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