Concept musical
A concept musical is a work of musical theatre with a book and score structured to develop and embody a theme or message, rather than convey a narrative plot.
The form was popularized by Man of La Mancha (1965), Cabaret (1966), and Hair (1967), with Company (1970) paving the way for bolder concept musicals.
The careers of producer-director Harold Prince, composer Stephen Sondheim, and director-choreographer Bob Fosse are all closely associated with the genre.
Definition[edit]
The term 'concept musical' was influenced by the 1968 New York Times review of Zorba by critic Martin Gottfried.[1] Referring to Harold Prince's direction rather than the show itself, Gottfried wrote: "Conception is the big word here - it is what is coming to replace the idea of a 'book'... there is even less room than in the usual musical [for story] because Prince's concept... apparently won out on every question about cutting."[2] In his 1971 review of Follies, Gottfried defined the concept musical as "a show whose music, lyrics, dance, stage movement and dialogue are woven through each other in the creation of a tapestry-like theme (rather than in support of a plot)."[3]
Concept musicals place emphasis upon style, message, and thematic metaphor rather than the plot itself,[4] thus the show's structure is rarely cohesive or linear. Chiefly understood by its holistic approach to each show, the concept musical strives for artistic representation of the theme in every aspect of the final production. Distinguishing it from other forms of musical theatre: "In musical comedy there is no theme. The revue uses a theme to unify disparate musical numbers and specialty acts. The integrated musical contains a theme. In contrast, the concept musical embodies a theme [that is] developed as the musical is written."[1]
Concept musicals share structural characteristics and common staging techniques: songs "punctuate rather than flow out from the story," serving as a means of self-reflection for the character and acting as commentary upon the theme.[1][5] The message of the show often spurs within its director a "renewed emphasis on the visual aspects of the performance... [leading] to a more abstract, unrealistic, non-representational staging, as the director has to free himself/herself from the confines of scenic verisimilitude in order to explore the visual dynamics of the stage."[1] The attention paid to visual presentation marks the concept musical as the most expressive and imagistic form of musical theatre. Theatre historian Vagelis Siropoulos notes "a sense of aesthetic totality is provided not by the linear unfolding of a narrative but by the overarching staging concept, which turns the spectator's attention to the overall principle of organization in the same way that an abstract painting does."[6]
Origins[edit]
The concept musical's non-linear structure and focus on theme are suggestive of the works of Bertolt Brecht.[7] A similar connection can be made to the Living Newspapers of the 1930s.[5] The 1941 Broadway production of Lady in the Dark by Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin, and Moss Hart offered early signs of the genre: attention to characters and their psychological makeup, rather than the plot and its through-line, foreshadow the concept musical's priority of personal expression. Weill would favor ideas over linear narrative throughout the course of his career.[5][7]
Predecessors[edit]
Conventions of the post-World War II musical were probed in Allegro (1947) by Rodgers and Hammerstein, as well as Love Life (1948) by Weill and Alan Jay Lerner.[7]
Allegro, which concerns a son following in his father's footsteps, represents a "musical experiment" conducted by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Defying "virtually all musical theatre conventions" of the time, its Greek chorus frequently interrupts the narrative, and the show focuses on a larger theme of personal struggle in the face of success.[8] Minimalist in its staging, patterns of light were used to represent both spaces and emotions, while each character was given a single solo, with no character standing out. Though Allegro maintains a linear nature and the plot continues regardless of the choral interludes, the particular story is arguably ceded to the concept that success corrupts.[1] The show was a critical failure, which many theatre historians blame on the inexperience of director-choreographer Agnes de Mille. Disheartened, Rodgers and Hammerstein returned to a more traditional format.[8] Yet Allegro "opened the door to a splendid new way of writing for musical theatre."[9] The show planted an early seed of the concept musical with Stephen Sondheim, who was mentored by Hammerstein and worked as a production assistant on Allegro.[1]
Love Life, the story of a marriage lasting over a century, "disregarded the traditional use of time, interrupted its action with jolting vaudeville numbers that commented on the story, and... tried to illustrate sociological ideas by paralleling them to a long-term personal relationship."[7] Freed from his usual partnership with Loewe, Lerner's growing experimentation with the genre is represented in Love Life. Like Allegro, the narrative is not explicitly linear, exploring the theme of marriage through a variety of lenses. Sondheim has stated that Love Life was a "useful influence" on his own work, "but it failed because it started out with an idea rather than a character."[8][10]