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Megamusical
A megamusical (also known as a "spectacle show", "blockbuster musical", or "extravaganza") is a large-scale Musical theatre, musical produced for large commercial profit. Such musicals utilize spectacle and increased technology to "radicalize the imagistic potential of musical theatre." Early concepts of the megamusical came into existence in the 1970s, and the form was established and popularized in the 1980s by individuals such as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh. Megamusical is analogous to the film industry term "Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbuster". Notable megamusicals include ''Cats (musical), Cats'' (1981), ''Les Misérables (musical), Les Misérables'' (1985), ''The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical), The Phantom of the Opera'' (1986), ''The Lion King (musical), The Lion King'' (1997), ''Wicked (musical), Wicked'' (2003) and ''Hamilton (musical) , Hamilton'' (2015). Characteristics Megamusicals are known for their grand scale. They tend to be set in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concept Musical
A concept musical is a work of musical theatre with a libretto, book and score structured to develop and embody a theme (arts), theme or message, rather than convey a narrative plot (narrative), plot. The form was popularized by ''Man of La Mancha'' (1965), ''Cabaret (musical), Cabaret'' (1966), and ''Hair (musical), Hair'' (1967), with ''Company (musical), Company'' (1970) paving the way for bolder concept musicals. The careers of producer-director Harold Prince, composer Stephen Sondheim, and director-choreographer Bob Fosse are all closely associated with the genre. Definition The term 'concept musical' was influenced by the 1968 ''The New York Times, New York Times'' review of ''Zorba (musical), Zorba'' by critic Martin Gottfried. Referring to Harold Prince's direction rather than the show itself, Gottfried wrote: "Conception is the big word here - it is what is coming to replace the idea of a 'book'... there is even less room than in the usual musical [for story] because Pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cats (musical)
''Cats'' is a sung-through musical theater, musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is based on the 1939 poetry collection ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' by T. S. Eliot. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicle cats, Jellicles and the night they make the "Jellicle choice" by deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. As of 2024, ''Cats'' remains the List of the longest-running Broadway shows, fifth-longest-running Broadway show and the List of the longest-running West End shows, eighth-longest-running West End show. Lloyd Webber began setting Eliot's poems to music in 1977, and the compositions were first presented as a song cycle in 1980. Producer Cameron Mackintosh then recruited director Trevor Nunn and choreographer Gillian Lynne to turn the songs into a complete musical. ''Cats'' opened to positive reviews at the New London Theatre in the West End theatre, West End in 1981 and then to mixed revi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musical Theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the light opera works of Jacques Offenbach in France, Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and the works of Edward Harrigan, Harrigan and Tony Hart (theater), Hart in America. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recitative
Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines as formally composed songs do. It resembles sung ordinary speech more than a formal musical composition. Recitative can be distinguished on a continuum from more speech-like to more musically sung, with more sustained melodic lines. The mostly syllabic ''recitativo secco'' ("dry", accompanied only by Basso continuo, continuo, typically cello and harpsichord) is at one end of the spectrum, through ''recitativo accompagnato'' (using orchestra), the more melismatic arioso, and finally the full-blown aria or ensemble, where the pulse is entirely governed by the music. Secco recitatives can be more improvisatory and free for the singer, since the accompaniment is so sparse; in contrast, when recitative is accompanied by orchestra, the singer m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disney Theatrical Group
Buena Vista Theatrical Group Ltd., doing business as the Disney Theatrical Group, is the live show, stageplay and musical production arm of The Walt Disney Company. The company is led by Thomas Schumacher, Anne Quart, and Andrew Flatt, and is a division of Walt Disney Studios, forming a part of Disney Entertainment, one of the three major business segments of The Walt Disney Company. Background Starting in 1949, Ice Capades started adding Disney's segment to their performances. Costumes from those shows were used at the opening of Disneyland in 1955, with some performers hired away for Disney. With the characters a hit at the 1964 New York World's Fair, Walt Disney wanted another outlet for "live" characters. Disneyland put on ''Disney on Parade,'' a self-produced live arena show, starting in 1969. After several years, Card Walker shut down the show as it was not making enough profit. Soon after Mattel/ Feld Productions' 1979 purchased the Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evita (musical)
