Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
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CHAPTER II<br />
MUSICAL THEATRE HISTORY: 1890-SHOW BOAT (1927)<br />
Musical theatre has always been a part <strong>of</strong> the American experience according to<br />
historian Julian Mates. He described it as “both indigenous and our oldest theatre tradi-<br />
tion.” 1 <strong>The</strong> Black Crook (1866) is <strong>of</strong>ten cited as the first American musical drama. A<br />
serendipitous collaboration between an acting company displaced by a theater fire and a<br />
stranded French ballet troupe, this production provided an original form <strong>of</strong> spectacle to a<br />
mid-Victorian era audience. Although technically a melodrama with dance interludes,<br />
<strong>The</strong> Black Crook should be granted the distinction as the first “modern” American<br />
musical, based upon its long New York City run and popular cross-country tours that<br />
spanned several decades. Edith Bor<strong>of</strong>f, however, identifies twenty-eight different<br />
opinions in her article, “Origin <strong>of</strong> the Species: Conflicting Views <strong>of</strong> American Musical<br />
<strong>The</strong>ater History.” 2 <strong>The</strong> musical strands between 1890 and 1930 that eventually coalesced<br />
into the integrated book musical <strong>of</strong> twentieth-century American theatre include European<br />
and American operetta, melodrama, minstrel shows, vaudeville, music revues, musical<br />
comedy, and Tin Pan Alley popular songs with their seductive rhythms <strong>of</strong> ragtime and<br />
jazz. A brief background <strong>of</strong> each <strong>of</strong> these influences on American entertainment should<br />
Press, 1985), 4.<br />
1 America’s Musical Stage: Two Hundred Years <strong>of</strong> Musical <strong>The</strong>atre (Westport CT: Greenwood<br />
2<br />
American Music 2/4 (winter 1984): 101-108.<br />
15