Rock musical

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A rock musical is a

Tommy and other rock operas
are sometimes presented on stage as a musical.

History

The first musical to hint at what was to come was the final

Bye Bye Birdie (1960), which included two rock and roll numbers.[2][3]

The rock musical became an important part of the musical theatre scene in the late 1960s with the hit show Hair. Styled "The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical," the anti-war free-love hippie-themed, nude-scened Hair premiered in 1967 as the first production staged at The Public Theater. It moved to Broadway in October 1968.[4] Your Own Thing also opened in 1968 and featured a gender-switching version of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

R&B and soul music
.

The rock musical saw a decline in popularity through the 1980s. Except for a few outposts of rock, like

Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, Mamma Mia! and Jersey Boys, which feature the songs of a popular band, performer or genre.[9]

The rock musical has seen a resurgence since the late 1990s, with shows by composers like

Passing Strange and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (both 2008), Rock of Ages and Next to Normal (both 2009), American Idiot (2010) [9] and Jagged Little Pill (2019).[10]

Analysis

In 2010, critic Jon Pareles of The New York Times pointed out that all four of the musicals nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical that year could be described as rock musicals. He analyzed the history and future of rock on Broadway:

Rock’s takeover of Broadway was not the revolution that had been feared – or anticipated – ever since Hair ... Broadway held out for many years as a bastion against youth culture. ... Rock’s Broadway invasion has been, instead, a lengthy campaign of attrition, via demographics, shifting tastes and musicians’ ambitions. Every few years another production [was] touted as finally bringing full-fledged rock to musical theater: Rent, Hedwig and the Angry Inch ... Spring Awakening. Very gradually rock musicians have stopped treating Broadway as an adversary – or a punch line. And for fans it has become one more entertainment option, as prices for arena shows reach Broadway levels.[9]

Pareles commented, "rock has been transformed from nemesis to novelty to mainstay. ... Broadway productions can’t match the visceral impact – starting with volume – of a rock concert. (They try to make up for it with enthusiasm and slicker dancing.)"

Passing Strange." Pareles also noted, "Broadway may be the final place in America, if not the known universe, where rock still registers as rebellious. In the decorous little jewel boxes that are Broadway’s theaters, raunch seems raunchier, and rock musicals flaunt four-letter words and lascivious simulations. ... There are, of course, commercial incentives. Broadway’s unbudgingly middle-aged audience is currently a generation that grew up on rock and R&B and generally feels more comfortable taking reserved seats in small theaters than plunging into the scrum of a standing-room club audience, or dealing with a rowdy arena mob."[9]

Pareles attributed some of the new acceptance of rock as theatre to American Idol and its ilk, noting that some of the show's stars have moved to theatre. Also, "Rock’s old protestations of authenticity (versus Broadway contrivance) have been crumbling. As if glam rock in the ’70s and music video in the ’80s weren’t obvious enough in presenting rock as theater, pop’s video-era arena spectacles use the same technology as Las Vegas revues and Broadway shows."[9] Another driver of rock's acceptance is its own entry into middle age, Pareles said, noting that "as rock’s history stretches out ever longer ... it offers just as much room for ... the familiarity and nostalgia that keep the jukebox musicals running.[9] Still, Pareles concluded, "the last, crucial thrill of a rock performance – the unpredictability – stays just beyond Broadway’s reach. Two nights after the official opening of American Idiot, Green Day itself played an unannounced encore. The show had poured on its razzle-dazzle. .... But Green Day set off pandemonium. ... Green Day’s members may not be able to act or execute choreography ... but they also hold rock’s wild card: the potential, realized or not, for spontaneity."[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wollman, p. 14
  2. ^ Ann-Margret, who starred in the movie version of Bye Bye Birdie, later starred in the movie version of Tommy
  3. ISBN 0-521-79639-3
    .
  4. ^ Kenrick, John. "History of the Musical Stage 1960s: III – Rock: 'The Age of Aquarius'", Musicals101, accessed May 11, 2009
  5. ^ a b c Kenrick, John. "The 1970s: Part I-Rock Musicals". History of The Musical Stage. Musicals 101. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  6. ^ Barnes, Clive (October 24, 1972). "Theater: Musical Pippin at Imperial". The New York Times. p. 37. It [Pippin] is a commonplace set to rock music
  7. ^ "O'Keefe's peppy and melodic pop-rock score is played by a five piece combo": Sommer, Elyse. Bat Boy, curtainup.com, based on March 22, 2001 performance, accessed May 11, 2009
  8. ^ Brasor, Philip, "A thumbnail history of the rock musical, March 9, 2006
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Pareles, Jon. "Broadway Rocks. Get Over It". The New York Times, May 12, 2010, accessed June 10, 2010
  10. ^ Paulson, Michael. "Jagged Little Pill to Close on Broadway, Citing Omicron", The New York Times, December 20, 2021

Further reading

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rock_musical&oldid=1198772090"