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Terminology: Musical Theatre, Rock Musical, Rock Opera and Township Musical

Musical Theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.

Rock Musical and Rock Opera

A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concept albums become rock musicals. Notable examples of rock musicals include Next to Normal, Spring Awakening, Rent, Grease, and Hair. The Who's Tommy, Jesus Christ Superstar and other rock operas are sung-through productions with rock music scores and, like operas, have no spoken dialogue; all lines are sung.

Township Musical

"Township musical" is a term used to refer to a uniquely South African form of musical melodrama which evolved in the black urban townships of South Africa.

For more information, see Township musical.

Introduction

Producers

The Performing Arts Councils

Brian Brooke Company

Brickhill-Burke

Des and Dawn Lindberg/CAT Productions

Pieter Toerien

American Musicals in South Africa

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II are arguably the most significant creators of musical theatre in the 20th century. Their several collaborations produced some of the most successful and popular works in the musical theatre canon. Many of these have been staged in South Africa (and are still popular choices for amateur companies and schools). Works staged in South Africa include:

Carousel

Oklahoma!

South Pacific

The King and I

The Sound of Music

Lerner and Loewe

The work of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe has also proved popular across South Africa. Productions staged in South Africa include:

Brigadoon

Camelot

Gigi

My Fair Lady

Paint Your Wagon

Kander and Ebb

Cabaret

Chicago

Jerry Herman

Hello, Dolly!

Jerry's Girls

La Cage aux Folles

Mame

Stephen Sondheim

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A Little Night Music

Into the Woods

Side by Side by Sondheim

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

West Side Story

Other notable productions

Grease

Fiddler on the Roof

British Musicals in South Africa

Andrew Lloyd Webber

British-born Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-) is one of the most successful composers of musical theatre in the 20th century. His works have been popular in South Africa and have been regularly performed by professional companies and amateur theatre groups across South Africa. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was first presented in South Africa in 1974, just a short while after the production debuted in London. Tim Rice, the librettist, played the role of 'Pharoah' during a short run in 1975. It has been produced many times since. His second major success, Jesus Christ Superstar, premiered in 1971, but was banned in South Africa as it was considered blasphemous. The work was subsequently unbanned and first staged in South Africa in 1991. Performances during the run of the first production in Cape Town in 1993 were disrupted by protesters who objected to the show's portrayal of Jesus. Evita was first staged in South Africa in 1981, and has also been staged several times since. Although first staged in London in 1981, Cats was first presented in South Africa 20 years later. Several members of the South African cast subsequently toured the production internationally. Other works by Andrew Lloyd Webber staged in South Africa include Sunset Boulevard, The Boys in the Photograph and The Phantom of the Opera.