Musical Theatre History

How do qualified Musical Theatre Performers contend with ever changing auditioning procedures?

At college, one of the first lessons we were taught was to 'do your homework'. Know your genres, the directors, composers, choreographers, their unique styles, anyone who is similar to them. Never go into an audition without knowing everything there is to know about the production and the team involved.

 While researching the pressure on Auditionee's to meet current demands vocally and physically, I am intrigued to revisit the notes I made in my first year at college in regards to the history of musical theatre, to see if any patterns in genre emerge. Depicting the popular genre can in turn help to give you a clue as to what may be expected of you in an audition. For example, in the 50's a classical style of singing was popular, there would have been little or no need to be able to belt. Dance styles such as commercial weren't evident in Musical Theatre until the millennium, so again prior to the 00's, learning commercial at college would have been superfluous. 

1950's - 'Broadway' Music

• The King and I (1951) Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerome Robbins
• My Fair Lady (1956) Lerner and Loewe
• Gypsy (1959) Stein and Sondheim 

1960's - started off with more of the same

• Hello Dolly (1964)
• Fiddler on the Roof (1964)

A shift then began to 'Rock' musicals

• Hair (1968)

1970's - Sondheim introduces musical concepts

• Company (1970)
• Follies (1971)
• A Little Night Music (1973)

rock musicals quickly fade and concept musicals peak with;

• A Chorus Line (1974)

1980's -  'Brit Hits' or the 'Mega Musical'

• Cats(1983)
• Les Miserables (1985) 
• Phantom Of The Opera (1986)
• Miss Saigon (1989)

1990's - The surge in the mega musicals are not cost efficient - musicals now require a lot of backing to succeed.

• Disney's 'The Lion King' (1994)
• Ragtime (1997)

2000's - initially relied heavily on rehashed works

• Footloose (1998 - west end 2006)
• Fosse (2001)
• Saturday Night Fever (2000)

Also saw a resurge in the 'American Musical'

• The Producers (2001)
• Hairspray (2002)

By looking at a brief history of musical theatre it is apparent to me that even though musicals are constantly evolving, the 'old classics' are still a prominent feature in the current industry. This in turn would mean that colleges are not out of date by continuing to teach the age old practices of classical singing, ballet, tap and jazz as these are at the root of the style of golden era musicals. With new movie musicals such as 'La La Land' making waves currently, this style is more prominent than ever. 'Throroughly Modern Millie' and '42nd Street' are also being revived, 'The Pajama Game' had a successful run in the West End last year, as did 'Funny girl'.