Matthew Lemargie

Dr. Bohm

MUSC 127

11 April 2021

A Lesson from the Classics

The ingenuity and wonder of the modern Broadway musical did not appear out of thin

air. It has evolved significantly over the last century and some of the most defining traits of the

Broadway musical stem from three seminal productions. The first is Show Boat by Jerome Kern,

Oscar Hammerstein II and P.G. Wodehouse which follows the lives of show boat workers in the

segregated South. Next, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first show Oklahoma! examines the

romance between a farm girl and two suitors who try to win her over. Lastly, West Side Story by

Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents is a modern-day telling of Romeo

and Juliet with New York street gangs. The Broadway musical would not be as it is today

without the inspiration of the innovations that each of these three shows made in their time.

These shows demonstrated that you could integrate the book and music, that musicals could tell

serious stories with timely themes rather than simply lighthearted ones, that dance could be used

to tell the story rather than just entertain. In this paper, we will explore the influence of these

three musicals’ innovations on modern Broadway.

In today’s Broadway musicals, there is a certain sophistication to the storytelling and

blending of song and plot, but this has not always been the case. In the early days of the

Broadway musical, “they had little serious to say and there was no need to integrate the songs,

dances, comedy routines and the spectacular chorus girl numbers” (Malet). An early example of
music and plot being integrated is the song “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” from Show Boat. The

song is used to foreshadow the plot point that the main character Julie is passing as white to

evade segregation laws. Oklahoma! additionally, “seamlessly [integrated] themes, plot and

character into the score” with songs like, “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” (Stavropolous).

At the beginning, Curly sings this tune to Laurey to win her over and in the end, they fall in love

and depart for their honeymoon in the surrey that Curly describes. Among the best examples of

advanced storytelling through music in Broadway is the “Tonight Quintet” from West Side Story.

This tune is extraordinary because, “We hear from many different characters from different parts

of the stage: Tony and Riff planning the rumble, the Jets and the Sharks marching to the rumble,

Anita preparing for a sexy date, and the young lovers rising above it all with their airy beguine”.

(Katz). Undoubtedly, this influenced the “Christmas Bells” sequence from Rent which, similarly,

exposes the audience to several different plot points simultaneously and uses musical themes that

recur throughout the show.

Originally, the Broadway musical sought simply to amuse and entertain its audience, but

eventually it evolved and began to deal with more serious and timely themes. One such example

is Show Boat which, “unflinchingly dealt with themes like race relations, middle-age

disappointment with young love and the ravaging effects of alcoholism” (Lunden). This show

introduced the classic tune “Ol’ Man River” in which Joe, a black dock worker, laments his

troubles with racism while pondering the Mississippi River. West Side Story did not shy away

from bold and relevant topics either. The song “America” examines the American Dream and the

difficulties that the Sharks have in achieving it because of the racism they face. It is likely the

portrayal of these bold themes that led to the incredible success of these two productions.

Oklahoma! was also a success because of its themes which, “hit a nostalgic chord with audiences
just out of the Depression and into World War II” (Malet). Thus, musicals began to be written

with relevant themes in mind that would allow the audience to relate and to empathize rather

than simply be entertained. We can see this today in shows like Rent, which dealt with poverty

and the AIDS epidemic, and Dear Evan Hansen, which deals with social anxiety in high school

students.

Dance has long been a tenet of American musical theater and Broadway musicals, but it

was not always utilized in the way we see today. Originally, dance was simply a distraction but

in Oklahoma! it was an, “integrated dramatic element, with skillfully choreographed ballet

"dream" sequences illuminating the characters' unspoken emotions and thoughts” (Everett). This

refers to the “Dream Ballet” which tells an entire part of the story exclusively through dance.

Comparably, the dance sequence that opens West Side Story has no dialogue or singing but

conflict between the two street gangs conveyed through ballet. This intertwining of dance and

plot eventually led to shows like A Chorus Line which follows Broadway dancers telling their

personal stories as an audition for a show.

In conclusion, modern Broadway musicals were inspires heavily by the innovations made

in the classic productions Show Boat, Oklahoma!, and West Side Story. These innovations

include: revolutionary integration of music and book, shifting away from plain entertainment to

delve into complex themes and social issues, and use of dance as a storytelling device.
 Works Cited

Everett, Dianna. “Oklahoma!: The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.” Oklahoma!

| The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society,

www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OK090.

Katz, Noel. “Studying Musicals: West Side Story.” MusicalWriters.com, 29 Jan. 2021,

www.musicalwriters.com/studying-broadway-musicals/m-z/studying-musicals-west-side-

story/#:~:text=Narrative%20dances%20had%20appeared%20in,tell%20most%20of%20the

%20story.&text=This%20powerful%20way%20of%20moving,from%20it%2C%20On

%20The%20Town.

Lunden, Jeff. “'Showboat'.” NPR, NPR, 17 Apr. 2000, www.npr.org/2000/04/17/1073053/npr-

100-i-showboat-i.

Malet, Jeff. “‘Oklahoma!" a Historical Perspective.” The Georgetowner, Georgetown Media

Group, 26 July 2011, georgetowner.com/articles/2011/07/26/oklahoma-historical-

perspective/.

Stavropoulos, Laura. “How ‘Oklahoma!’ Birthed The Modern Musical.” UDiscover Music, 2

Aug. 2020, www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/how-oklahoma-birthed-the-modern-

musical.