We will
have a MUSICALS Party at T.R.A.C.S
Musical theatre
is a form of theatre that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance.
The story and emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – are
communicated through the 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 of the works. 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, culminating with the works of
Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and Hart in America,
followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the works of American creators
like George M. Cohan. Early in the 20th century, the Princess Theatre musicals
and other smart shows like Of Thee I Sing were artistic steps forward beyond
revues and other frothy entertainments and led to such groundbreaking works as
Show Boat and Oklahoma!. Some of the most famous and iconic musicals through
the decades that followed include West Side Story, The Fantasticks, Hair, A
Chorus Line, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, The Producers and
Wicked.
Musicals are
performed all around the world. They may be presented in large venues, such as
big budget West End and Broadway theatre productions in London and New York
City, or in smaller fringe theatre, Off-Broadway or regional theatre
productions, on tour, or by amateur groups in schools, theatres and other
performance spaces. In addition to Britain and North America, there are vibrant
musical theatre scenes in many countries in Europe, Latin America, Australasia
and Asia.
Gay
Musicals, by JD Doyle
What is a
"Gay Musical" and why do we care? Well, I produce a radio show and
website called Queer Music Heritage, with an aim to preserve gay and lesbian
music culture. And by using the term "Gay Musical" I immediately have
to define myself. Musicals have always been a big part of our culture, to the
point of it being stereotypical. But I'm not talking about musicals like
"Chorus Line," or "Dreamgirls," "West Side
Story," "Follies," "Gypsy," "Cats,"
"Cabaret," or on and on, even though many may have had a gay
sensibility, or gay writers behind them. Being a purist, I'm talking about gay
musicals where the central characters and plots were gay, and I further limit
my focus to those that had soundtracks that made it onto vinyl or CD.
Otherwise, only a few get to share the experience. In the early years,
recording them didn't happen very often, as the productions were generally low
budget affairs, far removed from even being off-off-Broadway. http://www.queermusicheritage.us/gaymus.html
It was not
easy to pick one song from my long list of favourite musical songs.
Than I
remember the song "For good" from the musical "Wicked" because
it have parts of the poem "Reason, Season, or Lifetime". That already
is for ages in my profile.
Wicked is a
musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman.
It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the
Wicked Witch of the West (1995), a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard
of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). The
musical is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz: Elphaba,
the misunderstood girl with emerald-green skin, and Galinda, later Glinda, the
beautiful, ambitious and popular blonde. Wicked tells the story in which these
two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good
Witch of the North while struggling through opposing personalities and
viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, reactions to the Wizard's
corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. The plot
begins before and continues after Dorothy's arrival from Kansas
For Good
ELPHABA
I'm limited:
Just look at me - I'm limited
And just look at you -
You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda
So now it's up to you
(spoken) For both of us
(sung) Now it's up to you:
GLINDA
I've heard it said
That people come
into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you:
Like a comet
pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the
better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
ELPHABA
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend:
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the
better?
But because I knew you:
GLINDA
Because I knew you:
BOTH
I have been
changed for good
ELPHABA
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for
GLINDA
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share
BOTH
And none of it seems to matter anymore
GLINDA ELPHABA
Like a comet pulled Like a ship blown
From orbit as it Off it's mooring
Passes a sun, like By a wind off the
A stream that meets Sea, like a seed
A boulder, half-way Dropped by a
Through the wood
Bird in the wood
BOTH
Who can say if I've been changed for the
better?
I do believe I have been changed for the
better?
GLINDA
And because I knew you:
ELPHABA
Because I knew you:
BOTH
Because I knew you:
I have been changed for good.
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