''Evita'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Politics of Argentina, Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and death. The musical began as a Evita (album), rock opera concept album released in 1976. Its success led to productions in London's West End theatre, West End in 1978, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical, and on Broadway theatre, Broadway a year later, where it was the first British musical to receive the Tony Award for Best Musical. This has been followed by a string of professional tours and worldwide productions and numerous cast albums, as well as a Evita (1996 film), 1996 film adaptation. The musical was revived in London's West End in 2006, 2014, 2017, and 2025, and on Broadway in 2012. Synopsis Act I On 26 July 1952, a crowd in a Buenos Aires, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', and '' Evita''; ''Chess'' (with Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA); '' Aida'' (with Elton John); and, for Disney, ''Aladdin'' (with Alan Menken), ''The Lion King'' (with John), both the stage adaptation of ''Beauty and the Beast'' and the live-action film adaption (with Menken). He also wrote lyrics for the Alan Menken musical ''King David'', and for DreamWorks Animation's ''The Road to El Dorado'' (with John). Rice was knighted by Elizabeth II for services to music in 1994. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is a 1999 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and is the 2023 recipient of its Johnny Mercer Award, is a Disney Legend recipient, and is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jesus Christ Superstar
''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with much of the plot centred on Judas Iscariot, Judas, who is dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus is steering his disciples. Contemporary attitudes, sensibilities and slang pervade the rock opera's lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the depiction of political events. Stage and film productions accordingly contain many intentional anachronisms. Initially unable to get backing for a stage production, the composers released it as a Jesus Christ Superstar (album), concept album, the success of which led to the show's Broadway theatre, Broadway on-stage debut in 1971. By 1980, the musical had grossed more than worldwide. Running for over eight years in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musicologist
Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, formal sciences and Computational musicology, computer science. Musicology is traditionally divided into three branches: music history, systematic musicology, and ethnomusicology. Historical musicologists study the history of musical traditions, the origins of works, and the biographies of composers. Ethnomusicologists draw from anthropology (particularly field research) to understand how and why people make music. Systematic musicology includes music theory, aesthetics, Music education, pedagogy, musical acoustics, the science and technology of Organology, musical instruments, and the musical implications of physiology, psychology, sociology, philosophy and computing. Cognitive musicology is the set of phenomena surrounding the cognitive m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bloomsbury Publishing
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in New York City, an India publishing office in New Delhi, an Australian sales office in Sydney CBD, and other publishing offices in the UK, including in Oxford. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company was founded in 1986 by Nigel Newton, who had previously been employed by other publishing companies. It was floated as a public registered company in 1994, raising £5.5 million, which was used to fund expansion of the company into paperback and children's books. A rights issue of shares in 1998 further raised £6.1 million, which was used to expand the company, in particular to found a U.S. branch. In 1998, Bloomsbury USA was established. Bloomsbury USA Books for Young Read ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessment to form Cambridge University Press and Assessment under Queen Elizabeth II's approval in August 2021. With a global sales presence, publishing hubs, and offices in more than 40 countries, it published over 50,000 titles by authors from over 100 countries. Its publications include more than 420 academic journals, monographs, reference works, school and university textbooks, and English language teaching and learning publications. It also published Bibles, runs a bookshop in Cambridge, sells through Amazon, and has a conference venues business in Cambridge at the Pitt Building and the Sir Geoffrey Cass Sports and Social Centre. It also served as the King's Printer. Cambridge University Press, as part of the University of Cambridge, was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Opera
French opera is both the art of opera in France and opera in the French language. It is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Gounod, Bizet, Massenet, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc and Messiaen. Many foreign-born composers have played a part in the French tradition, including Lully, Gluck, Salieri, Cherubini, Spontini, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and Offenbach. French opera began at the court of Louis XIV with Jean-Baptiste Lully's (1673), although there had been various experiments with the form before that, most notably by Robert Cambert. Lully and his librettist Quinault created , a form in which dance music and choral writing were particularly prominent. Lully's most important successor was Rameau. After Rameau's death, Christoph Willibald Gluck was persuaded to produce six operas for the Paris Opera in the 1770s. They show the influence of Rameau, but simplified and with gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
