Transcript The Musical

Sociology Schedule
 Today and Wednesday (early release) –
Finish LGO 1
 Thursday– Review LGO 1 – Binder checks –
test cards
 Friday – Chapter 1 test
American Cinema
Schedule
 Today – Introduce Musicals unit – turn in
binders for Unit one note and review check –
Start Meet Me in St. Louis
 Take your Movie review basics notes, Silent
Film notes, and two reviews out of your
binder and use a paper clip on my desk to
bind them, then turn them in
 Wednesday – Friday – Finish Meet Me in St.
Louis and Grease
The Musical
Setting the Stage
 Heart of the musical lies in its music and
those who sing and dance to it
 The music functions as an extension of the
character singing (shows their personality,
ideas, motivation, etc.)
Musical Reality
 Very different from classical narrative reality
 Musicals operate according to two different
laws
 There are sudden shifts between narrative and
musical spectacle
 There is a shift between from one reality to
another that involves a rupture or break
 Musical numbers break the linear flow of the
narrative and shifts to a world of spectacle and
fantasy
Shifts in Register
 Two different dramatic registers:
 Narrative and spectacle
 Often these shifts are accentuated
technical elements
 Shifts of scenery
 Lighting changes
 Fog/wind machines
 Anything that helps the illusion of a shift to a
fantasy world of music
Types of Musicals
 Two main types
 Revue – nearly all spectacle with little or no
narrative between songs
 Book musical – prominence of the story book
background – integrates musical and
narrative sequences – goal is a seamless
integration of the two
Ideology of the Musical
 Creates a utopian space in which our daily
problems do not exist
 Poverty replaced with abundance
 Work related exhaustion becomes limitless
energy
 Dreariness of everyday routine becomes
excitement and intensity
 Isolation becomes close knit communities
 Men and women find their perfect matches
and win them over
The end and the
beginning
 Traditional musicals declined in the 1960’s
and began a general move fro film to
Broadway
 From the 1970’s to today there has been a
rise in different types of musicals than seen
before:
 Rock n’ Roll and popular music themed
 Animated features (Walt Disney esp.)
 After school specials (precursers to High
School Musical)
Unit Films
 Meet Me in St. Louis – 1944 – Vincent Minnelli
- In the year before the 1904 St Louis World's
Fair, the four Smith daughters learn lessons of
life and love, even as they prepare for a
reluctant move to New York.
 Grease – 1978 – Randal Kleiser - Good girl
Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over
the summer. But when they unexpectedly
discover they're now in the same high
school, will they be able to rekindle their
romance?