What is the difference, on a technical level, between an opera and a musical? Is there really a clear divide?
Yes, as some have posted.
I can't say I'm very fond of either.
You might be surprised. My grandfather went to a production of
Kiss Me, Kate and enjoyed it. Mind you, he went as my guest because I was part of the backstage crew.
This is true, but then I tried to work out the difference between The Pirates of Penzance and Jesus Christ Superstar, and I fell a bit flat.
The Pirates of Penzance is an operetta and
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera. They're not remotely the same thing.
By that definition, comic opera (specifically G&S) isn't opera?
Nope.
During my years in the theatre, I mostly worked on musicals. My first exposure to musical theatre was in my junior high music classes, when we learned a
lot of songs from the Broadway musicals and some of the Disney movies. And then the teacher got over-ambitious and decided we were going to put on a production of
Carmen for our families...
My grandfather was less than impressed; his only comment was (imagine a gruff man in his mid-70s talking in a Swedish accent): "Dose boys need to learn how to
march!" My grandmother was impressed with the boy who played Escamilio the Toreador, even though he had to stand on tiptoes to reach the highest notes.
Fast-forward to when I was in high school and got dragged to a production of
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. My grandmother had previously gone to a few musicals and loved them. She tried to get me to come with her, but I told her, "I spent a lot of time learning those songs in school and I don't want to hear them anymore." I'd gone to a production of
My Fair Lady (because my neighbor was in it). It was good, but not enough to make me into a die-hard musical fan. But with "Joseph" it was because the granddaughter of one of her friends was going to be in it that she wouldn't give up badgering me until I went (I was resisting because it was based on the Old Testament)...
And damn, I was hooked. Almost instantly. I saw that show a couple more times - once with my mother, who loved the Pharaoh-as-Elvis number, and the last time on closing night. After the main curtain call, the actor playing the Pharaoh announced that they were going to have the techhies come out and take a bow as well, because they worked hard and never got much recognition. I was flabbergasted to see that some of the backstage workers were no older than I was (high school age), and I thought, "You mean
I could do this? It must be amazing!"
So the next time they put out a call for backstage workers (for the following year's spring musical), I applied. It was for Kiss Me, Kate (a musical about a group of actors putting on a production of Shakespeare's
Taming of the Shrew). I do love music, and if I hear stuff I especially like and think I would enjoy playing, I make the effort to memorize it. So my grandmother was really happy when I learned "Wunderbar," since she loves waltzes. To this day I have fond memories of that show, and still remember the songs (and the actors' voices). Mind you, I had an almost-front row seat for most of it, considering that my part was to sit in a lighting booth above the stage and fly a fake bird that was supposed to swoop down at the end of the first act.
Thus began a 12+ years' involvement with musical theatre. I worked on
Kiss Me, Kate,
Guys and Dolls,
Jesus Christ Superstar,
The Sound of Music,
The King and I,
Gypsy,
West Side Story,
Grease,
Camelot,
Peter Pan,
A Dish of Cream,
The Music Man,
The Boyfriend,
Man of La Mancha, and the last one was a revival of Jesus Christ Superstar 20 years after the first time around (the first one was a thousand times better, in my opinion). I also worked on a dinner theatre or two, and several Shakespeare plays.
Both Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat are rock operas, and have no spoken words. Everything is sung.
Musicals are amazing to watch, and a fantastic backstage experience.
Did anyone else find school in its entirety traumatic and of zero use whatsoever? Or is it just me?
Did you become as literate as you are between the ages of 0-5, or did you wait until you were out of high school to learn to read, write, and do math?
