Tag Archives: Musical

Beginner’s Guide to Musical Theater

Non-Classical Singing, Theater, ,

From comic strip characters (Annie, Li’l Abner) to real people (like Fiorello LaGuardia, Maria Von Trapp, Eva Peron), wars (in Shenandoah and Miss Saigon), novels (Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera) and Bible stories (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar), musicals are more than just song and dance.

The Best-Loved Musicals

Note that the film version of a musical may be quite different from the original. Songs are often cut, added, transposed, re-ordered or given to a different character.

  • My Fair Lady
  • Evita
  • Hello, Dolly!
  • Fiddler on the Roof
  • Anything Goes
  • West Side Story
  • Oklahoma
  • The Sound of Music
  • Cats
  • Les Miserables (often just “Les Mis”)
  • Wicked
  • The Phantom of the Opera
  • Music Man

An interesting one that isn’t very well known is Lost in the Stars, which is based on Cry, the Beloved Country.

1776 isn’t one of the big ones, but it’s one of my favorite. You may think a musical about the Continental Congress and the signing of the Declaration of Independence would be as interesting as junior high History class, but it is quite entertaining, even while quoting from historical documents, like George Washington’s letters to the Congress from Valley Forge. And the hero is – wait for it – John Adams! Who knew?

Important Composers of Musicals

Cole Porter

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Irving Berlin

Stephen Sondheim

George Gershwin

Some are better-known as a composer/lyricist pair, such as:

Lerner and Loewe

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Gilbert and Sullivan

Famous Music Theater Singers

The Broadway singer has a bright sound which helps get the words across. Not always as beautiful or as “round” a tone as the classical singer’s. Their priorities are clear words and emotions, along with character. Even ugly voices have a place. Madame and Monsieur Thenardier in Les Miserables are ugly people, and their voices show that.

  • Betty Buckley
  • Bernadette Peters
  • Robert Goulet
  • Julie Andrews
  • Pearl Bailey
  • Carol Channing
  • Barbra Streisand
  • Ethel Merman
  • Barbara Cook – She sang the songs in many of the film musicals without credit.
  • Mandy Patinkin
  • Rex Harrison
  • Florence Henderson
  • Zero Mostel
  • Topol
  • Bob Hope
  • Kristin Chenoweth
  • Shirley MacLaine
  • Jimmy Durante
  • Dick Van Dyke
  • Patti LuPone
  • Jeanette MacDonald
  • Alfie Boe

You may want to check out Auditioning for Musical Theater.