Musical Guide - What Makes A Musical?
In this article we're going to try to explain just what it is
that makes a musical a musical and go over the more technical
aspects of the form.
By technical definition, musical theater is a form of theater
that combines music, songs, dancing and spoken dialogue. It is
actually closely related to opera, while purposely avoiding many
of the conventions of opera in order to have a more general
appeal.
The musical components of a musical is called the score. The
sung lines are called lyrics as opposed to plain spoken dialogue
which is simply called dialogue. Usually the person writing the
lyrics to the musical is not the same person who has written the
actual story. An example of this would be "Wicked" where the
songs were written by Stephen Schwartz, the script by Winnie
Holzman and the book that it came from by Gregory Maguire. This
is not uncommon in musical theater.
A musical can be anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours
long. The average running time for a modern musical is about two
and a half hours with an intermission about half way through the
play. Some musicals however do run straight through if they
aren't too long. The intermissions, when they are present, are
about ten to fifteen minutes long. An average musical will have
about twenty to thirty songs. Some will be very short pieces and
others can be quite long. Most musicals usually start with an
overture which highlights several of the songs that will be
heard throughout the play and set the mood for what is about to
come. Some musicals, like "Tommy" can be sung through from
beginning to end, which can really blur the fine line between a
musical and an opera. As a matter of fact, Tommy is actually
considered a rock opera more than it is considered a musical.
Usually the highlights and most dramatic moments of a musical
are done in song. The reason is because these are the moments
that the creators want you to remember the most and it is much
easier to remember a well done three or four minute song than it
is to remember three or four minutes of spoken dialogue. If the
emotion that needs to be conveyed is too strong even for song
then in those cases dance is added to or even put in place of
singing. A perfect example of this is the fight scene in "West
Side Story" which was done entirely in dance.
Finding a balance between spoken dialogue and song is not easy.
On top of that the writers must be careful to write songs for
each character that actually fits the character. For example, a
character who is an evil villain is not going to sing songs
about being happy and in love.
Also, it is difficult to establish the drama in a musical
because a five minute song has fewer words in it than five
minutes of spoken dialogue. When an hour and a half of your
musical is actual music, this makes it very important that the
writers make very good use of the lyrics for each song as this
will be the vehicle for telling most of the story.
Musical theater is a truly unique and wonderful form of
entertainment. If you haven't had the pleasure of going to see a
modern day musical or even a revival of an old musical, you owe
it to yourself to do so. It is an experience you will not soon
forget.