Musicals

EKONOMSKI FAKULTETMARKETING I TRGOVINA

Musicals

Portfolio

Predmet: Engleski Jezik I

Mentor: Student:

Prof. Dr. Murat Dizdarevi

Travnik, decembar 2014.

Musical is a play or motion picture in which the story line is interspersed with or developed by songs, dances, and the like. Musicals therefore can either be on film or performed live on stage. The main difference is inability to use lavish background scenery and locations in stage musicals. Although the golden era for this genre was between 1930 and 1960, musicals are still very popular throughout the world and there is still a high demand for this type of entertainment. This report will focus on musicals on film.

Musical film was impractical if not impossible during the silent era in Hollywood. In the late 1920s, the technology in the cinematography has improved so it was possible to make films with synchronized sound. The first such movie, The Jazz Singer, came out in 1927. The movie included several songs and some spoken dialog. The Jazz Singer was a sensational hit and audiences loved it. It was quickly realized that the silent era is gone and the sound equipment was subsequently installed in all the theatres. Also, the Hollywood business executives immediately noticed a great demand for sound movies so by 1929 all the major studios switched to making sound movies. Musical films became one of the most popular film genres once the sound movies took over. Many composers came to Hollywood to work on musicals. Most of the actors were taking singing lessons in order to get roles in the new genre and stay in business.

According to the American Film Institute, some of the greatest musicals were released between 1930 and 1960, such as Top Hat (1935), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) An American in Paris (1951), Singin in the Rain (1952), A Star is Born (1954), The King and I (1956).

The classic era of musicals ended in 1960s. Musical films became less profitable as audience demand was not as strong as in the 1950s. The studios were ready to shoot the musicals only if they strongly believe a movie will be popular and therefore profitable. Nevertheless, some of the best musicals ever were released in the following decades. The 1960s were era of the hits such as West Side Story, Marry Poppins, My Fair Lady, Oliver!, The Sound of Music, etc. Also, in this period Elvis Presley made a few very popular films, introducing Rock and Roll and pop music into musical film. This continued in the 1970s, when several big musicals featuring pop music were released: Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Tommy (1975), Grease (1978), and Hair (1979). The eighties and nineties where good for musicals and numerous successful movies were released during this period. Some of the biggest hits were: The Blues Brothers (1980), Annie (1982), Victor Victoria (1982), Footloose (1984), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), and Evita (1996). Also, several very popular animated movies were released in this period. Most of them can be considered as musicals due to a great number of songs incorporated. Some of the best were: The Little Mermaid (1989), Alladin (1992), Pocahontas (1995), The Night Before Christmas (1993), South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999).

The new millennium brought musicals with somewhat darker tone such as Moulin Rouge! (2001), Chicago (2002), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Les Misrables (2012). All these movies were huge commercial success and won some of the most prestigious movie awards.

Although the studios will most likely continue making musicals due to the commercial success of several musicals in the 21st century, such as the ones listed above, this genre will probably never return to the so-called golden era.

Glossary

Business executives - someone in a high position, especially in business, who makes decisions and puts them into action.

Cinematography - the art and methods of film photography.

Interspersed - having something in several places among something else.

Lavish - large in quantity and expensive or impressive.

Prestigious - very much respected and admired, usually because of being important.

Bibliography

Web sites

[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/musical[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_film[3] http://www.notcoming.com/features/silenceaftersound/[4] http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Musicals-THE-RISE-OF-THE-FILM-MUSICAL.html[5] http://www.afi.com/100Years/musicals.aspx http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/musical

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_film

http://www.notcoming.com/features/silenceaftersound/

http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Musicals-THE-RISE-OF-THE-FILM-MUSICAL.html

http://www.afi.com/100Years/musicals.aspx

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