Browsing by Subject "Musical"
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Item Genre in context : toward a reexamination of the film musical in classical Hollywood(2015-08) McDonnell, Cari Elizabeth; Neumeyer, David; Buhler, James; Schatz, Thomas; Carson, Charles; Almen, ByronThough no single history of the Hollywood musical exists as such, a historical narrative nevertheless emerges from the extensive body of scholarly work on the genre. Most studies of the American film musical have used as texts a limited canon of films. Though these studies have illuminated many stylistic and critical constructs at work in the film musical, they have also presented an incomplete picture of the historical development of the musical in classical Hollywood. We need to contextualize our critical understanding of the American film musical by broadening the scope of films we study and by investigating the cultural and industrial circumstances in which these films were produced. The purpose of this study, then, is twofold: I offer a historical context in which to conduct critical examinations of the Hollywood film musical, and I provide examples of how this historical understanding can inform further investigations of the genre. By far the most attention in the literature is given to MGM musicals, particularly those produced by the Freed unit in the 1940s and 1950s, with RKO’s Astaire-Rogers films in the 1930s trailing not far behind. Yet almost every other Hollywood studio, whether major, minor, or independent, made cycles of musicals during the studio era. Paramount Pictures, through its Bing Crosby and Bob Hope Road films, provides a significant contrast to the MGM Freed unit among the large studios in the prosperous 1940s, while Walt Disney Productions, through its animated musicals in the 1950s, offers a rare example among independent studios during the dismantling of the studio system. Taken together, these two case studies present a cross-section of production and reception practices through the height of the classical Hollywood era and into the immediate postclassical period. I will use these two prominent cycles of film musicals to examine the dynamic relationship that existed between the industrial and cultural conditions of the entertainment industry and the film musical's aesthetic style and content. This study will work alongside the existing literature to create a more complete and historically grounded understanding of the American film musical in the classical Hollywood era.Item You, the Bible, & me(2014-08) Hunt, John Michael; Pennycook, Bruce, 1949-This work is a collaboration between myself and my good friend Diana Silver who is the librettist of the work; the text is used with full permission from the author. It is conceptually a blend between a musical and a chamber opera: sung in a musical theater style, but without scenes of dialogue and containing very few spoken words. It features three actors: Girl 1 (high voice), Girl 2 (medium/low voice), and Boy 1 (medium voice) who rotate roles throughout the work. The work begins and ends with a telling of the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, with the in-between material consisting of three large scenes with a main character, a supporting character, and a character who only quotes directly from the Bible (various translations). In these scenes, the main character presents and works out a very personal conflict while interacting with the other two characters in various ways. The conflict is also invariably discussed through the lens of sometimes unexpected lessons learned from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The accompaniment is scored as a piano reduction (not a piano part) and is intended to be flexibly scored for the combination of piano and any other combination of instruments. It is also notable that this is not the complete work, but a sufficient portion of it as per request by the thesis supervisor. The portion submitted includes: the Prologue and Epilogue, which serve as framing for the entire piece and tell/retell the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, later to be drawn upon in the body of the work; the first large vignette, which involves a conflicted woman (Katie) coming to terms with newfound sexual expression; Katie's “aria,” in which she has grown confident in her newfound freedom and expresses it openly; and James's “aria” (to follow the second vignette), in which he laments the loss of his mother's relationship but also welcomes his new life and love.