(Art) The Visual Arts in A Western Musical Play

 

T H E V IS U A L A R T S IN A W E S TE T E R N M U S IC A L P LA LA Y

 

W hat is a W estern M usica cal lPlay or Theater? Musical plays  or other dramatic presentations include songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dancing. Since the early 20th  century, musical theater stage works have been called, simply, musicals.

 

W hat m ak akes es m usicals diferent e frent from other theatricalform s like oper op era and and dan anc ce? Although musical play has elements common with other theatrical form like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogues, movements, and other elements of the works.

 

W hen did the use ofm usic st start in W es est tern dram a?  The use of music as part of dramatic presentations has been a tradition of the estern dramatic presentation since ancient times but !rmly established on the "reek dramas particularly on tragedies. The modern estern musical reached its most#developed form during $%th  century as seen with the works of "ilbert and Sullivan in &ritain and those of 'arrigan and 'art in America. Since then, numerous musical comedies emerged.

 

H IS T O R Y O F M U S IC A L S

 

 The originator of musicals in (urope (urope can be traced back to the theatre of ancient "reece, where music and dance were included in stage comedies and tragedies during the

"reek Amphiteater *00 &+(-

pinnacle of "reek civili)ation in *00 &+(. The dramatists Aeschylus and Sopocles composed their own music to accompany their plays and choreographed the dances of the chorus

 The oman oman Theater 400

 The omans borrowed borrowed from the "reeks "reeks the stage#entertainment of songs and dances. /n fact, they introduced some technical innovations. or e1ample, to make the dance steps audible in large open#air theatres, the oman actors attached metal chips called sabilla   to their stage footwear  the !rst tap sabilla shoes in the manner of the modern tap# dancing. 3lautus, the oman dramatist,

&+(-

included song and dance routines performed with orchestrations in 400 &+(.

 

 T  Traveling raveling 5instrels7oving 5instrel s7oving Troupe 5iddle Age +(-$00#$800

/n the $2th  and $4th  centuries during the 5iddle Ages, theater in (urope consisted mostly of traveling minstrels and small performing troupes comedy. of performers singingsome and o6ering slapstick 'owever, rendered religious dramas on periods commemorating commem orating +hristian events.

(uropeans enaissance saw older format evolve into commedia dell’arte, dell’arte, an /talian tradition where raucous clowns improvised their way through familiar stories, and later, opera bufa. bufa. +ommedia dell9arte The enaissance: $8*0s-

 

/n (ngland, during the beginning of $;th  century, (li)abethan and attering to a noble or royal patron.  The writer &en uences the way in which a musical is presented.

 

H ow are m usicals presented?

 

rgani)ation

5usicals are usually presented in two acts, with one short intermission and the !rst act frequently frequently longer than the second.  The !rst act generally introduces introduces nearly all of the characters and most of the music, and often ends with the introduction of a dramatic con>ict or plot complication. The second act may introduce a few new songs but usually contains reprises of important musical themes and resolves the con>ict or complication. Several shorter musicals on &roadway and in the est end have been presented in one act in recent decades

Arrangement of Bialogues and 5usic

Story 5aterial

 Time

A book musical is usually built around four to si1 main theme tunes that are reprised later in the show, although al though it sometimes consists of a series of songs not directly musically related. Spoken Spok en dialogue is generally mi1ed together between musical numbers, although ?sung dialogue@ or recitative may be used, especially in so#called ?sung#through@ musicals such as Jesus as  Jesus Christ Superstar, Superstar, Les Miserables and Evita  The material presented in a musical may be original, or it may may be adopted adopted or born from novels Wicked Wicked and Man o La Mancha-, Mancha -, plays Hello, Hello, oll!"-, oll!"-, classic legends Camelot  Camelot --,, historical events Evita Evita-- or !lms #he #he $roducers and %ill! Elliot --.. n the other hand, many successful musical theatre works have been adapted for musical !lms, such as #he as  #he Sound o Music, West Side Stor!, Stor!, M! &air Lad! and Chica'o(  There is no !1ed !1ed length for a musical. 5ost music musicals als range from

one and a half to three hours. Some may range from a short  

U sualW ork Flow in a M usical

 

