Musical Comedy

A musical box creates music mechanically. To produce notes, steel pins on a rotating cylinder pluck metal teeth of various lengths. A clockwork mechanism drives the cylinder.

The Black Crook, a musical comedy, opened in 1866 in the United States. The poster above reflects the show's emphasis on beautiful women and elaborate sets.

Show Boat helped start a new era of musical comedy in 1927. The show had realistic characters and situations and introduced some of the most popular songs in musical comedy history.

Oklahoma began the age of the modern musical comedy in 1943. It revolutionized musicals through the way its dancing, songs, and dialogue combined to develop plot and characters.

Musical comedy is a type of play that tells a story through a combination of spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. Musical comedies are also called musicals.

Most of them are light in tone and contain much hu­mour. Musical comedies developed in the United States during the late 180ffs and have become a unique Ameri­can contribution to world theatre. Many of the best- known songs in popular music originated in musical comedies.

Musical comedy differs in several ways from other types of stage works that have music. For example, the revue has songs, dances, and skits but tells no story. The opera and operetta resemble musical comedy, but most of them have much less spoken dialogue. In addition, most operas use classical music, while nearly all musi­cals use popular music. Some plays may include songs or instrumental music, but the play remains dramatically complete without the music.

Most major American musical comedies are first pre­sented in New York City, normally on Broadway. The more successful musical comedies later tour through­out the country and may even be performed in other countries.

Elements of musical comedy

A typical musical comedy consists of four basic ele­ments: (1) the book, (2) the music, (3) the lyrics, and (4) dancing.

The book is the musical's story. It is sometimes called the libretto. The book provides shape and struc­ture to a musical. A successful book integrates the dia­logue, music, lyrics, and dancing. Some books are written specifically for a musical. Others are adaptations of other literary forms, especially novels, short stories, or plays. In some cases, the composer writes the book for a show, but most books are written by playwrights or other professional writers.

The music in a musical comedy may be vocal, instrumental, or both. In most shows, the music has a melody form that the audience can easily remember. During the early history of musical comedy, the music served pri­marily to entertain audiences and show off the talents of the performers. By the 1940's, however, the music began to serve a more dramatic function. Today, the music is expected to help create characterization, advance the plot, and develop important situations or pieces of ac­tion. The composer works with the author of the book to determine where the music can most effectively be used in the story.

The lyrics may be written by the composer or by an­other person, called a lyricist. If the musical involves both a composer and a lyricist, the two must work closely together to ensure that the lyrics fit the music. In many songs, the lyrics contribute to telling the story or describing a character's feelings. The best lyrics are ac­tually skilful poems set to music.

Dancing is one of the most distinctive elements of musical comedy. Some dances are meant only to enter­tain the audience. But many dances help tell the story or set a mood. Many shows employ a person called a cho­reographer, who creates dances especially for the show. In some cases, a show's director serves as the choreog­rapher. Most dances in musical comedy are light and rhythmic, but some musicals include long dance pieces that resemble classical ballet.

The history of musical comedy

The first musicals. American musical comedy devel­oped from a blend of American popular entertainment and the more classical elements of the European musi­cal stage. The basic American influences were vaude­ville, minstrel shows, and burlesques. All three types of entertainment had singing, dancing, and comedy, but none had a unifying story. European influences included the ballet, various forms of opera, and a form of elabo­rate spectacle called an extravaganza.

Most scholars believe that The Black Crook (1866) marked the beginning of American musical comedy.

The show was noted for its spectacular scenery and em­phasis on beautiful women. The Black Crook was based on European models. A truly American form of musical theatre began to appear with The Brook (1879). This show included American themes and attempted to inte­grate the story with the songs and dances.

During the late 1800’s and early 1900's, the European-style operetta was perhaps the most popular form of musical theatre in America. Three European-born composers -Rudolf Friml, Victor Herbert, and Sigmund Romberg - were the most important composers of oper­etta in the United States.

A number of American composers and performers at­tempted to create a more American form of musical theatre. In 1879, vaudeville stars Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart presented The Mulligan Guards' Ball. This show was the first in a series of Mulligan Guards' comic plays with music. The series dealt with recognizable American types and realistic scenes of everyday life. During the early 1900's, composer-actor George M. Cohan wrote the book, music, and lyrics for a number of high-spirited musicals. Such Cohan shows as Little Johnny Jones (1904) and Forty-Five Minutes from Broad­way (1906) helped turn American musical comedy from European traditions toward a more native American style.

