Musical Theatre

1. Musical Theatre Unit 2 (1930s-1940s)

2. What to Expect this week?! • Binder Check of last week • Abbreviated version of the 1930s... • Not the most exciting time for Broadway • Pros and Cons of Broadway during this time • Pros and Cons of Hollywood • Influence of Technology on the musical and movies • Whos Who in Hollywood/Broadway?! • Setting up a study of Wizard of Oz

3. Where did we leave off? • Ziegfeld produced Showboat • Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, II teamed up to write Showboat • 542 performances at the Ziegfeld theatre • Ziegfeld is making a lot of money and so are his associates. (Kern; Hammerstein, II; Berlin, etc.)

4. What do you already know about this time period?! 1928s-1939s?

5. What is happening Nationally? • First Transatlantic telephone call from NYC to London • FCC begins to regulate radio frequencies • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded • Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic • New York Yankees beat the Pirates in the World Series • The Jazz Singer opens ushering in the era of dialogue and song in film • The Holland Tunnel joins New York and New Jersey • Prohibition is enforced and eventually repealed • Organized Crime • Jazz Music is coming into mainstream • FDR is elected president • The Great Depression arises from the Stock Market Crash of 1929

6. What is changing in the world? • Technology – telephones, aviation, roads, movies, sound • Scope of the world....it’s a beginning to be a small world after all

7. So How’s Broadway During this Time?! • Remember Ziegfeld? He made money enough to get through the Depression but that was about it. He had a lot of debt following the Depression and sold off much of his clientele to keep him afloat, his second wife and child would eventually inherit his estate. His second wife was Billie Burke, remember this name!! • Most theatres turned to showing “talkies” aka movies during this time as they were financially more stable and cheaper for audiences to afford....even the New Amsterdam Theatre (former home of the Ziegfeld Follies went this route) • This is time period is a Golden Age, but not for Broadway? What Golden Age was this for?

8. The Stats on Broadway • Between 1927 and 1928 (The year before the Stock Market Crash) there were a record 264 productions on Broadway • Between 1930-1931 (the first year of the Great Depression) there were 187. • During the Depression there were 5,000 Equity Actors and 20,000 theater artists looking for work

9. So Who are we going to be talking about? • Cole Porter - Songwriter/Lyricist • Ethel Merman - Actress Performer • George Gershwin - Composer, Songwriter • Busby Berkeley – Director/Choreographer • Gene Kelley – Actor, Dancer, Singer • Shirley Temple – Child Star • Al Jolson - Blackface Actor and Comedian • Billie Burke – Glinda, 2nd wife of Florenz Ziegfeld • Bert Lahr – Cowardly Lion • Jack Haley – Tin Man • Ray Bolger – Scarecrow • Judy Garland - Dorothy

10. What are we going to be talking about?! • The competition to Broadway, aka Hollywood The positive and negative effects of Hollywood on various Vaudeville/Broadway entertainers • Influence of technology on the entertainment industry • Movie clips from The Jazz Singer to The Wizard of Oz

11. The Jazz Singer • Featuring Al Jolson and released in 1927 • Won an oscar for being the first “talkie” picture which revolutionized the industry • Produced by Warner Bros. studios and premiered at the Warner Theatre in New York on Broadway • Irving Berlin’s song “Blue Skies” premiered by Jolson on Screen • Cost $422,000 to make and grossed $2.6 million • A decent profit for the day considering that most theatres were not wired to use Vitaphone • Vitaphone - The technology that was used to synchronize sound and dialogue to movies

12. Blue Skies

13. Toot, Toot, Tootsie • Watch performance

14. Al Jolson • Born in Lithuania in 1883 • True name: Asa Yoelson • Started on vaudeville and known for his blackface routines • Became “The World’s Greatest Entertainer” • Huge Ego! • Starred in The Jazz Singer which launched him to super-stardom • Dies in 1950, his life rode the success and death of Vaudeville and the golden age of Hollywood

15. The Crash • Remember the Stats? 20,000 Broadway entertainers out of work? • People were desperate for work and traveled to places that could offer them jobs • With the rise of Hollywood, movies provided the demand for the best Broadway talent. • Due to increases in technology the film industry was able to create higher profit margins thus could afford to pay for the best talent from Broadway

16. Broadway and Hollywood • Pass out pg. 132-134

17. Pros to going to Hollywood? • Producers offering $$$$$$$$$$$$$...$$$ • Weather verrrrryy nice! • :o) temps are nice • Job Market • Sound movies revolutionizing industry

18. Cons to going to Hollywood? • Nothing is promised • Hard to get out there due to Depression • Limited creative freedom of writers and songwriters • Limitation of cameras

