A megamusical is an epic, dramatic show featuring recurring melodies in a sung-through score; huge, impressive sets; and grand ideas. These qualities are accompanied by intensive marketing campaigns, unprecedented international financial success, and a marked disjunction between critical reaction and audience reception. Audiences adore megamusicals; they flock to see them when they open, and return again and again, helping long-lived shows to become semi-permanent tourist attractions. Yet generally speaking, critics either dismiss megamusicals as superficial entertainment, or rail against them as offensively simple-minded money-making scams. This audience/critic division lies at the heart of The Megamusical.Jessica Sternfeld's long-awaited study of some of the most popular megamusicals is an important contribution to knowledge of American musical culture. Sternfeld discusses the history of the megamusical, examining both its internal, performative qualities and its external, market reception to reveal why it is so popular. She concentrates on Lloyd Webber's Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, the two longest-running musicals on Broadway, and Schoenberg and Boublil's Les Mis?rables, the most popular and internationally successful piece of music theater of all time. Each of these musicals receives in-depth treatment, including an examination of how they were created and received, as well as an analysis of their scores and staging. She also interprets several other megamusicals of the 1980s and 1990s, with an eye toward their competition and influence on other musical theater genres.
Author(s): Jessica Sternfeld
Edition: annotated edition
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 456
Cover......Page 1
CONTENTS......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 10
Introduction......Page 16
1 “Why’d You Choose Such a BackwardTime and Such a Strange Land?”:Jesus Christ Superstar......Page 23
2 “Humming the Scenery”:The Megamusical Ascending......Page 82
3 “Well, the Theatre Is Certainly NotWhat It Was”: Cats......Page 127
4 “To Love Another Person Is toSee the Face of God”: Les Mise´ rables......Page 190
5 “The Angel of Music Sings Songs in MyHead”: The Phantom of the Opera......Page 240
6 “A Model of Decorum and Tranquility”:Other Megamusicals in the 1980s......Page 288
7 “New Music”: The Megamusicalin the 1990s......Page 307
8 “Everything Is Show Biz”:The Megamusical and Broadway inthe Twenty-first Century......Page 349
A. Jesus Christ Superstar Plot Summary and List of RecurringMusical Material......Page 368
B. Evita Plot Summary......Page 372
C. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Plot Summary......Page 376
D. Cats Plot Summary and Table of Recurring Musical Material......Page 378
E. Sources of Lyrics in Cats......Page 382
F. Les Mise´ rables Plot Summary and List of Numbers......Page 384
G. List of Recurring Musical Material in Les Mise´ rables......Page 388
H. The Phantom of the Opera Plot Summary and List of Numbers......Page 392
I. List of Recurring Musical Material in The Phantom of the Opera......Page 396
Notes......Page 402
Bibliography......Page 444
Index......Page 450
