AM+Musicals+Assignment

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.

As discussed in class, theater, as a whole, is a risky business venture. Starting from the creation of an idea all the way to production, a production is always at risk of losing funding. When looking at musical theatre, specifically, it is sometimes hard to say what makes some succeed while others fail. The reason for this is that there are an infinite amount of genres within musical theatre. However, from the evidence we've been provided, I would say that one characteristic of a successful musical is an original or new take on an idea. An example of this is //Avenue Q.// This musical breaks the sort of traditional mold of broadway and introduces puppets as a means of teaching adult life lessons. This musical proved to be quite successful, evening winning the Tony award for musical of the year. Another important characteristic is the ability to keep an audience entertained. //Wicked// is a good example of this. It takes an old musical, //The Wizard of Oz,// and puts a new spin on it by looking from the view point of the wicked witch of the west. This musical has proven successful with audiences, but has yet to be recognized by the Tony awards for its music or the play itself.