Concept musical
Encyclopedia
A 'concept musical' is a musical
where the show's metaphor or statement is more important than the actual narrative. Concept musicals have their roots in the plays with music Bertolt Brecht
wrote with Kurt Weill
and other composers. They were introduced to Broadway in the 1940s, but first flourished in the late 1960s, and became more popular in the 1970s, a trend that was set off by Hair
.
There are three major contenders for the title of first concept (even though the term "concept musical" hadn't been coined when any of them played): Lady in the Dark
(1941) by Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin
, and Moss Hart
, Allegro
(1947) by Rodgers
and Hammerstein
, and Love Life (1948) by Weill and Alan Jay Lerner
.
It is a term first coined by Martin Gottfried in the New Yorker magazine to describe a show which is "theatrical and pictorial" rather than narratively intellectual.
Concept musicals began to emerge as a significant form in the early 1960s, because their fragmented approach to storytelling helped revitalize a musical theatre that was becoming formulaic and, in some people's view, stale. Both The Fantasticks and Stop the World--I Want to Get Off were influential concept musicals in 1961. It is commonly thought that the 1966 Broadway hit Cabaret
, written by John Kander
and Fred Ebb
and directed by Harold Prince, is a "concept musical" because of its structure, where the songs comment on the action within the narrative frame of the Kit Kat Klub. Removed from the story, these songs become effectively 'commentary' in the style of Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill
's The Threepenny Opera
, but about half of the songs are traditional "book songs" like "Perfectly Marvelous" and "So What?" It can thus be said to be the intermediary between the book musical and the concept musical! The non-linear narrative structure of Hair, which opened Off-Broadway in 1967 and then on Broadway in 1968, makes it a full-fledged concept musical.
Other uses of the phrase have been applied to the intellectually challenging work of Stephen Sondheim
--especially Company
, with its fragmented, non-linear narrative approach. Yet as John Bush Jones has pointed out, this cannot truly be the case. As Gottfried insisted that aesthetic principles and "theatricality" take precedence as "the concept" of the work, then the intellectual rigour and socially aware narratives of Sondheim's musicals such as Company
or Sunday in the Park with George
are narrative driven shows whose manner of presentation are all at once postmodern, self-referential, and challenging.
As Gottfried defined the term, it would be more applicable to works such as Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats
or Starlight Express
where the elaborate staging and concept of presentation determined many other production factors.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
where the show's metaphor or statement is more important than the actual narrative. Concept musicals have their roots in the plays with music Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
wrote with Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
and other composers. They were introduced to Broadway in the 1940s, but first flourished in the late 1960s, and became more popular in the 1970s, a trend that was set off by Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
.
There are three major contenders for the title of first concept (even though the term "concept musical" hadn't been coined when any of them played): Lady in the Dark
Lady in the Dark
Lady in the Dark is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine, Allure, who is undergoing psychoanalysis...
(1941) by Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
, and Moss Hart
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
, Allegro
Allegro (musical)
Allegro is a musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II , their third collaboration for the stage. Opening on Broadway on October 10, 1947, the musical centers on the life of Joseph Taylor, Jr.—Joe follows in the footsteps of his father as a doctor, but is tempted by fortune and fame at...
(1947) by Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
and Hammerstein
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
, and Love Life (1948) by Weill and Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...
.
It is a term first coined by Martin Gottfried in the New Yorker magazine to describe a show which is "theatrical and pictorial" rather than narratively intellectual.
Concept musicals began to emerge as a significant form in the early 1960s, because their fragmented approach to storytelling helped revitalize a musical theatre that was becoming formulaic and, in some people's view, stale. Both The Fantasticks and Stop the World--I Want to Get Off were influential concept musicals in 1961. It is commonly thought that the 1966 Broadway hit Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
, written by John Kander
John Kander
John Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Life and career:Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernice and Harold S. Kander...
and Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera....
and directed by Harold Prince, is a "concept musical" because of its structure, where the songs comment on the action within the narrative frame of the Kit Kat Klub. Removed from the story, these songs become effectively 'commentary' in the style of Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
, but about half of the songs are traditional "book songs" like "Perfectly Marvelous" and "So What?" It can thus be said to be the intermediary between the book musical and the concept musical! The non-linear narrative structure of Hair, which opened Off-Broadway in 1967 and then on Broadway in 1968, makes it a full-fledged concept musical.
Other uses of the phrase have been applied to the intellectually challenging work of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
--especially Company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
, with its fragmented, non-linear narrative approach. Yet as John Bush Jones has pointed out, this cannot truly be the case. As Gottfried insisted that aesthetic principles and "theatricality" take precedence as "the concept" of the work, then the intellectual rigour and socially aware narratives of Sondheim's musicals such as Company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
or Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat...
are narrative driven shows whose manner of presentation are all at once postmodern, self-referential, and challenging.
As Gottfried defined the term, it would be more applicable to works such as Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
or Starlight Express
Starlight Express
Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...
where the elaborate staging and concept of presentation determined many other production factors.