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Example research essay topic: The Rebirth Of American Musical Theatre - 1,634 words

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Two great writers of American musical theatre, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, had one idea in common. They wanted to present to the American public a new and revolutionary musical that would stand out above the rest. They wanted to make an impact on the societies of the era. They wanted to be creative and do something that was considered rebellious.

When they finally combined their ideas together they created an American masterpiece in musical theatre: Oklahoma! . It was the first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration, starting the most successful creative partnership in the history of American musical theatre. According to Joseph Swain in his book The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey, there are a number of reasons why a particular work of art might be considered a milestone in the history in its genre. It might introduce innovations of technique and style so convincing that they may become extremely influential. It might attract such wide acclaim that it cannot be ignored by the artists who come after, even if the acclaimed fame eventually fades with time. It could stand as the first work of an important series.

Or perhaps, it sets a new standard of artistry. (73) For whatever factors that influenced the writers to create the works they did, they produced some of the most successful and incredibly influential works of musical theatre in their time. In the years before Oklahoma! was created, Broadway was dying. New and refreshing musicals were a rare occasion and when an artist tried to create something that he hoped his audience would like, he was sadly disappointed.

Broadway was suffering from a lack of what it was revered for: astounding plays and musicals. Its time of glamour and glitz was almost forgotten, and was in need of being saved. That is why Oklahoma! is considered a rebirth of the American musical theatre at the time. It brought Broadway back to life, filling theatre seats with enthusiastic audiences who embraced the changes of this new theatre musical with open arms and made it a legend. Oklahoma!

set new standards for classic American theatre by introducing new techniques of presenting the musical to the audience, introducing a new genre of music into the theatre, and strayed away from the usual classic form and structure of a musical that audiences had grown used to. It was a time of change, a time of excitement, and a time of setting standards for the future. Almost from the first performance at the St. James Theatre on March 31, 1943, Oklahoma! has been recognized as a new kind of musical play that denied its Broadway audiences many of their most treasured traditions, says David Ewen in American Musical Theatre. There was no opening chorus line, no chorus until midway through the first act, in fact.

There was rather a serious ballet and other serious overtones, including a killing in act two. The story, which was so simple, seemed to engage the audience in more than mere evening diversion. (248) These changes, far from disappointing to viewers, were upheld by a success that had never been seen in the history of musical theatre. He continued to say that with their first collaboration, Rodgers and Hammerstein ushered in a new era for the musical theatre. This beautiful folk play realized fully that which the earlier Rodgers and Hart musicals had been striving to obtain: a synchronization of all the elements of the musical theatre into a single entity. At best Oklahoma! could lay legitimate claim to have carefully woven a new element, dance, into the artful fabric of the modern musical.

No longer would singers sing and then go into their dance, a purely decorative dance at that. (248) Dance was not a new element in the theatre realm. It had been used for years as a way of interpretation of feelings of a character that the writer or director wanted the audience to feel visually. Through movement, expression of those feelings was portrayed and helped the audience to somewhat experience that single emotion of fear, hate, love, or guilt right along with the character on stage. But what was usual was that it was never brought together with the music and singing. The song was usually followed by the decorative dance. A song followed by a dance would usually lost the audiences attention, or even if the dance was too long or did not correspond to the song or story line what so ever.

Rodgers and Hammerstein set a standard that incorporated the two elements (music / song and dance) so that the audience would find more logic in the dance. It would have a meaning and a purpose in the play and heighten the excitement in the musical. And in many instances, it would further the plot or at best help the audience to fully understand the individual characters feelings at that point in the musical. David Ewen uses the example of Agnes de Mille's (choreographer of Oklahoma! ) ballet, which brought to life the heroine's dream and provided her motive for refusing the hero's invitation to a box special. it was part of the story. (248) According to Gerald Bordman, the author of American Musical Comedy, the idea that integration was something new and desperately needed took hold of Broadway's thinking. In fact, it became so fashionable to integrate dance into the musical, that it was sometimes injected when it served no dramatic purpose, and sometimes even when it hindered the unfolding of the story. (160) After awhile dance became overused, which seemed to ruin what Rodgers and Hammerstein had set out to do (the incorporation of dance to heighten the meaning of the musical).

Other writers or choreographers who inserted dance were not adding it when it would help the musical. Directors came to believe that dance was a necessity in a musical, for it was one of the key reasons why Oklahoma! was so successful. So the additions were made, but were not really thought about their purpose when they were added.

What was forgotten was the obvious need for the dance at all. Dance was thought to be a want of the audience, not taking into consideration if the musical even required the dance at all. So, this problem developed into an insertion frenzy, adding dance just for the mere spectacle of it. But in Oklahoma! , everything fit into its place.

For the first time, not only were the songs and story inseparable, but the dances heightened the drama by revealing the fears and desires of the leading characters. According to Bordman, Richard Rodgers once said, when a show works perfectly, it's because all the individual parts complement each other and fit together... in a great musical, the orchestrations sound the way the costumes look. That's what made Oklahoma! work...

it was a work created by many that gave the impression of having been created by one. (160) Dance was not the only idea that Rodgers and Hammerstein brought into their new collaboration. Joseph Swain adds that much was made at the time of the hero's killing the villain on stage in Oklahoma! . This too was not new. But while the claim to originality was once again exaggerated, Oklahoma! by virtue of its huge popularity, a popularity in no way reduced by an unpleasant scene, did open doors. (74) Oklahoma! was in fact in the genre of Musical Comedy, and many critics felt that villains and murder were not elements that should appear in a comedy.

It was thought that such items would turn audiences away from Oklahoma! , having the idea of going to see a comedy and leaving feeling like they had seen a murder mystery, and not laughing at all was not the main objective of comedy theatre. But once again, these elements were a key part of the musical. David Ewen pointed out in The Story of Americas Musical Theatre that the original play had both villains and a murder, and Rodgers and Hammerstein had no intention of removing them from their musical. Ewen quotes Hammerstein saying, We realized that such a course was experimental, amounting almost to the breach of an implied contract with the musical-comedy audience.

I cannot say truthfully that we were worried by the risk. Once we had made the decision everything seemed to work right and we had the inner confidence people feel when they have adopted the right and honest approach to a problem. (180) But once the doors opened and tickets began to sell and shows eventually became sold out, Rodgers and Hammerstein really did not have anything to fear. Their show soon showed itself to be a success, even with a villain and a murder. The audiences were at first disturbed to see these elements in a comedy, but soon came into agreement with these new additions and liked its originality and creativeness. Also if these two elements had been removed, it would have disturbed the synchronization and union of all the other elements of song, dance and plot in the musical, which was what the writers were trying to avoid at all costs. Just like the dance element, the villain and the murder were a key part of the story line, and to remove them just to make the audience feel more comfortable would in turn shake the foundation of the plot.

This was a chance Rodgers and Hammerstein were willing to take; a risk that proved to be a wise one to take in the end. Audiences found relief in the killing of the villain and a certain justice in the conclusion of the musical. The bad guy had lost and justice reigned supreme. In The Story of Americas Musical Theatre, Ewen states that there were no tickets. Okay...


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