Musical comedy matures. During World War I (1914-1918) and the years immediately afterward, Ameri­can musical comedy took shape as a unique form of mu­sical theatre. Composer Jerome Kern ranks as probably the most influential figure in bringing musical comedy to maturity. From 1915 to 1918, Kern composed the music for a series of sophisticated musicals. Most of the shows had a book and lyrics by the English playwrights P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton. These musicals were known as the "Princess shows" because they were pre­sented in the Princess Theatre in New York City. The Princess shows had small casts and modern, everyday settings. The shows brought a more natural, informal style to musicals.

In 1927, Kern and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein li com­pleted Show Boat, a milestone in the development of musical comedy. Show Boat presented believable char­acters in a realistic manner and had a genuinely dra­matic book. In addition, the show dealt with racial dis­crimination and other serious issues that were rarely mentioned in musicals of the time. Show Boat also fea­tured some of the most popular songs in the history of musical comedy, notably "OI' Man River."

In 1931, a political satire called Of Thee I Sing opened in New York City. George Gershwin composed the music and his brother, Ira, wrote the lyrics. The noted playwright George S. Kaufman was co-author of the book. The show became the first musical to win the Pu­litzer Prize for drama. The award helped raise the status of musical comedy to the level of serious theatre. The sharp attacks on American political life also broadened the range of subject matter considered suitable for mu­sicals.

A number of teams contributed popular musicals dur­ing the 1950's and 1960^fs. Composer Frederick Loewe and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner created My Fair Lady (1956), one of the most popular shows of the century. Com­poser Leonard Bernstein and lyricist Stephen Sondheim wrote West Side Story (1957), a musical based on Wil­liam Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The show featured brilliant choreography by Jerome Robbins. Composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick collaborated on Fiddler on the Roof (1964). In 1983, A Chorus Line be­came the longest-running musical in Broadway history. When it closed in 1990, it had achieved a record of 6,137 performances.

Musical comedy today. Since the late 1960's, musi­cals have been noted for their enormous range of sub­jects and styles. Hair (1967) dealt with American young people in the 1960's who rebelled against society during the Vietnam War. Crease (1972) was a rock'n' roll musi­cal about American high school life during the 1950's.

In the 1970's, a new generation of composers of musi­cals came to the forefront. Among these is the English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Webber had a string of successful musicals throughout the 197ffs and 1980's. Among them were Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), Evita (1978), Cats (1981), Phantom of the Opera (1986), and As­pects of Love (1989).

Many critics consider Stephen Sondheim as the most creative figure in musical comedy today. Sondheim began his career as a lyricist but soon began to write both words and music for his shows. Sondheim gained praise for the wit and sophistication of his lyrics and for the originality of his subject matter. His best-known shows include Company (1970), A Little Night Music (1973), and Sunday in the Park with George (1984).

Because of the enormous cost of staging musicals today, only audience-pleasing spectacles seem to suc­ceed. Some producers have attempted to present shows with small casts and few changes of scenery to keep costs of production low, but they have seldom been successful.

Related articles: Irving Berlin, Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Bernstein Leonard,  Oscar II,  Jerome Robbins, Fanny Brice,  Lorenz Hart,  Richard Rodgers, Burlesque, Victor Herbert,  Sigmund Romberg,  George M. Cohan,  Jerome Kern,  Dancing (Lloyd Webber),  Stephen Sondheim, American musical comedy, Vaudeville, Rudolf Friml, Minstrel show,  Kurt Weill,  George Gershwin, and  Operetta.

Musical box is an instrument that plays tunes auto­matically. Steel pins protrude from a rotating cylinder driven by clockwork or a spring. The pins pluck metal teeth of various lengths, producing delicate, high- pitched sounds. Several teeth may be tuned to the same note, so the box can repeat notes rapidly. Musical boxes may be connected with clocks, and play certain tunes on the hour. Musical-box movements are built into watches, toys, and other everyday objects. Early musical boxes had tiny flute pipes instead of teeth, and gave an organ like sound. Joseph Haydn wrote many charming pieces for the instrument. In the 1800's, some inventors developed musical boxes that had as many as 400 teeth.