Intro to Theatre Final ReviewDiagrams:Musicals & Broadway Today:The Musical is the only major unique contribution that America had to word theatre.Minstrel Shows – Big contribution to American TheatreThe Black Crook (1866) – Took place at Niblo’s Garden Theatre, The very first musical that happened by accident, the Parisian Ballerina dancers were stranded after a fire destroyed NY elegant Academy of Music.Dancers + Faust + Lavish Spectacle = First MusicalOperas – Entirely sung through; Ex: Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tuttle, the Marriage of FigaroOperettas – Performed by singers who act; Gilbert & Sullivan – The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, etc.Burlesque – influential through Ziegfeld’s Follies; glorification of female body and female form, Lydia Thompson and the British BlondesMusicals – Performed by actors who sing; Rogers and Hammerstein – The King and I, The Sound of Music, etc.Integrated/Book Musical – emphasis on plot and character; songs all enhance plot or character development; often end happily. Example: Oklahoma! By Rogers & Hammerstein or West Side Story Concept/Fragmented Musical – Themes and ideas are primary; characters and plot is developed as much as needed; dark musicals, dark endings. Example: HairDavid Merrick – The “Abominable Showman” One of the most important historical Broadway Producer, hugely successful in the 40’s – 80’s, one every Tony Award even special Tony Awards, produced Hello Dolly!, Gypsy, 42nd Street. One of the most hated people on Broadway, known for his publicity stunts. Subways are for Sleeping- he located 7 people in NY that had the same name as the musical critics and tried to publish this ad, only one newspaper published it for one day but it let the show run for 6 months. When 42nd Street opened, Merrick told the audience that the director died after the show even though the girlfriend didn’t know.Cameron Mackintosh – Broadway producer that produced Les Miserable, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Cats, Mary Poppins. Succeeded Merrick. Produced big shows, originally British, he produced many popular shows with staying power and spectacle but also produced many flopsOther Famous Broadway Producers – Oprah/Harpo (The Color Purple), Disney (Lion King), New Line Cinema (Hairspray), Universal Pictures (Wicked)All taken place in NYC, in Manhattan, between 5th & 9th Avenues and 34th-56th Streets.Off-Broadway – Birthplace of many great plays and musicals, 8/9 of the last Pulitzer Prize Winning plays began here. It allows Art, Intimate Shows, and Experimentation. Ex: UrineTown (girls in show complains about the name), Avenue Q and Blue Man Group started off there, The Fantasticks, RentActors that started on Off-Broadway: Alec Baldwin, Kevin Bacon, Morgan Freeman, Meryl Streep, Kathy Bates Rip Torn, Stockard Channing, Felicity Huffman, James Earl Jones.Broadway – 500 seats or moreOff-Broadway – 100-499 SeatsOff-Off Broadway – 99 seats or lessStage Combat (Extra Credit):The Rules:1. Safety First (the most sacred of the rules) – combat is dangerous; actors have been hurt/killed. Choreograph each move carefully. Slap is the most dangerous move to do on stage. Get close but must pass the face, nose, eyes. More actors have been wounded getting slapped than anything else.2. Good Partnering – evenly matched in skills and strength and can work well together on stage. Ex: no left with right handed. One person may need to compensate3. Create the ILLUSION of violence – anything that happens on stage is not supposed to be real, but audience is supposed to be able to believe it.The Purpose:1. Tells A Story – has to make sense, be logical, and build in the conflict where violence is the only answer.2. Have a logical physical dialogue – escalates gradually, not flip guy off then punch to face. Has to build up. Pushes plot development3. Support the conflict – by finding way to continue develop character and plot and doesn’t deviate from world of the play, reinforce and escalate the conflictWeapons: Certified by American Society of Fight Directors, Unarmed, broadsword, quarterstaff, rapier & dagger, sword & shield, smallsword, knife, firearms (never point gun at the audience)The Process: (Acting)Intentions & Maintaing the IllusionSound (knap, voice)ReactionVocals and Sound effects Acting & Directing:Julie Taymor - first female director to make her mark on Broadway; directed Lion King on Broadway; first woman to win a Tony Award for directingLoyd Richards – major director for the American stage, most famous for all of the productions of the August Wilson plays; directed 6 out of the 10 plays from Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycleDirectingEmerged in the 1800’sRichard Wagner (1823 – 83) – Gesamtkunstwerk meaning complete or total art work; came up with the idea of the master artist whose ideas will be shown and that controls every single aspect of the production that will write, direct, design the piece, choreograph the dance and choose the music3Two different Innovations for the audience to pay attention to his ideas on stage1. Fan-Shaped Auditorium – built it to redirect people’s attention to what’s on stage, got rid of the box seats whose purpose was to show higher class and for other people to see them. Democratic way of sitting that ideally let everyone have a good seat to see the show2. Darkened Auditorium - refocus everyone’s attention to the stage itself, people couldn’t see other people in the audience so they had to pay attention to the stageGeorg II – Duke of Saxe Meiningen; very first director that had the unified work in mind; lot of money and time; most famous for his crowd scenes that were enormous and very intricate, would work with each individual person so they would stand out from the crowd to mirror or emulate real life.Innovations1. 3-D sets – made actors part of the set and walk among the set pieces2. Acting styles – made actors talk to each other instead of talk to the audience so it would forward the character. Important innovation in directing and acting historyPrimary Goals of Directing 1. Unification2. InterpretationZeffirelli’s Romeo & Juliet is very worshipful and to the text while Luhrmann’s R & J doesn’t honor the text, highlights a very specific idea in the text of a heightened passion, reinterprets the text (Heretical).Blocking – where actors are going to move, big part of director’s job.Tech – rehearsals with designs, costumes, technology,