Musical Theaters
The musical theaters “ Oklahoma” and “ Rent” were located in Broadway at two different times. The theater “ Oklahoma” debuted in the 1943 under the supervision of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. On the other hand, the theater “ Rent” premiered in 1996 on Broadway featuring music from the rock genre majorly composed by Jonathan Larson. The musical from “ Oklahoma” composed by Rodgers and Hammerstein II has titled “ Oh what a beautiful morning”, while the musical from “ Rent” by Larson has titled “ I will”. This paper describes the factors that allowed musical theater to take a gigantic leap from “ Oklahoma” to “ Rent” in only 50 years.
The first factor that made musical theater leap from “ Oklahoma” to “ Rent” is attributed to the uniqueness of the performances in theaters. Theaters became revolutionized in that performances included singing, acting and dancing. The actions of; singing, acting and dancing instilled new life in the theaters, and eradicated the old fashion theaters, which only involved acting. In essence, the musical, “ Oh what a beautiful morning” portrayed both aspects of signing and acting. The theme of the musical contained lyrics, which inspired a great number of people, and this made the musical very appealing (Everett & Laired, 2009).
The second factor that made musical theaters leap from “ Oklahoma” to “ Rent” is related to the society. The musical “ I will” by Jonathan Larson is performed by individuals from impoverished societies faced with negative issues such as poverty and AIDS. Through this, the theater became appealing since many individuals found relevance while in the theaters. Individuals in American societies and around the world, mostly the youths, found themselves on the negative side. Musicals such as “ Oh what a beautiful morning” flourished as it touched a great number of individuals. The inspiring nature of the two musicals “ Oh what a beautiful morning” and “ I will” added with the drama and music definitely appeals (Everett & Laired, 2009).
The third factor that allowed musical theaters to leap from “ Oklahoma” to “ Rent” is the idea of embracing professionalism and recognition of art as a talent. Producers, writers and directors in theaters over the 50 years embraced profession by taking up training, which further advanced their skills. Additionally, individuals over the years have show cased their talents by venturing in art in terms of acting, singing and dancing. The musical “ Oh what a beautiful morning” portrays professionalism and talent, this is demonstrated by how the artist sings out and acts under a proper direction. Further, in the musical “ I will” talent is highly shown by how the group artists sing out the inspiring song while harmonizing their different voices (Everett & Laired, 2009).
Conclusion
Musical theaters are common in Broadway, and in particular the most known theaters are “ Oklahoma” and “ Rent”. The two common musicals from these theaters are “ Oh what a beautiful morning” by Rodgers and Hammerstein II and “ I will” by Larson. It is evident that, musical theaters took a gigantic leap from “ Oklahoma” to “ Rent” due to factors such as; uniqueness of performance in theaters, negativity experienced by individuals in society, and embracing professionalism and recognition of talent. The idea of introducing aspects of singing, dancing and acting in performances modernized theaters. Ultimately, the factor of incorporating impoverished individuals in musical theaters was very appealing. Through the above, musical theaters took a gigantic leap from “ Oklahoma” to “ Rent” in only 50 years.
Reference
Everett W, Laired P. (2009). The A to Z of the Broadway Musical. New York: Scarecrow Press.