19. Does/Did Broadway need Hollywood or does/did Hollywood need Broadway?

20. Busby Berkeley • Born in Los Angeles to a family of performer’s in 1895 • Mother was a stage actress • Served in the military during World War I where it is thought his choreographic inspiration came from • After WWI he was a dance choreographer for Broadway including A Connecticut Yankee • Worked for MGM, Universal, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox • His style was in complex geometric shapes and over-the-top photography • His films were known to start on a stage but through camera manipulation seemed to expand beyond what the camera could show • Was one of the first directors/choreographers to show the “Magic” of movies • Married six times but lived to the ripe ole’ age of 80

21. Busby in Action! • Clip By a Waterfall

22. Cole Porter • Filthy-Rich or “Rich-Rich” as he liked to say • Born into a rich family in Peru, Indiana and given a considerable inheritance though often endangered this financial stability by defying his parents and grandparents by pursuing a musical education • Attended Yale and wrote the school fight song while there • After a brief stint writing for Broadway went to France where he served in the Foreign Legion • He wrote a lot of French songs while there and also met Linda Lee Thomas, considered to be the most beautiful women in Europe. • They marry but the unusual thing is that they were both homosexuals. • Though deeply in love Linda overlooked the affairs as long as the men in Cole’s life were “well-mannered.”

23. I. Berlin Brings Cole Back • Porter and Thomas lived a lavish life in Europe • Irving Berlin needed Cole Porter though because Berlin wanted to marry Ellin Mackay. Her father disapproving of Berlin used to date Linda Lee Thomas (now Linda Porter). • Linda Porter got Mr. Mackay to agree to Berlin marrying his daughter • Berlin than recommends Porter to write the latest Broadway musical Paris and it immediately is succesful

24. Porter and Sex • Porter makes Sex safe for 1930s Broadway • Though subtlety was not his thing, he wrote songs titled: “Let’s Do It,” “Love for Sale” “Gay Divorce,” and one of his biggest hits “Anything Goes”

25. Porter • To Sum up he is the most successful composer-lyricist of the of the 1930s!

26. “You’re the Top” • Track by Cole Porter

27. We’re off to see the Wizard!

28. Background Info • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was a book written by L. Frank Baum written in 1899 and released in 1900. • It was adapted into a stage musical between 1902 and 1903 and was performed in the Grand Opera House of Chicago and the Majestic Theatre in New York. (Yes musical’s existed prior to Ziegfeld) • What is currently playing at the Majestic and has been since 1988?

29. Plot • You guys tell me!

30. Characters

31. Awards • Ranked in the 10 best movies of all time • The most watched film in history • Only three oscars in 1939 • Best Score and Best Song “Over the Rainbow” • Best Juvenille Actor Award to Judy Garland, the only one of her career • The competition was stiff though....Gone With the Wind also was released in 1939

32. Special Effects for 1939 • Technicolor!! – The original story had Dorothy wearing silver slippers but Ruby Red translated better to Technicolor • Technicolor also required a lot of LIGHTS!! The Set regularly rose to over 100 degrees....no AC! • Costuming and sets were nearly unbelievable for the time and a pain for the actors • Jack Haley received an eye infection from his make-up and was toxic if ingested • The cast was often told they could not eat in make-up though they would be in make-up from 5am to 8pm • Margaret Hamilton had a liquid diet because she could not eat in make-up due toxic consequences • It took 12 months to teach Toto how to run along side the characters • Fire on set....Margaret Hamilton suffered severe burns in an accidental malfunction of a trap door in her 2nd take on the Escape from Munchkinland

33. Casting Issues • Buddy Ebsen was severely hospitalized in an iron lung due to the Tin Man make-up. He was re-cast by Jack Haley. Its okay, he later went on to play Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies • W.C. Fields was originally cast as the Wizard but was later recast due to his inability to negotiate a contract • Gale Sondergaard was originally cast as the Wicked Witch but turned down the part three days prior to shooting due to the role changing from a sly and beautiful witch to one more indicative of The Wicked Witch from Snow White. Margaret Hamilton was then given the role

34. Judy Garland • Born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 1922 • Her parents were vaudeville theater owners and managed the act entitled the “Gumm Sisters” later changed to the “Garland Sisters” through 1935 on vaudeville and the screen • Judy was signed to MGM studios at the age of 13. At this point she was considered too old to be a child star and too young to be a leading lady • Very self-conscious about her appearance as she went to school with Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, and Elizabeth Taylor...beauties of the age. • She was referred to be MGM executives as their “little hunchback.” • To keep up with the frantic pace of Hollywood young stars like Garland were given amphetamines and barbiturates before bed...this later led to addiction • She was cast in the Wizard of Oz at the age of 16 beating out Shirley Temple for the role as 20th Century Fox was unwilling to loan Temple to MGM • Remember the costuming issues....well they had to make her look younger and had her wear corsets and fabrics that would hide her curves.

