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The Broadway Musical

The Broadway Musical. History of An American Tradition. Broadway.

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The Broadway Musical

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  1. The Broadway Musical History of An American Tradition

  2. Broadway The Broadway musical's history is a fascinating one. While Broadway was a popular destination for theatre-goers for many years, it wasn't until the end of the 19th century that plays featuring music and dance became an entertainment staple on the Great White Way. Here is a brief history of the musical on Broadway.

  3. They Say The Neon Lights Are Bright… The Seven Sisters opened in 1860 and was the first ever musical performed on Broadway. The musical production ran for 253 performances. There are no known copies of the play or its score still in existence. The Black Crook, which premiered in 1866, is thought by many to be the first real Broadway musical. It was a huge success, running for over a year. There were eight revivals of the show on Broadway. Initially, the show was a melodrama. A fire at a nearby theater displaced a ballet troupe and its orchestra, so the producers of The Black Crook decided to add the group to the show to create what they called "A Musical Spectacular."

  4. On Broadway Burlesque was popular Broadway fare during the 1800s. In 1868, Lydia Thompson brought her Burlesque troupe The British Blondes to New York. The elaborate production, filled with comedy, extravagant sets and risqué costumes, was a huge hit. Broadway's theater district was one of the first areas in America to get electric light. By 1880, one mile of the street was lit electrically, earning the nickname, "The Great White Way."

  5. The Great White Way In 1907, A new Broadway phenomenon was born. Originally called Follies 1907, Flo Ziegfeld's lavish production would become a Broadway staple for many years to come. New productions were mounted each year until 1925, with additional productions produced in 1927, 1931, 1934, 1936 and 1943. A final Ziegfeld Follies show was produced in 1957, but was a failure.

  6. Florence Ziegfeld Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. was born in Chicago on March 15, 1867. (Some published sources list March 21.) His German immigrant father ran the successful College of Music, and raised his family in an atmosphere of relative comfort. Young Flo had two brothers, one sister, and a strict but loving mother who kept her brood in line. Even as a boy, Flo showed a penchant for creative publicity. He went a bit too far when he sold kids tickets to see a school of "invisible fish" that turned out to be nothing more than a glass bowl filled with water. The resulting fuss taught him a valuable lesson. In his adult career, he always tried to build his publicity around the best talent he could find.

  7. Ziegfeld In later years, Flo would claim that at age 16 he ran off with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and beat Annie Oakley in an 1883 shooting match – but since Oakley did not begin touring until 1885, odds are that this was one of Ziegfeld's many self-perpetuated legends. We do know that Ziegfeld so hated school that his parents sent him off to a brief stint at a Wyoming cattle ranch. After a few months playing cowboy, the teenager returned to Chicago.

  8. Ziegfeld As a child he witnessed first hand the Chicago fire of 1871. Ziegfeld, Jr.'s father ran the Chicago Musical College and later opened a nightclub, the Trocadero, to obtain business from the 1893 World's Fair. To help his father's unsuccessful nightclub, Ziegfeld, Jr., hired and managed the strongman, EugenSandow.

  9. Ziegfeld His stage spectaculars, known as the Ziegfeld Follies, began with Follies of 1907, which opened on July 7, 1907, and were produced annually until 1931. These extravaganzas, with elaborate costumes and sets, featured beauties chosen personally by Ziegfeld in production numbers choreographed to the works of prominent composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Jerome Kern. The Follies featured many performers who, though well-known from previous work in other theatrical genres, achieved unique financial success and publicity with Ziegfeld. Included among these are Nora Bayes, Fanny Brice, Ruth Etting, W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Marilyn Miller, Will Rogers, Bert Williams and Ann Pennington.

  10. Ziegfeld At a cost of $2.5 million, he built the 1600-seat Ziegfeld Theatre on the west side of Sixth Avenue between 54th and 55th Streets. Designed by Joseph Urban and Thomas W. Lamb, the auditorium was egg-shaped with the stage at the narrow end. A huge medieval-style mural, The Joy of Life, covered the walls and ceiling. To finance the construction, Ziegfeld borrowed from William Randolph Hearst, who took control of the theater after Ziegfeld's death.

  11. Ziegfeld Ziegfeld married actress Billie Burke, who in 1939 would go on to play Glinda in The Wizard of Oz. They had one child, Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson (1916 – 2008). The family lived on his estate in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida. Ziegfeld died in Hollywood, California on July 22, 1932. The cause was pleurisy, related to a previous lung infection.[1] He had been in Los Angeles only a few days after moving from a New Mexico sanitarium.[1] His death left Burke with substantial debts, driving her toward film acting in an effort to settle them.

  12. More Broadway When Showboat opened in December 1927, it was unlike anything The Great White Way had ever seen. The early part of the 1920s had been filled with lighthearted comedies, such as No No, Nanette and Funny Face. Showboat featured dramatic themes and the first-ever completely integrated book and score. In 1935, the Gershwin brothers and DuBose Heyward debuted Porgy and Bess. It featured an all African-American cast, which was quite controversial at the time. While considered a masterpiece by many, it has also been criticized for its racist portrayal of African-Americans.

  13. Broadway In 1943, Rodgers and Hammerstein's first show, Oklahoma, was produced. The duo would go on to write some of the most beloved Broadway Musicals in history, including Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. When Brigadoon premiered in 1947, this show marked the first major success of one of Broadway's other power duos, Lerner and Loewe. They had been collaborating for about five years when Brigadoon premiered, and they would continue to work together for many years, creating such memorable shows as My Fair Lady in 1958 and Camelot in 1960.

  14. Broadway- New Era Produced in the midst of the politically turbulent 1960s, Hair was quite a departure from the musicals of the '40s and '50s, with its counter-culture themes and rock-inspired score. With high energy and a sparse use of costumes and sets, it opened the door for a more aggressive, nontraditional form of musical, compared with the elaborate song-and-dance shows that dominated previous decades.

  15. Broadway New Era In 1977, the hugely successful Annie debuted. Its young star, Andrea McArdle, drew much acclaim for her portrayal of the charming red-haired orphan. Broadway show tickets sold fast for this optimistic, upbeat musical, which represented a return to happier shows following a decade of grittier, more dramatic musicals

  16. New Broadway Cats began its successful 18-year run in 1981. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, already well established with shows like Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, would later go on to write Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running show on Broadway.

  17. New Broadway In 1987, Les Miserables opened on Broadway. This popular show continues to be one of the most-performed musicals worldwide. Les Miserables is a sung-through musical, where all dialogue is sung, as in operas. In recent years, the trend on Broadway has been to adapt films and books into musical productions. Mel Brooks found huge success with a musical version of his comedy, The Producers. Off-Broadway plays have also found mainstream success, led by Jonathan Larson's hit show, Rent.

  18. Broadway Composers Jerome Kern - (Jan. 27, 1885 -- Nov. 11, 1945) never made musical history -- until the year 1927 when (at age 42) he was hired to write the score of a show featuring an all-black cast set on the Mississippi river, called "Show Boat." This was the score in which Kern made Broadway history and became a legend in the genre. For "Show Boat", Kern had written (with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, the 2nd) four songs that became classics -- "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "Old Man River", "Why Do I Love You?" and the one that seemed to have the longest success -- "Make Believe". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qwWM4YZ6aU&feature=player_detailpage

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