JHMusical

Much has been made of the popularity of musical theatre. Given the readings, the evidence from the DVD and that of the youtube examples, discuss why some musicals succeed and others seem to fail. Use examples to support your opinions.

Musicals are judged as successes or failures by how well they fare at the bank and how well they fare at garnering awards, most importantly Tonys. Producers and critics speculate about the success of musicals in each of these arenas, but many uncontrollable factors influence how successful the shows actually are. Producers would not back a show that they did not think would succeed, but sometimes they pick the wrong ones, which are dropped from the stage before their days. As seen in Show Business, the Tony Awards night is pivotal for the musicals up for nomination, with a win or loss in choice categories determining the commercial future of the show and its employees. Sleepers that win are likely to see an increase in audience size; those that are already commercially and critically successful will experience a boom in popularity as the people who wanted to see the show now have to see the show, for example The Book of Mormon's 2011 Musical Sweep.

Though musicals are often viewed as light entertainment when compared with plays, they too offer social commentary and reflect times. Avenue Q, the dark horse of 2004, was not the most commercially successful. It went on to win Best Book, Best Score, and Best Musical, thus ensuring financial success in the future. It struck a chord with an audience who could identify with the lives of the characters and provided audience members a comedic escape from their sucky lives. Avenue Q came to be a surprise critical success. Wicked, a huge commercial success from the start, is likely to be one of the highest grossing musicals of all time. It also won three Tonys of its own, including Best Actress in a Musical for Idina Menzel. With its themes of choice and superficiality, Wicked struck a chord with young and old audiences alike. In addition, the show's fantastic design elements, from scenery to costumes, allowed audiences to escape the world from which they live in, but also shows that the cast of characters faces the same problems. Taboo was neither commercially nor critically that successful on Broadway. It just was not that well recieved: a semi-fictional, semi-autobiographical glossed over musical centered near the rise to fame of Boy George and what happened next-many lends itself to a very limited audience. Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change was critically acclaimed, though it did not fare that well at the Tonys, taking home only Best Featured Actress for Anika Noni Rose. Though it had a beautiful score composed by Jeanine Tesori, it may have been too rolling and too much of a commentary of the social economics in 1960s Louisiana for general audiences to appreciate. With a focus on an exhausted black maid working for a Jewish family in a time of segregation, Kushner's approach kept Broadway audiences at a distance. It is the salience of the story and quality of production that determines a musical's success. Also of importance is the creative team: the playwrights, lyricists, composers,

The musicals mentioned in the text are all successes on some level. Susan Stroman's Contact was a huge success at the Tonys. The play, a compilation of three one-act dances, is mainly about human contact and love. This reflects on the audience's need to feel a connection with the story. The simplicity of Contact's plot led audiences to the show. The Lion King was brought to the stage with direction by the ever creative Julie Taymor, who took the animation of Disney and translated it into stunning puppetry and mask work. The popularity of the movie ensured that the play would be a commercial success, especially since the audience for the show is families and children. It's design aspects were critically successful. Even if the critics had not recognized Lion King, audiences still would have poured out to see it, though in smaller numbers because of its name recognition. Rent has been an extremely popular show. Though the themes may be directed toward a limited audience, the it was salient and had a catchy score, not to mention a great cast, all of which helped it to win the Tony for Best Musical. Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk, like Contact, is more of a Concept musical and fared OK critically and commercially. Told through dance and and video, the story is an autobiographical collection of the performers' experiences being black in the US. It was well received by critics, but has shown only a short-lived popularity among theatergoers. Cabaret was a huge success depicting the sleaze of Berlin's Kit Kat Club during the rise of Nazism in Germany. Audiences appreciate the wit of Kander and Ebb and probably enjoyed a new look at pre-war Germany. Also a critical success, it took home Tonys for Best Score and Musical, and then some. West Side Story is one of the seminal works of musical theatre. Based on the timeless classic Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and with names such as Laurents, Bernstein, and Sondheim, it was sure to be a hit. Critically and commercially it did succeed, noted in the fact that the show is almost universally known in the US. Its updated story focused on gang wars in New York, an issue that continues to be relevant, even today. The full integration of story and song in Rodgers and Hammerstien's Oklahoma! proved to be a success. As one of the first book musicals, Oklahoma! treated audiences to a show with sings pertinent to the story. Its relatable story keeps audiences coming back and the money rolling in.

Overall the success or failure of a musical is up in the air. While producers back shows that they think are sure successes, theatergoer disinterest can lead to failure. Even if a show is critically acclaimed, it will not be a commercial success unless it appeals enough to general theatergoers that they will come to see it. A great musical is nothing if people do not see it. Producers can attempt to calculate the success of their shows but the fickleness some audiences and the near obsession of others will always be a wrench in the works.