Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole.
The 1980's saw the influence of European
"mega-musicals", or "pop operas", on Broadway, in the West
End and elsewhere. These typically featured a pop-influenced score, had large
casts and sets and were identified by their notable effects – a falling chandelier (in the phantom of the opera ), a helicopter
landing on stage (in Miss Saigon) – and big budgets. Many were based on novels or
other works of literature. The most important writers of mega-musicals include
the French team of Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, responsible for Les
Misérables, which became the
longest-running international musical hit in history. The team, in
collaboration with Richard Maltby, Jr,continued to
produce hits, including Miss Saigon,
inspired by the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly.
No comments:
Post a Comment