London musical

Music cannot be defined. It can only be felt. In its most technical of terms, music is defined as an orderly succession of sounds of definite pitch, whose constituents are melody, harmony and rhythm. Almost as fundamental to perception of the nature of music, however, is articulation. This articulation embraces not only the phrasing dynamics and such other things that breathe life into a musical performance, but also the creative use of silence. Virtually all music structures entail a degree of audible repetition; even this cannot always be grasped at a first hearing. Music is therefore a kind of an aural patterning rather than aural painting – abstract rather than representational. This is not to deny its capacity to elicit a strong emotional response, but the essential nature of music is possibly closer to mathematics than to any of its sister arts. Incorporating music in any form of other performing arts may be termed as a musical. In the strict sense, musical is a distinctive genre of London musical theatre, where a strong story is fused with a musical score and professional choreography, found in both theatre and cinema. Feature films with spectacular show business song and dance themes followed rapidly on the introduction of sound film.

However, the basic definition of the musical according to many is that of music oriented performance on the stage, television or film production, which incorporates music to unravel and unfolding of the narrative. The London musical is full of careful articulation of the other performing styles such as acting, dancing or choreography and even preparing a musical extravaganza of imagery on the stage. There are many types of the musical namely musical comedy, musical theatre, opera, operetta, comic operas, burlesque. Musical as a genre has a rich history of its own and is continuing its saga till this day.

A Brief History of the London Musical

The story of the so-called musical entertainment dates back to the medieval period, as the Britons and the British taverns were always good in providing musical entertainment. The outdoor musical "pleasure gardens" thrived throughout the eighteenth century. The early nineteenth century saw the rise of the "saloons" offering variety acts and the opportunity of liquor consumption. It was not earlier than the year 1843 that the Theatre Act of 1843 was declared. The act quite clearly stated that such establishments as stated above could only be run if they are licensed if run as theatres. Quite interestingly, the first of the London musical halls started in the suburban of the city. Although the emphasis was definitely on the musical aspect and entertainment, there was flurry of liquor much to the delight of the customers and contributing much to the profit money of the owners.

Great Britain’s Industrial Revolution not only revolutionized the political and economic scenario of the whole of Europe, but it also inflicted a great changed in the socio-cultural scenario as well. Industrial Revolution created a whole set of urban culture through the emergence of the new urban working class in the mid-1800s. These people never represented the kind of audience of the musical as we see and know today, rather these types of entertainment was very cheap. These shows included the variety shows, vaudeville, and such others. But with the passage of time, the big lords of the industry took notice of the musical shows and realized the potential of these popular shows in generating money. Therefore, by the turn of the nineteenth century, there were over three hundred music halls in London with many more scattered all around the British Isles. There was a deliberate shift in the type and class of the audience. Now that the crowds were entirely from the richer upper class, those who came to control this profitable “business” of the musical shows in Britain realized to what extent these kinds of shows could propagate ideas that could be political in nature.

Among the first musical halls of the city, the most notable were The Empire, The Hippodrome, and others. The basic formats were almost same for the musical performances. There was a Chairman who would introduce the performers; the London musical halls were lavishly huge and stunningly furnished with the price of tickets exceedingly high, but there were even stuffy converted basements. The following years of World War I much of the conditions of the musicals in London underwent a major change. The role of the performers became ever crucial. This period saw the rise of the popular stars like Florrie Forde, George Robey and Harry Champion and performances like Les Miserables. But with the advent of the sound talky films in Britain, the popularity of the musicals in London was in a gradual decline.

Musical Venues and Scheduled Musicals of 2006’

There are a number of very popular venues where today’s musical performances are presented in London. The most popular venue known throughout the world is the Royal Albert Hall, which hosted shows starting from Dylan’s live performance in the 60s to the popular musicals of this day. Most notable among others are: Victoria Palace, Phoenix, New London, Shaftesbury Theatre, Cambridge Theatre, Aldwych and Piccadilly.

2006 is going to be rich year in the arena of the London musicals. Some of the musicals in London for this year:

ALEGRIA: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

Royal Albert Hall (from 5 Jan 06 to 12 Feb 06)

BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL

Victoria Palace: (from 31 Mar 05 to 21 Oct 06)

Billy Elliot received the prize for the best musical in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. This popular adaptation from a film with the same name has been the most popular musical of London in these days.

CHICAGO

Adelphi (from 27 Oct 97 to 22 Apr 06)

DADDY COOL - BONEY M MUSICAL

Shaftesbury Theatre (from 26 Apr 06 to 21 Oct 06)

DANCING IN THE STREETS

Cambridge Theatre (from 7 Jul 05 to 22 Apr 06)

FAME: THE MUSICAL

Aldwych (from 6 Sep 02 to 29 Apr 06)

GUYS AND DOLLS

Piccadilly (from 19 May 05 to 2 Sep 06)

LES MISERABLES

Queen's (from 3 Apr 04 to 16 Dec 06)

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Her Majesty's (from 9 Oct 86 to 16 Dec 06)

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

Apollo Victoria (from 2 Jul 04 to 18 Feb 06)

SINATRA AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM

London Palladium (from 17 Feb 06 to 7 Oct 06)

WE WILL ROCK YOU (Queen Musical)

Dominion (from 26 Apr 02 to 7 Oct 06)

WICKED - The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz.

Apollo Victoria (from Sep 06)

Related Topics

»Musical Genre

»Musical Notation

»Musical Comedy

»Hollywood Musical

»Musical Theatre

»Musical Scale

»Musical Instrument

»New Musical Express

»Opera

»Operetta

»Stage Musicals

»Comic operas,

»Opera Bouffe,

»Revues

»Vaudeville

Minstrel shows.

»Burlesque

»London Music

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