Tag Archives: Theatremaking

Musical Comedy vs. Musical Play

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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Genres of Musical Theatre Redux: the 2010 edition

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

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

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Rhyme in Musical Theatre Lyrics

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

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

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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Theatre Reads

I’m busy reading two books on musicals at the same time: Show Boat: the Story of a Classic American Musical and Everything Was Possible: the Birth of the Musical Follies. Both are brilliant and I hope that everyone who visits … Continue reading

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Crazy Concepts for Classic Shows: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST II

Here’s another “crazy concept” for Beauty and the Beast – one that perhaps is not not necessarily ‘crazy’, but just unconventional. This one is from Musicals Dot Net, posted by a user known as “Jake”: Do you guys think it’s … Continue reading

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Crazy Concepts for Classic Shows: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Every now and again one comes across a “crazy concept” that is used to bring new life into a classic show. Such concepts are not necessarily ‘crazy’; they are merely unconventional. I stumbled across this one on Musicals Dot Net, … Continue reading

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SPRING AWAKENING: the Musical

The play upon which the musical adaptation of Spring Awakening is based was written by Frank Wedekind in 1891. The first performance of the play was in 1906 and the first English performance of the play was in 1917. Since … Continue reading

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