Contextual Research

Glossary of Musical Terms

History of Opera and Musicals
Baron Andrew Lloyd Webber
The Phantom of the Opera (the musical)
Your presentation should include origin, creation and
development of the musical with brief reference to opera.
Key figures (people) and landmark works (music
compositions) should be summarized in brief.
Find out the people involved in creating the musical The
Phantom of the Opera- author, composers, librettists, etc
as well as the historical significance of this musical.
Keep a record of all the resources you use, as you will
need to hand in a bibliography at the end of your
presentation.

Glossary of Musical
Terms
In your own words, gives definition of the following terms
regularly used in opera/musicals:

Alto
Bass
Book

 Box Office
Broadway
Cast

 Chorus
Company
Composer

 Crew
Director
Diva

 EntrActe
Impresario
Ingenue

 Musical Director
Lyricist
Libretto

 Melismatic
Off-Broadway
Operetta

 Orchestration
Overture
Patter Song

 Reprise
Soprano
Syllabic

 Tenor
Vamp (in music terms)
West End

Background on the history of musical- from the

ancient musical plays to the opera and operetta of
the later 16th to 19th century, the variety shows
called vaudevilles, to the current musical. Did
NZers write any musicals?

This part should have roughly 25-30 slides,

involving brief description or explanation (short
sentences), photos/pictures/maps/show
programmes, youtube clips

History of the Musicals

From Opera to Musicals
This part should have roughly 25-30 slides, involving brief
description or explanation (short sentences),
photos/pictures/maps/show programmes, youtube clips

 In Italy- where it all started- the famous Claudio

Monteverdi and his famous opera Orfeo. What was
Orfeo about?

 In France- where Louise the XIV, the Versaille Palace

popularized operas in central and northern Europe, and
how Lully killed himself with

 In England- Handel and his star Castrato Farinelli. Find

out how castratos had to sacrifice to preserve their
beautiful voices and how big of a star they were (not
just farinelli)

 In Austria- Gluck and his 70 operas!

 In Austria- Gluck and his 70 operas!

 In Vienna- Mozart and the beginning of German operas

called Singspiel what were some of Mozarts most
famous operas?

 Back in Italy- Rossini (his Barber of Seville), Verdi (his

Aida which SPC did 3 years ago) and Puccini (his
Madame Butterfly which is inspired the similar story
that SPC did this year Miss Saigon)

 Back to Germany and France- Wagner (his opera

Lohengrin which produced the now-famous wedding
entrance), Richard Strauss (his seductive opera Salome,
based on the bible story) and Offenbach (the can can!
which opera of his is it from?)

 The fun, glitz and glamour of the American shows

combining music, dance and drama, started in 1900s
and gradually evolved to have music as central focus
that draws in the audience.

 You should also include the popularization of New Yorks

Broadway area

1920s- The Showboat

1930s- Anything Goes

1940s- Oklahoma

1950s- West Side Story

1960s- The Sound of Music

1970s- Fiddler on the Roof and

Grease

Famous composers of the musicals- Roger and

Hammerstein, Bernstein, Sondheim

 And back to the continental Europe and England

1980s- Les Miserables, Cats, The Phantom of Opera

1990s- The Lion King

the era of Disney musicals

2000s- Wicked

You should include the famous NZ musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show,
brief plot summary, about the composer and a video link of one of the most
famous song in the show.

 Make a youtube playlist documenting the history of

musicals, and include the link in your ppt.

In your own words, answer the following questions in the

ppt. these should be in paragraphs and no
pictures/photos/videos are required in these slides.
What is the difference between an opera and a musical?
Which is more important- the plot of the musical or the
music of the musical?
The chicken or the egg? Does the audience and
historical context influence the way opera/musical are
written, or the opera/musical written to mould/create
audience taste/popularity?