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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
Definition#
The term ‘concept musical’ was influenced by the 1968 New York Times review of Zorba by critic Martin Gottfried. 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.” 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).” Concept musicals place emphasis upon style, message, and thematic metaphor rather than the plot itself, 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.” 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.”
Origins#
The concept musical’s non-linear structure and focus on theme are suggestive of the works of Bertolt Brecht. A similar connection can be made to the Living Newspapers of the 1930s. 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.
Predecessors#
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. 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. 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.
Development#
The concept musical blooms from the growing concern for the cohesiveness of a particular production: unlike composers “who simply found a good story and musicalized it, now it was considered appropriate (and artistically more satisfying) to have a vision of the whole show.” Leonard Bernstein was a key figure in this movement, with his 1956 shows Candide and West Side Story representing a “radical experiment in book writing” dominated by theme and metaphor. The growing maturation of musical theatre allowed the genre to become “a vehicle for social commentary and experimentation in form,” including fragmented storytelling approaches in The Fantasticks (1960) and Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (1961), with the concept musical emerging at the forefront of this movement.
1960s#
Man of La Mancha premiered at the Goodspeed Opera House in 1965, eventually transferring to Broadway. The “antithesis of what people expected musicals to be,” the show was nonetheless popular, and marked a growing undercurrent of rebellion against the traditional musical theatre model. Cabaret opened on Broadway in 1966, directed by Harold Prince, “considered the primary director” of the genre.
1970s#
“The concept musical truly arrived with Company, a musical that managed to be palatable to audiences even as it broke just about every rule of musical comedy.” believing every show should contain “a secret metaphor that nobody knows except the authors.” Follies opened in 1971 at the Winter Garden Theatre, winning the Tony Award for Best Music and Lyrics and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle award for Best Musical. Directed by Prince and Bennett, with choreography by Bennett, Follies can be taken for a commentary on America under the Nixon presidency. After directing the film version of Cabaret, director-choreographer Bob Fosse helped shape the 1972 Broadway musical Pippin, written by Stephen Schwartz and Roger Hirson. Based on interviews with actual dancers, the show uses the premise of an audition to expose the complex lives of previously-faceless chorus members. Pacific Overtures, among the more obscure Sondheim scores, delineates a theme of naïve illusion maturing to acceptance. The show, directed by Prince, opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1976, winning the Drama Critics Circle award for Best Musical. Sondheim explained his writing process for the show: “What we actually did was to create a mythical Japanese playwright in our heads, who has come to New York, seen a couple of Broadway shows, and then goes back home and writes a musical about Commodore Perry’s visit to Japan. It’s this premise that helped to give us tone and style for the show.” The show mixes traditional forms of kabuki and vaudeville to present a unique viewpoint. Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (1979) pushed the genre’s boundaries into horror.
1980s and beyond#
Sondheim’s 1981 flop Merrily We Roll Along follows a trio of friends backwards from retirement to young adulthood, while his Sunday in the Park with George (1983) is inspired by a neo-impressionist painting. Experimental and expressive concept musicals were a precursor to the megamusical genre, which prioritized spectacle and stage technology to “radicalize the imagistic potential of musical theatre.” The original concept was to be an “entertainment ’event’ for children who love trains.” Lloyd Webber has been quoted as saying that the result was “not quite what we intended,” given that the “joy and sense of pure fun that was the original intention seemed to get lost.” Utilizing a series of vignettes and isolated situations to comment on the central idea, the circular structure follows the central character’s coming-of-age search for his purpose. None of the scenes “bring him closer to discovering his purpose, indicating that the events of the musical will continue after the section shared with the audience is completed.”
Criticism#
Much has been written about the importance and impact of the concept musical. Drama theorist and critic Kathryn Edney believes that the concept musical “is rarely popular or particularly profitable, although it often garners critical praise, scholarly attention, and a cult following among the musical theater cognoscenti.” She postulates that the discrepancies between the concept musical and megamusical are a direct result of the efforts of Sondheim and Lloyd Webber, whose “competing musical and personal styles… polarized fans of this genre. One is not supposed to enjoy both Cats and Company.”