Let's put on a musical!
High School Musical
The award-winning American television film High School Musical is exactly what it says on the tin. Produced by the Disney Channel, it is a musical set in a high school, and on its release in January 2006, it became the inspiration for senior schools everywhere to perform musicals.
Because of its massive success all over the world, a television sequel, High School Musical 2, was made a year later. The series really hit the big time when the third instalment, High School Musical 3, bypassed television and went straight to worldwide cinema release.
The High School Musical phenomenon has made teenagers everywhere more interested in stage and film musicals.
Musical power
Musicals are theatre plays that use music, song and dance to tell their story. Sometimes musicals include some spoken dialogue but often there is no spoken dialogue at all. Like in an opera, all the characters sing rather than speak. Musicals are performed in theatres all over the world.
Famous musicals often begin their lives as big-budget productions in the West End of London or on Broadway in New York. Sometimes these productions tour cities all over the world. Musicals are also produced on a smaller scale by amateur groups in schools and small community theatres.
If a musical is popular in the theatre, it is often made into a movie. The hit movie Mamma Mia! began as a theatre show in London in 1995 and the DVD is expected to become the biggest-selling DVD of all time. Someone somewhere must like musicals.
A musical master
Andrew Lloyd Webber is the most successful writer of theatre musicals today. He started composing when he was six years old and published his first piece of music when he was nine. Since the late 1960s, Lloyd Webber has achieved great success with his musicals, many of which have run in theatres in London and New York for more than 10 years.
His first hit was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which he originally wrote for a school choir. Lloyd Webber's first theatre hit was Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), which was followed by Evita (1976), Cats (1981), Starlight Express (1986), Phantom of the Opera (1986) and Sunset Boulevard (1993).
Musical material
The stories of musicals are sometimes original, but often musicals are adapted from novels (Wicked), dramas (Chicago), poems (Cats), historical events (Evita) or films (Hairspray).
Look at these statements about famous musicals and decide whether they are True or False.
1 The world's longest-running musical is Les Miserables.
2 Madonna starred in the film version of Evita.
3 Phantom of the Opera is still running in a theatre in London.
4 West Side Story is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
5 Chicago was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
6 Wicked is a current hit musical in London, New York and Sydney.
7 Cats was adapted from a novel.
8 Phantom of the Opera has not been turned into a movie.
now do this
Finish these sentences
1 If something is 'what it says on the tin', it is ...
a. exactly what it says in the title.
b. the opposite of what the title tells you.
2 What is a 'sequel'?
a. a book, film or play that continues an earlier story.
b. the last one in a series.
3 What does the verb 'to bypass' mean?
a. to move in a backwards direction
b. to avoid something by going around it
True or False?
4 Musicals never include spoken dialogue.
5 The musical Mamma Mia! is an original film musical.
6 A musical is a type of modern, popular opera.
7 Broadway is the theatre district in London.
8 Amateur drama groups seldom produce musicals.
Watch the DVD of Evita, Cats, Phantom of the Opera or Chicago and write a short review about what you think of it.
Answers:
Musical material: 1. T, 2. T, 3. T, 4. T, 5. F, 6. T, 7. F, 8. F
Now do this: 1. a, 2. a, 3. b, 4. F, 5. F, 6. T, 7. F, 8. F
