3.5: Rock, Concept and MegaMusicals

Pushing the realm of successful musical theatre productions to new heights, West Side Story blasted onto the stage in 1957. This new show format allowed dance to not only further the story, as it had in Oklahoma! And other Rodgers & Hammerstein pairings, West Side Story was able to tell the story exclusively through dance. Jerome Robbins, known for his choreographic works with the New York City Ballet as well as musical theatre productions, both directed and choreographed the musical, sparking a new generation of artists that would combine both artistic responsibilities into one. While many other popular musicals were produced during the 1950s, West Side Story holds importance on several points. Leonard Bernstein, most famous for his classical music, composed the piece, and Stephen Sondheim penned the lyrics to his first musical and would later create a new generation of musical theatre patrons with the concept musical. Based upon the tragedy of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story is set in 1950s New York and speaks about the harsh side of teenage gangs, but writer Arthur Laurents shows the story through the lens of musical theatre with humorous scenes that lighten the mood of the show at various moments. Mordden (1976) referenced the theatre critic Brooks Atkinson who talked about letting the plot progress largely through dance because the teenage characters would not have the verbal language necessary to communicate the complexities of their thoughts and feelings, and that movement would be the only viable vehicle for translation. While the show did not have immediate popularity, most likely due to its dark conclusion (musical theatre productions to this point had most always ended on a high, celebratory note) it was transformed into a movie shortly after its debut on Broadway and gained instant and lasting success.

During the 1960s, musical theatre works reflected changing times in American society. The era of rock musicals was born with Bye Bye Birdie (1960), wherein the title character, Conrad Birdie, is an Elvis Presley figure whose swiveling hips and uptempo songs make the teenage girls swoon. Hair (1967), the “American tribal love-rock musical” (“HAIR the Musical on Broadway”, n.d.) ushered in the era of free love to the musical theatre stage. While there are many other worthy musicals from the sixties, these two are defined largely by their close association with young American society of the time.

The seventies in America saw yet another breakthrough in musical theatre. Stephen Sondheim, mentioned earlier as lyricist for West Side Story, composed his controversial Company (1970). Sondheim’s technique of so intimately joining his songs to the action of the plot, make his songs difficult to understand or enjoy out of context, unlike most book musical songs (Laufe, 1977). His unique modernizing of musicals, turning from the popular book musical, marked the beginning of the era of concept musicals. These shows veered from complex plots in favor of complex characters. Mates (1985) noted

No songs were permitted that did not have a sound dramatic situation, and all were to illuminate character. No wonder his hit songs were few, since the better they were for the show, the worse they might be out of context. (p. 199)

Figure 3.18. Ambassador Theatre

File:Ambassador Theatre May 2010.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. (2010, May 11). Wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...e_May_2010.jpg

After the Vietnam conflict and the Watergate scandal, Americans were battle-worn and distrustful of their government. They wanted realism and to strive for a more socially conscious society. Characters in the concept musical reflected this attitude (Walsh & Platt, 2003, p. 129). Notable concept musicals include Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret (1966), Chicago (1975), A Chorus Line (1975) and Dreamgirls (1981). Learn more about the choreographers of those shows, Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett, respectively, in the Jazz Dance chapter of this book.

Figure 3.19. Cats: The Original London cast

(2024). Photobucket.com. https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...ndonfirst3.jpg

Composer/producer Andrew Lloyd Webber and producer Cameron Mackintosh ushered in the era of the megamusical in the eighties with Cats (1980), and continued the phenomenon with Phantom of the Opera (1988). While Webber and Mackintosh began their meteoric rise to fame in London’s West End, they soon brought their product to America, where it was embraced quickly and wholeheartedly. Lavish sets, soaring production costs and huge entertainment value may be considered to have replaced thoughtful character and plot development from the book musical (Burston, 1998). Burston noted that “Megamusicals are big global business: capital investments are larger, markets are bigger, more international and more numerous, and stakes are higher than ever before in the history of popular music-theatrical production,” (Burston, 1998, p. 205). As Americans had more money to spend on leisure activities, musical theatre producers risked millions of dollars on the megamusical. Cats, at one point, was the longest running show on Broadway with 7,485 performances, replaced by Phantom of the Opera that ran for 35 years and 13,981 performances. Disney productions entered the arena with shows like Beauty and the Beast (1994) and The Lion King (1997) that were almost a throwback to the extravaganzas of the nineteenth century (Walsh & Platt, 2003).

Will the megamusical leave a lasting impression upon America like the previous variations of the musical comedy? Walsh & Platt (2003) referenced author Mark Steyn’s 1997 book, Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Then and Now, and said:

Traditionally, the musical was a popular artistic genre organically connected to popular culture, musically by the vernacular nature of its song and dance and dramatically by narrative, lyric, and dialogue that was contemporaneous with and engaged the society of its time.

This gave its essential vitality and relevance. (p.160)

Walsh & Platt felt that the megamusical was a British, not American invention, and would not stand the test of time with American audiences as the book musical had and continues to do to this day (2003). A Showboat production today is just as viable as it was eighty years ago because the basic elements that create the work are based upon the very fabric of American lives.