35. Later Career • Between 1940-1947 Garland appeared in eight more movies making the transition from child star to film actress • Following her time with MGM she later went on to be a major recording artist, touring singer, and even had a TV series. • Throughout this time she constantly wrestled with drug addiction and unhappy marriages • Garland died in 1969 at the age of 47 from an accidental drug overdose though she was also suffering from cirrhosis of the liver at the time • She had appeared in over 41 movies, 7 television series, and 16 concerts • Her daughter, Liza Minnelli (64), gives the Garland family the distinction as the only film family to have all won academy awards. Her father won for best director (Gigi), her mother for best juvenile actress (Wizard of Oz), Liza won for best actress (Cabaret).

37. Ray Bolger (Scarecrow/Hunk) • Born in 1904 in Dorchester, Massachusetts • In this suburb of Boston he was inspired by the many Vaudeville shows he saw and became a vaudeville entertainer • Mr. Riley grew up only an hour a way from where he was born.

38. Career • Signed by MGM in 1936 from Vaudeville and Broadway. He was definitely a triple threat due to his ability to sing, act, and dance. • Appeared in 3 other movies prior to the Wizard of Oz including the first MGM movie in technicolor (Sweethearts) with future Oz co-star Frank Morgan – Professor Marvel/Wizard of Oz • Contract with MGM lasted until 1946 in which he then signed with RKO productions where he had a long and fairly successful television career as a guest star and also Broadway entertainer where he won a Tony for Best Leading Actor in the musical Where’s Charlie? • Stayed great friends with Margaret Hamilton and even gave the eulogy at her funeral

40. Margaret Hamilton • Born in 1902 in Cleveland, Ohio • She was drawn to acting at a very early age • Became a teacher first but soon turned exclusively to acting • Always had a life-long love for children • Her appearance was in stark contrast to the typical Hollywood glamour girl

41. Career • She never signed herself to any one studio • She charged $1000 a week for her services • She worked as much as possible to support her and her one son • Prior to The Wizard of Oz she was cast primarily as a plain character actress who would be more of the intolerant grandmother character on screen

42. Wicked Witch • Producers actually cut some of the scenes from the movie as they were deemed too wicked for children to see • Hamilton often worried about her part and the effect it had on children...after all she loves children • Appeared on episodes of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood after filming to speak with children about how make-up defines the witch and that isn’t who she really was.

43. Later Career • Had 39 principal stage roles in theater including Showboat (1966 Lincoln Center Revival) and Oklahoma! • Produced 3 stage productions • Appeared in 3 major tours including “Annie Get Your Gun” • Had consistent TV appearances after Oz from What’s My Line? to The Addams’ Family, to As the World Turns. • Spokeswoman for Maxwell House Coffee • Served on the Beverly Hills Board of Education • Passed away of a heart attack in 1985

45. Oz Through the Ages • The Wizard of Oz has been a timeless story that has effected all generations of stage and screen throughout the last century. • Recently Oz has come back to Broadway in the form of a spin-off story/prologue of L. Frank Baum’s book. • Wicked: The Life and Times of The Wicked Witch of the West by Greogory Maguire has become one of the best known book musicals of the 21st century and has brought the land of Oz back to the stage via Wicked for a new generation to appreciate!

46. Wicked • Music and Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz • Book/Libretto: Winnie Holzman • Basis: Gregory Maguire’s Novel • Currently the 18th longest running musical in Broadway • Nominated for 10 Tony’s and won three in 2004 for Best Actress, Scenic Design, Costume Design

47. Synopsis: Courtesy Wikipedia • Wicked explores the concept that the Wicked Witch of the West, here known as Elphaba, was a misunderstood, victimized person whose behavior was merely a reaction against a charlatan wizard's corrupt government. It also shows her relationship with the beautiful and ambitious Galinda Upland, who ultimately becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the North. Through the show, their friendship struggles to endure extreme personality conflicts, opposing viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, and Elphaba's eventual fall from grace.

48. Music: Defying Gravity • In Wicked, the song is the finale for the show's first act, when Elphaba discovers that The Wizard of Oz is not the heroic figure she had originally believed him to be. Realizing this, and despite Glinda's attempts to dissuade her, Elphaba vows to do everything in her power to fight the Wizard and his sinister plans against the Animals of Oz. She sings of how she wants to live without limits, going against the rules that others have set for her. During the song, Elphaba enchants a broomstick to levitate and, pursued by the Wizard's guards, rises from the stage above the angered citizens of Oz, who try in vain to "bring her down."

49. Where are we going from here?! • Not too far quite honestly • However the glory days of Hollywood are coming to an end and the nation’s economy are starting to turn for the better again. • The time period now is 1940 through 1960 • WWII is about to break out and American sentiment is going to return to New York City and bring about the 2nd Golden Age of Broadway • Musicals to be discussed will include: - Oklahoma! The Music Man, West Side Story