Concept Musicals

Why are these Concept Musicals?

Each of these derive their main themes from other works, (Wicked- The Wizard of Oz, Rent-La Boheme, Across the Universe- The Beatles) , but put their own twist on the subject.

What is a Concept Musical

Concept Musicals

A concept musical is a musical where the show's metaphor or statement is more important than the actual narrative. It has an underlying reference to other works.

• Across the Universe is based on the life and music of The Beatles.
• It is set in the Vietnam War era and the setting changes from Liverpool, England to New York, USA
• Songs and lines from The Beatles are used to make music and dialogue and scenes

Across the Universe

CLip

http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=oIYQqWWJzHU

History of Concept Musicals

These musicals have their roots from play music written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Concept Musicals were first introduced to Broadway in the 1940's, but became popular in the 1970's with the premier of "Hair".

Wicked

• Play is based on the book by Gregory Maguire, which explains the twisted backstory of the "Wizard of Oz"
• Follows the lives of Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West and Galinda the Good Witch of the North
• "Are People born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?"- Galinda
• "No one mourns the Wicked."- Ensemble

Examples

Notable examples of Concept musicals are "Lady in the Dark" (1941) by Kurt Weill, "Allegro" (1947) by Rogers and Hammerstein, and "Love Life" (1948) by Weill. More recent examples include "Rent" (1996) by Jonathan Larson, "Mamma Mia" (1999) based on ABBA, "Wicked" based on the 1995 book by Gregory Maguire, and "Across the Universe" (2007) based on the Beatles.

Jonathan Larson

RENT

• Released off-broadway on January 29, 1996
• About the lives of 8 Bohemians and how their lives eventually intertwine
• Musical is centered around the theme "No Day But Today"
• deals with issues of homophobia, addiction, poverty, and HIV/AIDS
• Based on "La Boheme"

The owner of 6 awards, all for his best known work, "Rent"

He had many social issues (multiculturalism, homophobia, and addiction) and it influenced all of his works

He died the morning of the premier of "Rent" due to an aortic dissection, caused by an undiagnosed Marfan syndrome on January 25 1996, he was 35

CLip

http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=jiJ25zj7Dwg

Bibliography

Quiz

"Concept Musical." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 July 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

"Film Reference." Jonathan Larson Biography (1960-1996). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

"Los Angeles Times: Archives." Los Angeles Times: Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

1. When did Jonathan Larson die?

2. What is Rent based off of?

3. What makes something a concept musical?

4. Name a main character for one of the musicals discussed.

Answers

1. The morning that Rent premiered/ January 25, 1996

2. La Boheme

3. A show where the message is more important than the rest, is sometimes based off of a different works

4. Wicked- Galinda/Glinda, Elphaba

Across the Universe- Jude, Lucy, Max

Rent- Mark, Roger, Mimi, Tom, Angel ,Benny