Wednesday, July 14, 2010

How are art forms used in a Broadway musical?

The four major components of the Arts and Humanities are visual art, music, dance, and drama/theatre. Explain how all four art forms (visual art, music, dance, drama/theatre) are used in a Broadway musical to produce a unified experience

How are art forms used in a Broadway musical?
Take "Phantom of the Opera" for instance. This Broadway musical is almost like Bernstein's "Candide"--a mixture of opera and musical theater but the "Phantom" shows a big example of the several arts used in the Broadway Musical.


Some examples are listed below...





Visual art





There are various types of visual effects.....





---Visual effects by use of fog to represent the surreal, or the many small candelabras representing the phantom's lair





---The various costumes in the song "Masquerade"---different colors of clothing.





--Pyrotechnic effects to represent magic, for instance, when the Phantom disappears when he says to Christine Daae---


"Your chains are still mine...you will sing for me!"...there is a flash and an explosion followed by smoke.





Drama/Theater





There are mechanical stage characters like the big elephant, that happens in Act 1, and very famous objects that often permeate the musical....often called props.





Mechanical props had been used in "grand operas" like Verdi's "Aida."





The most important prop in the musical is the "chandelier" that goes up in the air at the start of Act I....and then crashes down on stage at the end of Act 1.





The second most important prop in the musical is the phantom's mask...which is revealed fully at the end of Act 2. The mask reminds people of the famous mask of a similar bent worn by fictional antagonist Freddie Krueger.





Of course, the Phantom has a low voice, which makes the character believable.





Music





--The different shades of Andrew Lloyd Webber take place.


Some of the famous "Phantom" songs pay homage to the opera, such as "Think of Me". Other types of music serve a dramatic purpose, such as the Phantom's own opera, "Don Juan Triumphant", which is depicted by a rising 11-note scale as the main theme. And of course, the "Phantom" theme is the descending and ascending chords on the organ and the orchestra.





A very dramatic song, "Past The Point of No Return", sounds very, very dark.





But there is a more romantic song, "All I Ask of You", sung by Christine and Raoul.





The musical, hence, gives a lot of songs, each with at least a certain type of emotion or mood.





Dance





In Act I of the musical, there is a ballet number, and on Act II, there is another dance number to the song "Masquerade". The premise of the musical partially is to pay homage to the ballet dances that occurred a lot in operas in France around the 1830s to 1850s....especially the ballet called "Giselle" with music by Adolphe Adam.

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