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Playbill.com: A new crop of musical theatre songwriter is making noise, and Playbill put its ear to the ground to hear what they have to offer. Pop-rock music, art songs, cabaret and traditional narrative show tunes inform the work of these rising writers. We've got their stories — and audio samples of their songs.
I think that it is great that we have modernized the musical scores on Broadway with these other artists. Maybe the theater will attract a greater multitude of people. It is also nice because you can enjoy the music without having to always think about the show that you have just seen. I listened to a few of the artist's actual songs and they, at least the first artist, didn't even sound like a theatrical genre. It was a little more mellow and yet it can still be placed into a show, or a bar, or whatever. The sound of the other artists were also interesting but a lot more show tune-ish. Regardless, there was a little more intrigue and I hope we have more diverse inputs into the upcoming productions.
This was so much fun to listen to! It makes me realize that the artform of musical theater is alive and well. They've come up with some powerful new music, and are (in many cases) telling stories that have not previously been seen in musical theater, especially the darker stories. I also find it very interesting how there are certain commonalities between the biographies of the various composers, in particular the fact that many of them have received Jonathan Larson awards. Its a great thing that we have created ways to recognize upcoming talent, and then utilize the award winners to add to the art form.
Another of the commonalities I'm seeing is in those singing the pieces included in this article. Many of the same actors are present across multiple composer's works. I think that is both very smart of the actors- securing their future work- but also keeps those actors interested in the musical theater art form while they are in long Broadway runs.
2 comments:
I think that it is great that we have modernized the musical scores on Broadway with these other artists. Maybe the theater will attract a greater multitude of people. It is also nice because you can enjoy the music without having to always think about the show that you have just seen. I listened to a few of the artist's actual songs and they, at least the first artist, didn't even sound like a theatrical genre. It was a little more mellow and yet it can still be placed into a show, or a bar, or whatever. The sound of the other artists were also interesting but a lot more show tune-ish. Regardless, there was a little more intrigue and I hope we have more diverse inputs into the upcoming productions.
This was so much fun to listen to! It makes me realize that the artform of musical theater is alive and well. They've come up with some powerful new music, and are (in many cases) telling stories that have not previously been seen in musical theater, especially the darker stories. I also find it very interesting how there are certain commonalities between the biographies of the various composers, in particular the fact that many of them have received Jonathan Larson awards. Its a great thing that we have created ways to recognize upcoming talent, and then utilize the award winners to add to the art form.
Another of the commonalities I'm seeing is in those singing the pieces included in this article. Many of the same actors are present across multiple composer's works. I think that is both very smart of the actors- securing their future work- but also keeps those actors interested in the musical theater art form while they are in long Broadway runs.
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