TSMS_musical

The Making of a Successful Musical Theresa Stratmann

 Producing a musical on Broadway is a major gamble. It’s extremely expensive and so you must be able to judge if your musical is in harmony with the mood of theatergoers and the general sentiment in the country. In class we studied the success of musicals through three different resources: a film on the production of four Broadway musicals, our textbook, and video excerpts of the various musicals our text discusses.

 In our book we learn that musicals began becoming a hit when music and dance numbers were used to further the plot of a play instead of being awkward interruptions to the flow of a play. //Oklahoma//! was the first musical to do so in 1943. Nowadays musicals have become an important, uniquely American aspect of theatre. New musicals are produced every year, some more successful than others. We gain insight into this yearly fight for success in the film “//Show Business//.”

 “//Show Business//” chronicles the production of four musicals: //Wicked//, //Avenue// //Q//, //Taboo//, and //Caroline, or Change//. The most enlightening part was listening to the critics discuss the musicals, especially the rivalry between //Wicked// and //Avenue Q//. The critics see //Wicked// as extremely likely to win a Tony Award for several reasons. First, it relates a familiar, much loved story, the //Wizard of Oz//, but puts a new exciting twist on it by examining this world from the point of view of the wicked witch of the west, Elfaba. It has elaborate costuming and set design to create a whole magical world of fantastical beings. It fully indulges our senses with catchy music and dance. There is nothing controversial about it, we can just sit back and enjoy. Most importantly, it can appeal to a wide range of audiences of all ages. These characteristics generally tend to make for a successful musical. The //Lion King//, discussed in the book, was successful for many of the same reasons – the familiar story, the broad base of appeal, the harmless plot, and the intense visual and auditory experience. //West Side Story// also gains success with an age-old story, this time that of Romeo and Juliet set in a modern day time of gang and cultural tension. //Lion King// takes a risk that //West Side Story// doesn’t, namely by using puppets and people simultaneously to create the visual experience, but the creative manner in which this was done added to its great success. It also incorporated elements from many different cultures (African, European, American) giving it a unique feel and broad appeal. //Avenue Q//, a pun on Sesame Street, also uses puppets and people in its production. Yet this production was more of a gamble than //Wicked// or the //Lion King//. //Avenue Q// is a musical about the problems we face as we become adults. With many adult topics in it like sex and racism, the audience base is shrunk to an older audience, although within that audience, widely relatable. The critics also make a point that the audience for which this play would be most appealing, young college graduates, is also the audience least likely to be able to afford to go to a Broadway play. Nonetheless //Avenue Q// ends up being more successful than //Wicked// at the Tony Awards. //Avenue Q// may have a narrower audience, but it is much more thought provoking, addressing struggles we all must go through in an extremely witty and original way. Like one of the people working on the musical said, the composers and playwright were able to take much worn themes and present them in a new, refreshing way, which is probably what impressed the Tony Awards committee. The critics ended up favoring //Avenue Q//, but audiences generally favor //Wicked// for its magical spectacle.

 //Taboo// and //Caroline, or Change//, although winning numerous awards, ended up being less successful than //Wicked// and //Avenue Q//. //Caroline, or Change// by Tony Kushner was atypical for a musical as it was. Its main characters are from two groups marginalized by society, the Jewish community and the African American community. The play is dark and depressing, really asking its audience members to examine the choices Caroline makes. Much more demanding of the audience, and less upbeat, it didn’t become that successful. //Taboo//, although not as dark, also has a smaller base of appeal. It deals with the musicians of the New Romanticism movement. A movement of the past, audience members would need to be a fan of the musicians of this time, especially Boy George, who as a gay man with very androgynous appearance is controversial for many people.

 By now the pattern is clear. A familiar story with a new twist, appeal to a broad audience, an elaborate production, and neutral subject matter has a high chance of being successful. Musicals that want to make the audience question think are more of a risk. If you can do it in a novel way, with much wit, and incorporation of a familiar story, like //Avenue Q// does, the musical can win the favor of critics, even if it is not as successful with audiences. The more controversial or dark a topic the musical deals with, the harder it is to gain success, because people still very much go to musicals for entertainment above all els e.