Musical Theatre

Musical theater has been enjoyed by people since ancient times. It combines song, dance and dialogue and the music carries the feelings of the performance. Musical theater is also known as a musical. They are performed worldwide in such venues as the stages of Broadway and the West End.

Musicals are different from operas in that there is actual spoken dialog. The singing and dancing are used more to illustrate important moments in the story or to convey a character’s feelings. However, there are productions called “sung through” musicals that have the dialogue sung as well. Such examples are Evita and Les Miserables. Also, operas do not feature choreographed dance numbers and are usually performed in the language they were originally made in. Musicals are most often performed in the language of the audience and are translated for performances in different languages.

Musical theater has various run times and can be short, one act plays or long drawn out affairs with multiple acts and scene changes. These longer shows are broken up into acts and there is usually an intermission of 10 to 20 minutes for the actors to rest and for the patron to stretch their legs and get refreshments if they are available. Most musicals have 4 to 6 main songs that give insight to the story as well as move the plot along. Most of the singing is traditionally done in the first act which is usually longer than the second.

There are many well known films that were adapted from musicals such as West Side Story, the Sound of Music and Chicago. Conversely, there have also been movies that have been converted into musicals like The Lion King and The Color Purple.