Tag Archives: Oscar Hammerstein

History of Musicals: First Golden Age

It’s been noted that the form of modern musical theater came from operetta, but its soul came from the music hall. This union of body and soul took place during the first two decades of the 20th century, beginning with … Continue reading

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History of Musicals: European Roots

Commedia dell’arte and opera are the dual threads that eventually spun into what we call musical theater. Let’s take a closer look at that second thread and its journey toward early musical theater. As I wrote yesterday, in the 18th … Continue reading

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Essential Musicals: Show Boat

To learn the functional basics about any subject and to accumulate a working vocabulary of that field, you should know something about its history. Even artistic revolutionaries like Picasso studied the Old Masters. You wouldn’t drive forward into moving traffic … Continue reading

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Making Musicals: Organizing Your Rhymes

Organizing your rhymes is like organizing your stanzas. The first rhyme you hear is “a,” the second is “b,” the third is “c,” and so on. If you repeat a stanza of music, you should use the same pattern of rhymes. … Continue reading

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Making Musicals: The Lyrics

Before you write lyrics for your show, you should be aware of two distinctions. First, there is a difference between lyrics and poetry. Poems live on the page, lyrics live on the stage. We read poems at our own pace, … Continue reading

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