English for Cultural and Creative Industries

Glee, a musical comedy-drama set in an American high school, was the smash hit TV show of 2009. But its creator, Ryan Murphy, was surprised by its success. “I never thought the show would even last,” he said. “I just didn’t think people would get it.”

Musicals don’t have a great reputation; they are often compared unfavorably with opera and considered somewhat tracky. In fact, musicals differ from opera in many ways: they contain more spoken dialogue, more choreographed dance numbers, and are performed in the audience’s first language (whereas, more often than not, opera is sung in Italian).

Musical theater has been around since the 1800s. In the early part of the century, it took the form of revues – short, unrelated songs and sketches performed one after the other. In the later part of the century, British writing duo Gilbert and Sullivan popularized the genre with a string of hits including H.M.S. Pinafore and The Mikado. In the 1900s another duo, Rogers and Hammerstein, penned many of the American classics which are still performed today, such as Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music. Musicals from the 1980s to the present tend to include elements of contemporary pop and rock music, while “jukebox” musicals like Mamma Mia use pre-existing songs by famous bands.

The most successful musical of all time is Les Misérables, based on a novel by the French author Victor Hugo. It opened in Paris in 1980 but really took off in London, where it has been performed nearly 12,000 times from 1985 to the present day. In 2012 Les Mis – as it is informally known – was also made into an Oscar-winning movie.

It is common for musicals to be made into films, and vice versa. The Lion King, for example, began life as a Walt Disney cartoon. Chicago was born as a silent movie in 1927, became a stage musical in 1975, and was revamped as a Hollywood blockbuster in 2002! This helps the shows to become more widely known, and explains why most people can sing along to songs like “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Do-Re-Mi.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA6R1DMb-Z8

In recent times, West End and Broadway musicals have taken on a more international flavor., whose score was written by legendary Bollywood composer A. R. Rahman, debuted in the early 2000s. In turn, some Asian countries are now Bombay Dreams producing their own musicals in the Western tradition; Snow.Wolf.Lake, which has versions in both Mandarin and Cantonese, premiered in Hong Kong in 1997.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMSvBxx8gY4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWFhe3xXSj0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHpKNacmOnshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ6vTW7lIog

Another current trend in the UK is to search for the leads in West End musicals through reality TV programs. In 2008, amidst criticisms of dumbing down, the talent show I’d Do Anything found actors to play the parts of Oliver and Nancy in Oliver! the following year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouP-YMTfCX4Dumbed down or not, musical theater is having a

renaissance thanks to Glee and High School Musical, which brought the genre to a new, younger audience. Not convinced? Then why are you still humming “Do-Re-Mi”?

Dialogue 1 Two students are talking about whether they want to see the film

adaption of Les Miserables. They have different views between Les Miserables the musical and Les Miserables the movie.

Olivia: Les Misérables is on TV tonight. Shall we watch it? Samuel: Is there nothing else on? I saw it at the cinema when it first came

out, and to be honest, I prefer the stage version. Olivia: Oh. Why? Samuel: The movie is too “Hollywood.” Some of the actors can’t even sing

very well! At least when you watch the stage musical, you know you’re getting professional musicians.

Olivia: Come on, be fair. Les Misérables has a difficult score. Could you sing it?

Samuel: No, I couldn’t. But I’m not being paid millions of dollars like those movie stars!

Olivia: I see your point, but I’m still keen to watch the movie. Samuel: OK, I’ll watch it with you. I must admit, I love the character of Jean

Valjean. Olivia: Me too! He’s a complicated kind of hero. Samuel: I’ll tell you a secret. When I saw Les Mis in the theater, I cried when

Valjean died.

Dialogue 2 Two students are planning a trip to London in the summer. Enjoying musicals is

included in their plan. They are discussing what musicals they want to see. Robin: West End musicals are pretty expensive these days. We can’t see everything. Zoe: I know. But we can’t go all the way to London and not see at least two. Robin: OK. Two seems reasonable. Which ones? Zoe: Well, we have to see The Lion King. That’s not even up for discussion. Robin: Agreed. I’ve heard it’s worth going just to see the costumes. Zoe: What about the second one? Robin: I’m thinking The Phantom of the Opera. Zoe: I saw it on Broadway. I don’t want to see it again. Robin: Mamma Mia? Zoe: Ugh, no thanks! ABBA get on my nerves. Robin: You suggest something, then! Zoe: Um … how about Billy Elliot? Robin: Billy Elliot? What’s that about? Zoe: It’s about a boy from a poor family in the north of England who becomes a

ballet dancer, although his family disapproves. Robin: That doesn’t sound like my cup of tea at all! Is there anything else …? [fade]

Note 1The West End of London is home to around forty commercial

theaters and many other tourist attractions. The heart of “Theaterland” is Shaftesbury Avenue, which contains six theaters: the Shaftesbury, the Palace, the Lyric, the Apollo, the Gielgud, and Queen’s – where Les Misérables is currently performed. The only West End show which has run for longer than Les Misérables is The Mouse Trap, which debuted in 1952!

The theater district of New York City, located in Manhattan, is referred to as Broadway. It has the same number of theaters as the West End. The longest-running show on Broadway is The Phantom of the Opera, which premiered in 1988, while Cats and Chicago take second and third place respectively. When tourists hear a theater described as “off Broadway”, they often mistakenly believe it is located on a side street off Broadway. In fact, this phrase simply means “a smaller theater.”