Mid 1970s Musicals - Lecture notes PDF

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The notes over musicals in the mid 1970s for the American Musicals course in Spring 2017 taught by Rebecca Holley....

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Mid 1970s 

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Pippin (1972-1977) o Music/lyrics: Stephen Schwartz o Book: Roger O. Hirson o Director/choreographer: Bob Fosse o Ben Vereen o 1,944 performances o Originally no intermission – most do it with an intermission o Two versions – one that opens on Broadway and one in Australia  Fosse locked creators out of rehearsal  Fosse’s version is the one that gets done o First to use clips of the show in commercial  Revolutionized Broadway advertising A Little Night Music (1973-1974) o Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim o Book: Hugh Wheeler o Director: Hal Prince o Choreographer: Patricia Birch o Producer: Hal Prince and Ruth Mitchell o 601 performances Raisin (1973-1975) o Music: Judd Woldin o Lyrics: Robert Britton o Book: Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zoltzberg o Musical adaptation of Raisin in the Sun The Wiz (1975-1979) o Music/lyrics: Charlie Smalls o Book: William F. Brown o Director: Geoffrey Holder o Choreographer: George Faisor o 1,672 performances o All-black cast – some productions have been multi-racial Chicago (1975) o Music: John Kander o Lyrics: Fred Ebb o Book: Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse o Director/choreographer: Bob Fosse o 923 performances o 1997 revival o 2002 movie A Chorus Line (1975-1990) o Director/choreographer/conceiver: Michael Bennett

Music: Marvin Hamlisch Lyrics: Edward Kleban Book: James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante Won Pulitzer Won 9 Tony Awards 6,137 performances Work shopped at Public Theatre – previously basically unheard of  Becomes the new thing to do o First to use a computerized light board o One of the first sympathetic, realistic gay character in a musical o Reinvigorated the practice of show dance – big chorus numbers o No intermission o Longest running musical until Cats Context o $13 ticket prices roughly ($40 inflation) o Relying more on tourist audiences o Times Square area getting reputation for being dangerous o Paul Robeson dies (1976) The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1978-1982) o Music/lyrics: Carol hall o Book: Larry L. King and Peter Masterson o Directors: Peter Masterson and Tommy Tune o Musical Staging: Tommy Tune o 1,584 performances o About a closing of a Texas brothel o All creators from Texas o Pseudo-country Western sound o Movie with Dolly Parton – influenced the way it’s revived Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979-1980) o Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim o Book: Hugh Wheeler o Director: Hal Prince o Choreographer: Larry Fuller o 557 performances Evita (1979-1983) o Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber o Book/lyrics: Tim Rice o Director: Hal Prince o Choreographer: Larry Fuller o Won Tony for best musical o 1,567 performances o Sung-through musical  Little or no spoken dialogue – what exists is often underscored o o o o o o o

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o Started out as a concept album (like JC Superstar) o Used projections in the scenic design Pacific Overtures (1976) o Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim o Director: Hal Prince o Choreographer: Patricia Birch o 193 performances o Spans 120 years o Critiques capitalism and imperialism – how much Japanese culture was lost o Broadway facsimile of Kabuki  Had a consultant for this o Had an Asian-American cast o Wanted to replicate Japanese sound o Not super successful Annie (1977-1983) o Music: Charles Strouse o Lyrics: Martin Charmin o 2,377 performances Side by Side by Sondheim (1977-1978) o Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim o 390 performances o Revue of pre-1977 Sondheim songs Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978-1982) o Jukebox musical – Fats Waller o Tony for best musical o 1,565 performances o Opened first at a theatre club 42nd Street o Music: Harry Warren o Lyrics: Al Dubin, Johnny Mercer and Mort Dixon o Director/choreographer: Gower Champion o Producer: David Merrick o Tony for best musical o 3,486 performances o David Merrick didn’t tell anyone that Champion had died the morning of opening night; announced it at the curtain call as a publicity stunt...