THE AMERICAN MUSICAL

While operetta in America was a European import, what we now call Musical Theatre was born here. In the early part of the twentieth century, operetta, which usually had romantic stories with happy endings, existed side-by-side with lighter musical comedies which were little more than vehicles for a sequence of songs and had little plot. Both were designed purely for entertainment and there was no interest in portraying meaningful social issues.

All this changed in 1927 when Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein produced Showboat. It introduced songs such as Ol' Man River and Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man, which dealt with racial prejudice and unhappy marriages. It was also one of the first attempts to integrate plot, music and choreography into a cohesive whole. This production marked the virtual end of new "traditional operettas" in America.

The 1930s brought works such as Cole Porter's Anything Goes, Gershwin's almost operatic Porgy and Bess, and Rodgers's On Your Toes which incorporated classical dance.

The next milestone in the development of musical theatre was Oklahoma (1943). This too integrated both comedy and social issues. It used real ballet choreographed by the already famous Agnes de Mille and danced by classically trained dancers. Another innovation was its quiet opening with Aunt Eller followed by Curley's solo Oh What a Beautiful Mornin' rather than the traditional big opening production number. It was so unusual that Rodgers and Hammerstein did not anticipate its great success (there were unsold seats for the first performance), but it ran for five uninterrupted years, the first few during World War II. American musical theatre would never be the same. It set the standard for the next sixteen years with shows such as Annie Get Your Gun (Irving Berlin, 1946), My Fair Lady (Lerner and Lowe, 1956), Candide (Bernstein, 1956), West Side Story (Bernstein, 1957) and culminated in The Sound of Music (Rodgers, 1959). Then it was time for still a new era in the American musical.

The sixties brought rock musicals such as Hair (MacDermot, 1968) and bigger, brassier shows with gritty themes high tech special effects and enhanced amplification. These included Jesus Christ Superstar (Webber, 1971), A Chorus Line (Hamlisch, 1975), Grease (Jacobs and Casey 1978) and, the longest running of all, Cats (Webber, 1981). However, musicals such as those of the forties and later such as The King and I (Rodgers, 1951), Man of La Mancha (Leigh, 1965), Fiddler on the Roof (Bock, 1971) and A Little Night Music (Sondheim, 1973), have continued to be produced.

What is the situation today? In a recent, controversial article The Great Gray Way, subtitled The American Musical is Dead (Opera News, August 2005) the composer Michael John LaChiusa takes a critical look at Broadway today and the 'demise' of the American Musical. He calls most of the present crop of shows faux-musicals, imitations of the real thing, citing in particular The Producers and Hairspray which he claims are based on formulas. They fool the eye and ear into believing they are great musicals when they are synthetic and more theatricality than genuine theatre. He admits they are enormously successful having been created to be poplar rather than artistic and original. The librettos are weak as though the writers consider them unimportant. Even Rent, based on Puccini's La bohème, while the real thing as drama is weak choreography. He also describes "jukebox musicals" such as Mama Mia as mere vehicles for preexisting songs set in thin librettos. The ultimate in escape fare, audiences love them. He also mentions the increased use of pre-taped music instead of live orchestras.

Nevertheless, such musical shows draw large, enthusiastic audiences. What is in the future for them? Only time will tell. Whatever one may think about the musicals on Broadway today, 'traditional' operetta and musical theatre is alive and well today in America. Dozens of companies such as Lyric Opera San Diego continue to produce the old favorites from opera, operetta and musical theatre which will never die.