Sing! Broadway changing the theater history
"The thing about Broadway, they always welcome you with open arms"
In the beginning of the singing shows, we had singers who mostly had come from the opera style. They had a specific kind of interpretation, the artistic performances were focused on the vocal range of the singer, and the technique was only for a few people that could appreciate that style. The operas also came from Europe and had some trouble adapting to the “New World”, the theaters in New York started to change that by bringing some performances close to real people. The style chosen for those presentations were different from the opera kind because there was a technique closer to the way people speak, and not anymore focused on the vocal range. The actors’ interpretation was also connected to the way they could move their body and primarily to the way they could sing the story and connect to the public by the emotions.
That completely changed the connection people had with the musical theater. They could understand a story and even more, feel the emotions with the actor, without having to develop a deep knowledge about that style. That new age really got to its highest point after the two big wars, that’s when big musicals like Oklahoma! have become a huge success. Broadway has produced some amazing plays since then, and also amazing artists like Julie Andrews who won the best actress Oscar in 1965. Some of the most known musicals are also from the sixties, like Funny Girl who had Barbra Streisand as the main star. Streisand won the Golden Globe Award for her performance and starred the movie based on the musical.
We couldn’t write about Broadway without mentioning one of the most famous musicals of all time: Les Miserables! Based on the famous book of Victor Hugo about France and it habitants, “Les miz” as called there, is one of the longest-running musical in the world. The same go for “Cats” and “The Phantomof the Opera”.
The musicals produced by Broadway proved to be so important that most of its famous plays were adapted for cinema and that’s how most of us know it. Who doesn’t remember John Travolta in Grease, or even the Abba song in the recent movie Mamma Mia starring Meryl Streep? Broadway was important for the popularization of the theater and is responsible for bringing a bunch of actors to the TV and Movies, Hugh Jackman being one of them and even Meryl Streep or Natalie Portman. Some people may criticize the way everyone in musicals is happy and starts singing out of nowhere, but that’s what made musicals so important in the past, being able to communicate and tell a story only by singing and dancing. The connection a musical actor has with the public is what keeps bringing people from all over the world to watch these productions.
Hope to be in Broadway someday, watching, of course.
See you, Break your leg
Lari
Brooke Shields
Most people have heard about Broadway or even have watched movies that were inspired by one of its musicals. The name Broadway comes from the Manhattan street where we can find more than forty professional theaters, these theaters are responsible for creating some amazing plays and for a revolution in the singing world.
In the beginning of the singing shows, we had singers who mostly had come from the opera style. They had a specific kind of interpretation, the artistic performances were focused on the vocal range of the singer, and the technique was only for a few people that could appreciate that style. The operas also came from Europe and had some trouble adapting to the “New World”, the theaters in New York started to change that by bringing some performances close to real people. The style chosen for those presentations were different from the opera kind because there was a technique closer to the way people speak, and not anymore focused on the vocal range. The actors’ interpretation was also connected to the way they could move their body and primarily to the way they could sing the story and connect to the public by the emotions.
That completely changed the connection people had with the musical theater. They could understand a story and even more, feel the emotions with the actor, without having to develop a deep knowledge about that style. That new age really got to its highest point after the two big wars, that’s when big musicals like Oklahoma! have become a huge success. Broadway has produced some amazing plays since then, and also amazing artists like Julie Andrews who won the best actress Oscar in 1965. Some of the most known musicals are also from the sixties, like Funny Girl who had Barbra Streisand as the main star. Streisand won the Golden Globe Award for her performance and starred the movie based on the musical.
We couldn’t write about Broadway without mentioning one of the most famous musicals of all time: Les Miserables! Based on the famous book of Victor Hugo about France and it habitants, “Les miz” as called there, is one of the longest-running musical in the world. The same go for “Cats” and “The Phantomof the Opera”.
The musicals produced by Broadway proved to be so important that most of its famous plays were adapted for cinema and that’s how most of us know it. Who doesn’t remember John Travolta in Grease, or even the Abba song in the recent movie Mamma Mia starring Meryl Streep? Broadway was important for the popularization of the theater and is responsible for bringing a bunch of actors to the TV and Movies, Hugh Jackman being one of them and even Meryl Streep or Natalie Portman. Some people may criticize the way everyone in musicals is happy and starts singing out of nowhere, but that’s what made musicals so important in the past, being able to communicate and tell a story only by singing and dancing. The connection a musical actor has with the public is what keeps bringing people from all over the world to watch these productions.
Hope to be in Broadway someday, watching, of course.
See you, Break your leg
Lari
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