Introduction to the Broadway Musical

This one-hour presentation, featuring plenty of video and sound clips, gives a brief introduction to the “Broadway musical”: What makes it different from other art forms like a play or an opera? Where, when, and how did it originate? What makes it a uniquely American invention? What were some of the milestones in its development and who were the creative people responsible for them?

(See below if you’d like me to give this talk free of charge at your organization.)

During the talk, I play video or audio excerpts from a number of musicals, and I’ve put together a list of filmed or recorded performances of those for which they are available, as well as some resources for those who wish to learn more:

To Learn More

  • Broadway: The American Musical, a 6-part miniseries by Michael Kantor, is the source of some of the video clips and a really excellent overview of the history of the musical. It’s widely available on DVD and (legally or not) frequently found on YouTube.

  • The Oxford Handbook of the American Musical is a concise reference work when you need just a bit more information on some specific aspect of musicals–for example, the history of choreography, of orchestration, and so on.

  • The Secret Life of the American Musical, by Jack Viertel, is a great behind-the-scenes look at how musicals are written and structured, and why so many of them seem to follow similar structural patterns, even (especially) the ones trying to break out of that mold.

  • The Sound of Broadway Music, by Steven Suskind, is a (really) deep dive into the little-known world of orchestrators and orchestration. Alongside the out-of-print autobiography of Robert Russell Bennett (“the dean of American orchestrators”), a great look at a part of the musical creation process that even most enthusiasts know little about.

Filmed musicals you can watch (some better than others)

The links to movies are to IMDb, but I recommend using JustWatch to check which streaming service(s) carry each title.

Show Boat (1927), Oklahoma! (1943), South Pacific (1949)

Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein; music by Jerome Kern (Show Boat) and Richard Rodgers (Oklahoma!, South Pacific)

There are movie adaptations of all these musicals, but with the possible exception of Show Boat, I don’t recommend them. They are nowhere near as compelling as the stage musicals.

There is a 2006 “staged concert” version of South Pacific performed by Reba McEntire, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Alec Baldwin, and others. The singing is great, and the orchestra sounds terrific, but there are no sets or scenery and there is minimal dialogue—it’s really just about the songs.

Audio Recordings: The 1998 revival of Oklahoma! strikes a good balance between authenticity and high-quality full-length recording. (The original cast album is fine but very much reveals the severe technological limitations of studio recording in in 1944.)

For Show Boat, I have the 1988 studio cast album (3-CD set) which seems to be widely regarded as both complete and well-cast.

West Side Story (1957)

Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, choreography by Jerome Robbins.

The original 1961 film starring Natalie Wood and Chita Rivera is still a classic and overall very good, and is closest to the stage musical (though still with a few important differences). (See my 1-page discussion of West Side Story.)

The new 2021 Spielberg-directed remake takes a few liberties with the story and casting, but in my view remains generally true to the material and is a great film to watch.

Audio Recordings: There are many, but the 1957 original Broadway cast album is probably the one to get. Avoid the Kiri Te Kanawa operatic recording—it’s not an authentic performance style for this material, with all due respect to Ms. Te Kanawa.

Ragtime (1997)

Music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Terrence McNally.

Unfortunately there’s no filmed version of this monumental musical. There is a movie based on the same E.L. Doctorow novel, but the movie has very little in common with the musical (despite being more true to the book).

Audio Recordings: The 1997 original Broadway cast album, featuring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald, is outstanding.

In the Heights (2008)

Music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, book by Quiara Alegria Hudes.

The 2021 movie In the Heights is not a filmed performance of the show, but an outstanding movie that is true to the material and features spectacular choreography—really a modern incarnation of the “classic big-screen musical” from earlier times, lovingly done.

Hamilton (2015)

Book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

A filmed live performance of Hamilton, excellently produced and featuring the original Broadway cast, is available on the Disney Plus channel and other streaming sources.

Other musicals…

These musicals aren’t mentioned in my presentation (except maybe in passing) but are available as either high-qulaity filmed performances or (in my opinion) excellent movie adaptations of their live counterparts.

  • Gypsy (1959), music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents. A filmed performance of the 2015 Savoy Theatre (UK) production is available for streaming on Hoopla Digital.

  • My Fair Lady (1959), music by Frederick Loewe, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. The excellent movie adaptation features some of the original cast, including Rex Harrison and Stanley Holloway.

  • Fiddler on the Roof (1964), music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, book by Joe Stein. There’s no filmed performance that I know of, but the 1971 movie starring Topol is excellent on its own merits and true to the stage play.

  • Company (1970), music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth. In the shortened versions of the presentation, I don’t mention this landmark musical, which experimented with nonlinear storytelling. There is a filmed version of the 2001 Broadway production starring Raul Esparza (dir. John Doyle) that is pretty good, although in fairness this musical is so intimate that it’d be hard for any filmed production to be as effective as seeing it live.

There is a 2011 staged concert starring Neil Patrick Harris in the leading role. Like the 2006 South Pacific above, this is not a full production but rather focuses on the songs. That said, the orchestration and song performance are (in my opinion) livelier and truer to the original material in this version than in the 2001 John Doyle production.

My favorite audio recording is actually the 1995 West End revival cast, but the original 1970 recording is excellent too, especially after it was remastered and re-released in the 2000s.

  • Follies (1970), music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Goldman. There is an excellent production by UK National Theater but it doesn’t yet seem to be available for streaming or on DVD. See my 1-page summary of Follies.

  • Sweeney Todd (1979), music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler. A filmed performance of the original Broadway cast, starring the inimitable Angela Lansbury and George Hearn. There is also a 2006 movie adaptation starring Johnny Depp which is surprisingly good for what it is, but varies in many ways from the stage musical, which is the definitive version.

  • Sunday In the Park With George (1984), music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine. Sondheim’s most personal and perhaps most nuanced work, and one of my all-time favorites, was filmed during its New York run starring Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin. See my 1-page summary of Sunday.

  • Into the Woods (1987), music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine. Filmed version of the original Broadway cast starring Bernadette Peters. I’m not as much a fan of the 2020 movie adaptation.

I can give this talk at your organization

If you’d like me to give the talk at your organization, please contact me, I’m always happy to put this in front of interested audiences and I can provide references from prior presentations if needed.

I don’t ask any compensation: my sole goal is to raise the visibility and profile of musical theater in the performing arts, and stimulate attendance at musical theater events. (Although if I’m currently working on a show, I might appreciate the chance to promote it and/or discuss a group block discount for your organization.)

I will need a laptop projection setup (HDMI or Thunderbolt input) and a way to clearly play sound from my Macbook Pro, either from the 1/8” headphone out jack, via USB, or via HDMI. The sound is a key part of the presentation so it’s important that the sound be audible, clear, and sufficiently loud for the room.

My credentials: Armando Fox is a classically trained musician who has worked on dozens of Bay Area regional theater productions as Music Director, Associate Conductor, pianist, and/or orchestrator/arranger, many of which have received or been nominated for music-related awards. He completed pre-conservatory training at the Mannes College of Music, New York (now part of the New School) studying piano performance with Michael Boriskin and others, as well as music theory, ear training, ensemble performance, choir, and arranging. He’s the author of the best book on music direction written by a computer scientist (pianoconductor.com) and the best book on software engineering written by a music director (saasbook.info).
He has also served on the Boards or Advisory Boards of several local theaters. Armando grew up in New York going to the theater and is Latino, multilingual, and bicultural. In his day job, he is an award-winning computer science professor and advocate for diversity at UC Berkeley.