Mus 150: The Broadway Musical Final

"Circle of Life"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
sung by Rafiki
megamusical
'african' music (chanting, drums, environmental sound effects)
choral singing
chants continue in background creating 'africa' atmosphere
hypnotic
I vi ii V chord progression
syncopated
big ballad
pop style verse verse chorus form
theatrical pre-hook
gospel backing vocals

"Grasslands Chant"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
'african music' (chanting, environmental sounds)
syncopation
choral singing
all in Zulu
sung by entire ensemble

"The Morning Report"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
pattersong
sung by Zazu
fast tempo

"The Lioness Hunt"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
'african music' (chants, environmental sounds)
syncopated
drums
shoutsrunts

"I Just Can't Wait to be King"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
Simba's I want song
pop rock style
peppy

"Chow Down"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
rock style
menacing
shrill keyboard
yelping (hyenas)
sung by Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed
trombone
decreasing melody, dissonance, indicating danger
7/8 or 5/8 meter to signal uneasiness (?)

"They Live in You"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
chill
gospel choral singing
'african' (environmental sounds, chanting)

"Be Prepared"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
low marimba, clarinet instrumentation
sung by Scar
campy
minor key
'be prepared' supported by high vocals
theatrical/performative

"The Stampede"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
syncopated
trumpets instrumentation indicates big event
chromatic falling, adds to drama
shrill flute

"Rafiki Mourns"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
solo chants, emotional outcry
'african' (shouts)
spattering of cries

"Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
Lion King
1990s
Music: Elton John and Tim Rice
Director: Julie Taymor
megamusical
big ballad
predictable pop
overpowering melody
emphasis on 'can' and 'the' rather than 'feel' and 'love'

"What Did I Miss"
Hamilton
2010s
Lin-Manuel Miranda
jazzy
sung by Jefferson
older style because Jefferson's in the past after visiting France
'i basically missed the late 80s'
walking bass line

"Together"
Gypsy
1950s
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Music: Styne
Actress: Ethel Merman
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim, proud of lyrics
Book: Laurents
'and any IOU I owe you owe'
'wherever I go, I know he knows / Wherever I go, I know she goes / no fits, no feuds, and no egos / amigos, together
Cole Porter enjoyed the lyrics, especially amigo
nasally vocals

"Rose's Turn"
Gypsy
1950s
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Music: Styne
Actress: Ethel Merman
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Laurents
stripper rhythm
Robbins wanted it to be a dream ballet for Rose
Collage, sings songs from the whole show even ones that she wasn’t in
Strip tease enticing no one but breaks the 4th wall
Repetition of ‘mama’, ‘for me’
Sondheim's own (bad) mother might have impacted song
Distorts her voice

"Some People"
Gypsy
1950s
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Music: Styne
Actress: Ethel Merman
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Laurents
‘I want’ song for Rose
Gets more rhyme in than what the form implies
Performance designs her character, Ethel Merman piercing timbre, spits consonants in our face
‘I’, ‘try’, ‘dream’, ‘Rose’ held for a very long time
Chromatic, accidentals, don’t fit the key → Rose doesn’t fit in

"Think of Me"
Phantom of the Opera

"Memory"
Cats
1980s
AABA form
climax of the whole show

"La Vie Boheme"
Rent
Jonathan Larson
1990s

approached homophobia as topics
Rent
Tick Tick Boom
Sondheim was his mentor

Unique opening
did the job of an opening, settting the scene

Wicked
Godspell
Wrote Lyrics for Tebelak

Choreographer
Chicago
Godspell
hat as a prop
bent knees
Rolled shoulders
Jazz hands

Set designer of Company
Cabaret
mirror implicates the audience, making them the nasty stuff that happens on stage
Fiddler on the Roof
Concept Musicals
Came from Yiddish theater in NY

Director of Hair
Jesus Christ Superstar
turned concept album into megamusical
had people flying through the air
huge sets
worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber

Fiddler on the Roof song
Opening number
efficient
lays out problem: tradition blown to smithereens by anti-semitism
social class discussion
sung by Tevya then ensemble
Yiddish/Jewish style/tinge
by Harnick

MC of Cabaret
movie and staged version
campy character
Candor and Ebb
"Wilkommen" opening

Lyricist team
Comden one of the first women
Singing in the Rain
Cobbled together show from various songs
Wrote lyrics for Bernstein's On the Town

"Old Deuteronomy"
song from Cats
old cat spiritual leader in junkyard
Andrew Lloyd Webber
mystery of the cats

"Oldest Established"
song in Guys and Dolls
introduces main character played by Frank Sinatra
Alma Mater anthem, parody of a college song
irony -- gamblers talking about best crap game, singing in a high brow tone
show does it a lot
camera movement (?)

stacy wolf's article
songs
love duets
"What is this Feeling"
Glinda starts off show trying to perform unemotional but it shows how much she's feeling

Sondheim
1970s
Hal Prince director
Old women used to be in Ziegfeld Follies, reunion in New Amsterdam theater
alternate between seeing reunion and their pasts, how they first met
formed the wrong couples
allusions to 20s style

song from Guys and Dolls
double song
after opening number
introduces us to trio of characters
tinhorns: gamblers who aren't good
fugue: serious music
row row row your boat type of round
comical song mismatching characters
reminds you of Kiss me Kate Brush up Your Shakespearce 3 thugs

nasty interval
devil's interval
"Maria": resolves as Tony sings it
"I'm Breaking Down"

Falsettos
sung by Trina
familiy is falling apart
showstopper like "The Ladies who Lunch" or "Rose's Turn"

"Rose's Turn"
showstopper of Gypsy
stein
sondheim
ethem merman
quotes a lot of songs

"Fixer Upper"
Frozen
2010s
production number sung by trolls
chorus from Kinky Boots
list song
ironic take on meet cute

song from Chicago
by Candor and Ebb
sung by Amos
reminds you of Bert Williams' "Nobody" from blackface minstrelsy
Amos and Andy was a white performer blackface show in the 1950s

Major producer/director
most Tonys
Follies
Pacific Overture
Sweeney Todd
Phantom of the Opera

latin American dance
West Side Story
Jerome Robbins
(Elizabeth Wells' article)
Bernstein attemps to sound Puerto Rican by borrowing any south of the border music
diegetic dance in gym scene (all dancers)
pitting 2 groups together using choreography

(might not be on there)
Hair
experimental theater company
quasi rituals, involved audience
breaking 4th wall
specific political goal
1940s