For me, musical theater is like a banana split: the core ingredient, a well planned storyline, is smothered with great theatrical elements (such as lighing, performance, and set design), dancing, and, of course, music. Music is especially important: without it there would be a banana split without bananas. And that is just plain boring.
Musical Theater is an art combining all arts into one beautiful picture and story that can entertain, inspire and touch. It combines music, speaking, dance, lighting, humor, emotion, and stories that are sweeter to experience than even the best banana split. Musical theater dates back to the 5th century BC, when Greeks began to incorporate music into their acting. Since then, the stage has exploded with life, love, and pursuit of excellence.
For instance, a few months ago I had the privalege to see Wicked at the Pantageous Theater in Hollywood, CA. The use of all elements mentioned above was outstanding - from the lighting and stage design to the overwhelmingly great quality of music. I thoroghly enjoyed it! Let my highlight a few of the main things that stood out to me.
As one of the most modern Musicals out today, Wicked includes jazzy styles with dissonance and unfamilliarities to heighten the moods and effects upon the audience. Songs like "No Good Deed" and "Defying Gravity" contrast greatly with the softer, heart-wrenching melodies of "I'm not that Girl" and "For Good." Wicked took the modern style of music to a higher level, making unusual chord progressions into a beautiful creation.
Lighting was definitely used to the highest possible degree in this outstanding musical. The scene at the Emerald City blazed with green, almost too bright in the audience's face until our eyes adjusted... portraying the overwhelming nature of the city itself. On scenes like "Defying Gravity" however, the multi-colored spot lights reflecting off the fog set the mood of an out-of-the-ordinary but definite deciding moment. Certainly, lighting changes mood and sets the tone for an audience not unlike different colors do to a painting.
Much of what we learn and understand comes from what we see and experience, and not simply hear. Costumes and set design are two more ways to set a mood. For example, at first Elphaba, the main character, is dressed in a plain, humble outfit, but after about the first half of the show she adds more dramatic makeup and darker, more sophisticated attire that changes her look from innocent to more worldly wise. On set, the simplicitly of the clock gears as well as their constant presence throught the musical, provide the sence of time passing and forcing the characters to grow up and see the world for the wretched unfairness it really is, all the while, continuing to be constant throughout the growing process. In fact, the only thing that seems to continue no matter what the circumstances is the fact that time never stops moving forward.
Obviously, from even these few examples, one can see that musical theater is a complicated mixture of all forms of art, most of which portray meaning without words. However, the deciding factor of musical theater is the music itself. Music has a way of changing the way a person feels without even trying, though not only what one hears but also what he feels and associates with the sounds. Music is the core ingredient of musical theater, like bananas on a banana split. It is the part that an audience will go away humming, and will remember long after the story and other elements have faded from memory.
Boy, I feel like I just rambled... bottom line: Music is amazing... and so are banana splits!
P.S. If you get the opportunity, I strongly recommend going to see Wicked. The production is closing at the beginning of the year - so there isn't much time. For more info, visit:
http://musicals.temlynwriting.com/wicked/los-angeles-production-of-wicked-closing-in-january-2009/#more-237
http://dreamcatchercalendars.com/blog/2008/09/16/wicked-broadways-hit-musical-at-the-pantages-theatre/
http://www.squidoo.com/wicked-the-musical
