Megamusical
A megamusical (also known as a "spectacle show", "blockbuster musical", or "extravaganza") is a large-scale musical produced for large commercial profit. Such musicals utilize spectacle and increased technology to "radicalize the imagistic potential of musical theatre."[1] Early concepts of the megamusical came into existence in the 1970s, and the form was established and popularized in the 1980s by individuals such as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh. Megamusical is analogous to the film industry term "blockbuster".[2][3]
Notable megamusicals include Cats (1981), Les Misérables (1985), The Phantom of the Opera (1986), The Lion King (1997), Wicked (2003) and Hamilton (2015).
Characteristics[edit]
Megamusicals are known for their grand scale. They tend to be set in the distant past and cover broad, universal issues (usually concerning social justice) that global audiences can relate to. Their plot is melodramatic, generally large in scope and lofty, but is not the focus of the show. Instead, a megamusical's priority is a visual spectacle, with ample attention given to visual elements like extravagant set and costumes, complex and technologically advanced stagecraft, and large casts that allow for big ensemble numbers with elaborate choreography.[4][5][6]
The scores for megamusicals are also grand, consisting of pop-influenced catchy songs, power ballads, lush harmonies and lavish orchestrations. Similar to operetta, this genre relies on the "continuous musicalization of dramatic action",[7] and commonly feature a sung-through script in which the recitative is used to carry any dialogue in between musical numbers. As such, they are also referred to as "pop-operas".[4][7]
Megamusicals have huge budgets and their non-artistic elements tend to be large as well. They are heavily publicized and the marketing for a megamusical is very intense and costly. Another key element of this form is its commercial appeal: whether or not the musical will be a hit at the box office. Generally, a megamusical is expected to be a massive financial success, but not necessarily a critical success.[4][5]
A "big" Broadway musical is not necessarily a megamusical. One major difference between long-running Broadway productions such as A Chorus Line and Chicago, and successful megamusicals is that the latter are global franchises. While musicals had long been an American institution, they gained unprecedented global recognition and success with the advent of megamusicals in the 1980s. Megamusicals are intended to be mass-reproduced worldwide and the successful ones run for decades in international markets.[5][8] Once his musicals became famous and were being licensed all over the world, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber vowed to keep a very tight grip on them and would get the final say on all productions regardless of the production team.[6] This led to a strict level of standardization across the global productions of megamusicals that did not exist in live theatre before. This genre of musical theatre has been derogatorily referred to as "McTheatre", comparatively alluding to the standardization of fast food chain McDonald's products as well as its size and global reach.[5][8]
A musical need not contain all of these elements to be regarded as a megamusical. Many of these features were established by the influential megamusicals of the 1980s, but the genre has since evolved. As such, consideration has to be given to the musical itself as well as the context surrounding it.[4]
Technology[edit]
The megamusical's continual innovation of stage technology has transformed the live theatre experience.[5] The advent of the genre itself was driven largely by major technological advances and globalisation, with one major turning point being the advancement of audio technology.[8][18] While radio microphones had been used sparingly as early as the 1964 Broadway staging of Funny Girl,[8] the original 1981 production of Cats was the first known instance where an entire cast was individually outfitted with radio microphones.[19][20] This departure from shared ambient microphones transformed sound design as it meant that musicals no longer had to depend on the acoustics and architectural design of the theatrical venue, and enabled megamusicals to achieve cinematic levels of sound amplification and studio-quality audio in live theatre.[8] This practice of individually radio miking each performer has since become the norm in live theatre.[19] Special effects technology also plays an integral role in this genre and has allowed for complicated set changes to be fully automated.[21] Production manager Richard Bullimore was at the forefront of realising these technical advances along with companies such as Delstar Engineering, Stage Technologies and Unusual Rigging.[22][23]
The megamusical Starlight Express features spectacle elements as seen in this photo.
This is a photo from a touring production of Wicked, a megamusical from the early 2000s.
The chandelier in The Phantom of the Opera is featured in a moment of spectacle during the musical.
One of the qualities of a megamusical is having a large ensemble cast, as seen in Les Misérables.
