Chapter 8: Broadway and Musical Theater
Chapter 8 traces the development of American musical theater from revues to book musicals during the early 1900s. Broadway composers and lyricists integrated songs into dramatic stories, while performers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby helped preserve and popularize Broadway standards through recordings, radio, and film.
Important Terms
Operetta – A light opera that combines spoken dialogue, songs, and orchestral music, usually with a comedic story.
Revue – A theatrical production made up of songs, dances, and comedy sketches without a continuous storyline.
Book Musical – A musical in which songs, dialogue, and story work together to develop the plot and characters.
Broadway – The New York City theater district associated with large commercial stage productions.
Great American Songbook – A collection of popular American songs and standards from Broadway, Tin Pan Alley, film, and musical theater that have remained widely performed.
Composer – A person who writes the music for a song or musical.
Lyricist – A person who writes the words of a song.
Librettist – A writer who creates the spoken dialogue and dramatic structure of a musical or opera.
Libretto – The spoken dialogue and script of a musical or opera.
Tune Doctor – A musician hired to improve or revise an existing melody or harmony.
32-Bar AABA Form – A song structure consisting of four eight-measure sections arranged as A-A-B-A.
Rhythm Changes – The chord progression from "I Got Rhythm" that became a common harmonic pattern in jazz.
Contrafact – A new melody written over the chord progression of an existing song.
Glissando – A continuous slide between two musical notes.
Crooning – A soft, intimate vocal style made possible by microphone technology.
Microphone – A device that converts sound into electrical signals so it can be amplified or recorded.
Electric Recording – A recording process introduced in the 1920s that used microphones and electrical amplification instead of acoustic recording horns.
Standards – Popular songs that remain widely performed and recorded long after their original release.z
Golden Age of Broadway – The period from roughly the 1940s through the early 1960s when book musicals became Broadway's dominant form.
Artists Discussed
George Lederer – Producer who helped popularize the revue format.
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. – Producer of the Ziegfeld Follies.
Irving Berlin – Broadway composer and songwriter whose musicals and songs became American standards.
Jerome Kern – Composer whose work helped establish the book musical.
George Gershwin – Composer who combined jazz, Broadway, and classical music.
Ira Gershwin – Lyricist and longtime collaborator of George Gershwin.
Oscar Hammerstein II – Lyricist and librettist who collaborated with Jerome Kern and later Richard Rodgers.
Richard Rodgers – Composer who first partnered with Lorenz Hart and later Oscar Hammerstein II.
Lorenz Hart – Lyricist who collaborated with Richard Rodgers.
Cole Porter – Composer and lyricist known for witty lyrics and Broadway musicals.
Ella Fitzgerald – Jazz vocalist whose Songbook recordings preserved many Broadway standards.
Bing Crosby – Singer, actor, and pioneer of the crooning vocal style.
Songs Referenced
"Marie from Sunny Italy" – Irving Berlin
"Supper Time" – Irving Berlin
"There's No Business Like Show Business" – Irving Berlin
"Anything You Can Do" – Irving Berlin
"You're Just in Love" – Irving Berlin
"Yesterdays" – Jerome Kern
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" – Jerome Kern
"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" – Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II
"Ol' Man River" – Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II
"Swanee" – George Gershwin
"The Man I Love" – George & Ira Gershwin
"Strike Up the Band" – George & Ira Gershwin
"Embraceable You" – George & Ira Gershwin
"I Got Rhythm" – George & Ira Gershwin
"Summertime" – George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, & DuBose Heyward
"With a Song in My Heart" – Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
"My Funny Valentine" – Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
"Where or When" – Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
"People Will Say We're in Love" – Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
"Some Enchanted Evening" – Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
"Climb Ev'ry Mountain" – Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
"My Favorite Things" – Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
"Bulldog" – Cole Porter
"Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" – Cole Porter
"I've Got You Under My Skin" – Cole Porter
"Too Darn Hot" – Cole Porter
"Wunderbar" – Cole Porter
"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" – Ella Fitzgerald (adapted from a traditional nursery rhyme)
"Out of Nowhere" – Johnny Green & Edward Heyman (recorded by Bing Crosby)
"At Your Command" – Al Jolson, Harry Akst, and Grant Clarke (recorded by Bing Crosby)
"Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" – Bing Crosby, Roy Turk, & Fred E. Ahlert
"White Christmas" – Irving Berlin
"Anything Goes" – Cole Porter (title song from the musical Anything Goes)
Musicals
As Thousands Cheer
Annie Get Your Gun
Call Me Madam
Show Boat
Babes in Arms
Oklahoma!
Carousel
South Pacific
The King and I
The Sound of Music
Wake Up and Dream
Fifty Million Frenchmen
The Gay Divorce
Anything Goes
DuBarry Was a Lady
Kiss Me, Kate
The Poor Little Ritz Girl