American Musical

As we all know America has evolved very quickly throughout this last century, and one way to see this is through American Musicals. As we watch the musicals change throughout the decades, we watch America grow not only larger but together. We watch America go from racist musicals such as The Black Crook by Charles M. Barras in 1866 to the Musicals of the modern times that incorporate a variety of cultures. Traditions that American Musicals follow include the following: music, choreography, a script (set storyline). In these musicals you can watch how elements such as war, music, and trends in not just clothes but ethics impact these musicals. For an example: The Cabaret was originally written in 1951, but we can watch how the evolution of sex impacts this musical in 1972. There were several songs and scenes cut from the original musical to appeal to the audience of the 1970's.

In the image above you can see how African-Americans were depicted in history. The Black Crook it's obvious just by the title that when this play was written there was no concern about how offensive this is.

This image from the 2008 musical Memphis obviously deals with race in another light. It looks from the picture that race is not as much of a concern as it use to be.

DID YOU KNOW?
1. The Black Crook is the first know American Musical.
2. Most people think that is something is on broadway then it must be a musical, truth be told this is not true. There are many "straight plays". 

Works Cited 

 

information:

http://www.musicals101.com/1860to79.htm
baltimore21201.typepad.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068327/trivia
mith.umd.edu

 

photos:

www.thelmagazine.com
www.broadway.tv