A sung-through (also through-sung)
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
,
musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
,
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
, or other work of
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
is one in which songs entirely or almost entirely replace any spoken
dialogue
Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...
. Conversations, speeches, and musings are communicated musically, for example through a combination of
recitative,
aria
In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
, and
arioso. Early versions of this include the Italian genre of
opera buffa
''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...
, a light-hearted form of opera that gained prominence in the 1750s.
A through-sung opera or other form of narrative work with continuous music may also be described as
through-composed.
List of fully sung-through musicals
* ''
Art Thief Musical!
''Art Thief Musical!'' is a 2004 American short musical film directed by Linus Lau. It stars Autumn Reeser, Benjamin Sprunger, Matt O'Toole and Sean Smith. It premiered at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films in September 2004 ...
''
[
* '' Bare: A Pop Opera''
* '']Bumblescratch
''Bumblescratch'' is an original sung-through musical with book, music and lyrics by Robert J. Sherman. The musical premiered at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 4 September 2016 as a one night, celebrity gala charity event in aid of Variety, ...
''
* ''Cats
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...
''[
* '']Une chambre en ville
''Une chambre en ville'' (also known as ''A Room in Town'') is a 1982 French musical drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music by Michel Colombier, and starring Dominique Sanda, Danielle Darrieux and Michel Piccoli. It is set agai ...
''
* ''Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
''[
* '' Les Dix Commandements''
* ''Evening-1910''
* '']Evita Evita may refer to:
Arts
* Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name
* Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron
* Evita (album), ''E ...
''[
* '' Falsettos''][
* '' Hamilton: An American Musical'' (sung-and-rapped-through)][Donaldson, Kayleigh (2017).]
How to Make a Hamilton Movie
. ''Screen Rant''.
* '' The Human Comedy''[
* '']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 Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...
''[
* '']Johanna
Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...
''
* ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...
''[
* '' Keating!''][
* '' Katy! the Musical''
* '']King David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
''[
* '' The Last 5 Years''][
* '' Marry Me a Little''][
* '' Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem''][
* '']Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...
''[
* '']Miss Saigon
''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...
''[
* '' Murder Ballad''
* '' Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812''][
* '']Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...
''[
* '' Ordinary Days''][
* '' Quadrophenia''
* '' Repo! The Genetic Opera''][
* '']Song and Dance
''Song and Dance'' is a musical comprising two acts, one told entirely in "Song" and one entirely in "Dance", tied together by a unifying love story.
The "Song" act is ''Tell Me on a Sunday'', with lyrics by Don Black and music by Andrew Ll ...
''
* ''Songs for a New World
''Songs for a New World'' is a work of musical theatre written and composed by Jason Robert Brown. This was Jason Robert Brown's first produced show, originally produced Off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre in 1995. Brown and director Daisy Prince put t ...
''
* '' Starlight Express''[
* '' Starmania''][
* '']Tell Me on a Sunday
''Tell Me on a Sunday'' is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black. A one-woman show, it has been performed by a number of female singers/actors, most notably Marti Webb and Bernadette Peters. A one-act song cycle, ...
''[
* '' The Ten Commandments: The Musical''][
* '']The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (french: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) is a 1964 musical romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music and lyrics by Michel Legrand. Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo star as two young l ...
''
List of sung-through musicals with scattered lines
* '' Ain't Misbehavin'''
* '' American Idiot''
* ''Annette Annette may refer to:
Film and television
* '' Walt Disney Presents: Annette'', 1950s television series
* ''Annette'' (film), a 2021 musical film
Other
* Annette (given name), list of people with the name
* Annette Island, Alaska
* Tropical Stor ...
''
* '' Aspects of Love''
* ''Caroline or Change
''Caroline, or Change'' is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and book by Tony Kushner. The score combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish klezmer and folk music.
The show ran both Off-Broadway and on Broadway ...
''
* ''Come from Away
''Come from Away'' is a Canadian musical, with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. It is based on the events in the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the September 11 attacks, when 38 planes, carrying a ...
''
* '' Dance of the Vampires''
* ''Elisabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sc ...
''
* '' The Golden Apple''
* ''Hadestown
''Hadestown'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Anaïs Mitchell. It tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice, a young girl looking for something to eat, goes to work in a hellish industrial underworld ...
''
* ''In Trousers
''In Trousers'' is a musical, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1979, with book, music and lyrics by William Finn. It is the first in a trilogy of musicals, followed by ''March of the Falsettos'' and then ''Falsettoland''.
Concept
The one-act musi ...
''
* ''Jekyll & Hyde
''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...
''
* '' Jerry Springer: The Opera''
* ''John & Jen
''John & Jen'' (styled as ''john & jen'') is a musical with music by Andrew Lippa, lyrics by Tom Greenwald, and a book by Lippa and Greenwald. It is a two-person show about the relationships first between a brother and sister, John and Jen, and th ...
''
* '' Love Never Dies''
* ''Martin Guerre
Martin Guerre, a French peasant of the 16th century, was at the centre of a famous case of imposture. Several years after Martin Guerre had left his wife, child and village, a man claiming to be him appeared. He lived with Guerre's wife and so ...
''
* '' The Most Happy Fella''
* ''A New Brain
''A New Brain'' is a musical with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Finn and James Lapine. Though many of Finn's previous musicals were to some extent autobiographical, ''A New Brain'' dealt directly with his own harrowing experience ...
''
* '' Next to Normal''
* '' Once on This Island''
* ''Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
''
* '' Passing Strange''
* '' The Phantom of the Opera''[
* '']Pink Floyd—The Wall
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
''
* ''The Pirate Queen
''The Pirate Queen'' is a musical with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, French lyrics by Alain Boublil and English lyric adaptations by Richard Maltby Jr. and John Dempsey. The French book was written by Boublil and Schönberg and the Engli ...
''
* ''Ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...
''
* ''Razia's Shadow
''Razia's Shadow: A Musical'' is an album by American band Forgive Durden, released through Fueled by Ramen on October 28, 2008. It is a musical featuring members of popular bands such as Saves the Day, Panic! at the Disco, Say Anything, The Ma ...
''
* ''Rent
Rent may refer to:
Economics
*Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property
*Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production
*Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...
''[
* '' Seussical''
* '']Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...
''
* ''Side Show
In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, traveling carnival, carnival, fair, or other such attraction.
Types
There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:
*The Ten-in-One offers ...
''
* '' Soon''
* '' The Stingiest Man in Town''
* '' Sunset Boulevard''
* ''Superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
''
* '' The Who's Tommy''
* '' The Woman in White''
List of sung-through musicals depending on the production
* ''Chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
''
** Originally starting off as a concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
, the musical has a reputation for being re-written during every new production that is staged around the world. Some productions are completely sung-through, some have scattered lines, and some (notably the original Broadway production) are staged as book musicals.
* ''Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
''Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris'' is a musical revue of the songs of Jacques Brel. Brel's songs were translated into English by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman, who also provided the story. The original 1968 Off-Broadway prod ...
''[ Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (film)#Soundtrack]
References
{{Reflist