Overview
In the 1910s and 1920s, new types of musical theater were emerging on the American stage. Vaudeville, which had been the main type of musical and theatrical entertainment since the late 1800s, remained popular. Revues such as the Ziegfeld Follies included a series of popular tunes, skits, and dance numbers. The book musical was a play that included several songs performed by the characters. Composers such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and George and Ira Gershwin wrote hundreds of songs for these musical theater productions. Although most of the American musicals that were written during this era have been forgotten, their songs survive in what are known as standards.
Objectives
- Examine the transitional period between Tin Pan Alley songs and the rise of the Broadway musical
- Identify a number of important early composers and lyricists of Broadway songs such as George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter
- Examine how and why many of the songs from these musicals survived long after musicals themselves flopped or were canceled
Introduction
In the 1910s and 1920s, new types of musical theater were emerging on the American stage. Revues such as the Ziegfeld Follies included a series of popular tunes, skits, and dance numbers. The book musical was a play that included several songs performed by the characters. Composers such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and George and Ira Gershwin wrote hundreds of songs for these musical theater productions, and librettists provided the spoken texts. Although most of the American musicals that were written during this era were canceled within a season or two of opening, their songs survive in what are known as standards.