Birect or

+horeo # graphe r

5usical director

orchestr a

 Technica  T echnica l sta6 

Stage backdro p7 3rops7 >ight7 sounds

Set design7 costumes

5usic7 dialogue s

/CT("AT(B '=(S5( 3(S(CTAT/ C

 

D ife frences betw een M usicals and  pera

 

Musicals /t is more focused on

Opera /t has some unaccompanied

•

•

spoken dialogue

dialogue, but very minimal

/t has dancing performed by principal performers as well as the chorus

•

•

/t uses popular music or various popular singing styles or genres •

/t uses the language of the audience in the performance •

/t has no dancing e1cept as required by the situation for a particular actor to act /t uses conventional and classical music •

/t uses the original language by which the musical lyrics is written mostly /talian, "erman and Spanish•

•

 The performer performer must

•

 The singer must primarily prima rilynor be a singer and rarely an actor

 

rima ri mari rill be an acto actorr an and d

a dancer

of! rtistic E"pression Elem ents of A musical is a kind of performing art which requires elements for creative e1pression. =ike visual art of painting, it requires these elements for an integrated wholesome art: lines, color, shape, rh!thm, space, sound, te)ture and movement( 'owever, unlike visual art, it must arouse sound and movement  the most essential movements.

 

$. =ines # /n the act ?=es 5iserables,@ the dead rench revolutionaries

played by actors seem to present the horror of death as they lay >at in hori)ontal formation. 'ori)ontal line, represented by the actors lying on the stage, combined by colors in the range of red and black, is e6ective in suggesting the idea of death. 2. +olors  The technicality of lightning is an important element in

musicals because it presents colors that evoke mi1ed emotions upon the audience. Accompanied by sounds and rhythm of music, it will a6ect the audience to sympathi)e, to admire, to love, to side with, and to be amused. /n the musical ?'air@, lighting disclose the weird long#haired actor in the center, who is pale and wearing a grayish#blue vest e1pressing the feeling of being belittled and accused. The color red is dominant in the range of natural earth colors, surrounded the pale color. "estures and movements of actors are given emphasis through color. 4. Shape  the basic design element that serves as an outline is

shape. /t also determines space on stage. hether it is a two# dimensional paintingor a three dimensional installation or sculpture-, the weight, si)e, and te1ture that form the shape must be pointed out.

 

/n the beginning of the 20th  century when the (nglish had established the form of musical and had given emphasis distinction they importance ofon its each particular from shapeopera, installed on put the stage. rom costumes to stage properties or props, shape is emphasi)ed so as to e6ectively e1press the feelings of grandeur and magni!cence in accord to the 4B all#perspective setting-. Theofbackdrop calls for something hugeD thus, the design various geometric, curvilinear, and rectilinear shapes to e1press the idea

 

8. hythm  The rhythm of the musicals comes out when there is

ordered repetition of movement in the dances accompanied by songs. /t is given emphasis in repetitive movements, providing variations on a basic theme, or indicating a progressive development. The casts of the musical ?pen &oat@ touched the emotions with their body rhythm of synchroni)ed dancing and songs. *. Space  This is the >oor space or the entire area in the >oor

stage where the casts including their costumes and props are presented to the open. The area is not large enough nor too small but suitable enough for the casts to move around.

E. Sound  Buring the antiquity of the to "reek andtheir oman dramas, the actors are compelled or trained proFect voice to be

audible, !rmed and clear enough for the audience to be heard.  This system went on until 20th  century when high technology assisted the technicalities. Cowadays, the advent of micro pickup microphone attached near every actor9s mouth helps a lot for voice proFection. &ackground soundtracks are also used

nowadays apart from live chorus.  

 Te1tur e1ture e  =ik =ike e visual arts, the images of design G.  T of backdrop, props, and costumes may send to the audience the feelings of roughness, hardness, !neness, and smoothness. /n musicals, te1ture is emphasi)ed according to the feelings conveyed in each act.

;. 5ovement  Harious body movements of the

casts

are

di6erentiated

according

to

movement yet integrated consistently for the