Individual Unit (14) (Evaluation)

Overall, I am very pleased with my completed timeline. I am pleased with the aesthetics of it, but am more pleased with the content. Due to my in depth research process I managed to include a lot of information on my timeline. I really enjoyed the whole process of making my timeline as I found it really interesting.

When I decided I was going to do my project on the history of Musical Theatre, I instantly knew I would have to include Musical Hall, as having done my LCM Musical Theatre singing grades, I knew that Music Hall played a big part in influencing Musical Theatre as we know it today. However, by choosing this topic for investigation, I got to research Music Hall in detail and learned a lot about it. For example, I did not know any information on the first purpose built hall, and nor did I know about the regulations that lead to the strikes of 1907. As I am very passionate about Opera, I particularly enjoyed researching this section. I learned about a lot of performers as well as learning about their original purpose - to impress foreign dignitaries and other royals. It was obvious that I was going to have to include West End and Broadway on my timeline. As these are very common today and I have been to both, I was already rather knowledgeable on both West End and Broadway, but I learned something new when researching the first theatres. As my draft left a gap between West End and Broadway, I thought it would be ideal to have a section between these two comparing them both. I found this section rather fun as I could combine my first-hand experience on this as well as some research. I also enjoyed researching different Musical Theatre types. I knew this was essential for my timeline as Musical Theatre has changed a lot over the past hundred years. Moreover, I was interested to see what types of Musical Theatre there were and where the cross-overs were. Although it wasn't really essential for my timeline, I wanted to do a couple of example shows for each type. With each example I wanted to give a little bit of information on the show just out of intrigue and because I enjoy gaining as much knowledge as I can on Musical Theatre in general. Also, for purely intrigue alone, I decided to conduct a social media investigation to find out Musical Theatre fans' opinions on what was more important in influencing Musical Theatre as we know it today. I expected Music Hall to win but didn't anticipate on Music Hall and Opera being so close throughout the polls run.

On reflection, I probably should have been more selective on my special subject investigation title, as my investigation was rather broad. Although I did manage to produce a detailed timeline showing the progress across time, if I had come up with a more focussed investigation title, then I could have had a more detailed piece. For example, I could have done my whole investigation on Opera, and so could have written about multiple composers and their work, a variety of different operas, or even certain characters from different operas. This would have made my unit a lot more in depth, focussed and arguably easier, but I enjoyed the challenge of trying to research such a vast point and I found it interesting piecing together all of the different parts of the puzzle.

If I were to do this project again and if I could have had more time, I would have been a little bit more in depth with all of the different sections - for example, I would include more information on the longest running shows, and just generally make my timeline bigger. The main thing I would change though, however, is that I would have made my piece interactive! I would turn this timeline into an online timeline, with just the titles of each section in the correct place on the timeline - when you click on a title, the box would enlarge and the information on the desired section would appear. I would include video clips and links on the sections as well (for example, when you clicked on the composers to find out more information on them, a piece of music written by them would start playing). Furthermore, I would also create a quiz section that is made up of a variety of different questions on any of the information in the timeline to test the readers' knowledge.

Individual Unit (13) (Timeline)

Today I completed my timeline! I have really enjoyed doing this project as I am really passionate about Musical Theatre! Some sections of my project I already knew a lot about (West End, Broadway and Opera), though some sections I didn't know a lot about (the strikes of Music Hall). The section of my timeline that I found most interesting was the Music Hall section - this was because there was a lot of information available about this topic, including very precise facts. Another part of the research process that I enjoyed was my Twitter section - this was because I was intrigued to find out musical theatre fans opinions. However, my favourite part of putting together this timeline was putting the Sellotape on the back to stick the four A3 sheets together! This was my favourite part because it meant that I had finally put all of my information together and had finally got all of my information in one place!

Individual Unit (12) (West End vs. Broadway)

• Broadway's quiet days are Mondays, whilst West End's quiet days are Sundays
• Broadway call their break an "intermission", whilst West End call it the "interval"
• West End has a fire curtain or safety curtain come down in the interval. whereas Broadway doesn't
• Stalls = Orchestra section // Royal, grand or dress circle = Mezzanine // Upper circle = Balcony // Balcony = Broadway doesn't tend to have - http://www.campbroadway.com/2013/12/16/west-end-vs-broadway/
• West End theatres are beautiful examples of Victorian architecture, where you can wait inside large foyers or entrance halls. When going to see a Broadway show, you wait outside in line, and then walk a few feet through the doors to the auditorium - https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/west-end-features/broadway-baby-a-reflection
• If you want to know who is in the cast at a West End performance, you must buy a programme, whereas at Broadway shows you are given a free "Playbill" that states who is performing and a little bit about the show.

Individual Unit (11) (Making the timeline - drafts)

Before doing my research, I had done some designs on how I would lay out my timeline (http://lornaclarkra.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/individual-unit-2-timeline-layout-plan.html), however since doing the research, I have realised that my design will have to change. This is because there are a lot more dates involved than I had anticipated, and also, I am including a lot more different sections of information that I had originally intended.

To begin working out how I would lay out my timeline, I wrote down all of the dates from my research blogs and a couple of words on what this date was. I then re-wrote this list in chronological order. By doing this, I was ensuring that I wouldn't miss any dates out and would be able to leave plenty of room to include all of these dates. I then managed to make another draft on how to lay my timeline out. I quickly realised that I would have to group a lot of dates together. I decided to put the different topics in the right place on my timeline, but write the information about this topic in the same box, regardless of the dates. This was the easiest and clearest way to present my information as all of the information about one topic was in one place. The image at the top shows my first draft.

After completing this draft, I realised that my "Twitter" section could be moved down (as it doesn't need to connect to the actual timeline) allowing the "Music Hall" section to become below the timeline. This meant that I could have a bigger Broadway section and could have West End and Broadway next to each other. I then realised that there was a big gap between West End and Broadway - I wanted to fill this gap and realised that a comparison between the two would be appropriate due to the positioning of this on the timeline. Therefore I shall do a research blog on the difference between Broadway and West End. Any other gaps shall be filled with images to improve the overall aesthetics of my display.

Individual Unit (10) (Social media investigation results)

On the left are the results of my social media investigation. As explained on my previous blog (http://lornaclarkra.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/individual-unit-9-influence.html) I expected Music Hall to win as people normally associate Music Hall to Musical Theatre due to the resemblance in the title and also because people don't tend to count Opera as Musical Theatre. Music Hall won in the end with 57%. During the early stages of this poll running, the results were very close and fluctuated between 50:50 and 53:47. At one point, Opera did take the lead, however, this quickly changed so Music Hall was in the lead again. I found this experiment quite interesting as I was asking mainly Musical Theatre fans this question, as opposed to random people.

Individual Unit (9) (Social media investigation)

I have decided to broaden my investigation by using social media to find out the public's opinion. The question I wanted to find the public's opinion to was the following: "What was more significant in influencing Musical Theatre as we know it today: Music Hall or Opera?". To ask this question I messaged the Twitter page "Musical Polls" (https://twitter.com/justmusicalpoll). The reason I asked them is because it is a poll page that is aimed at and followed by Musical Theatre fans, thus meaning that people are more likely to respond to it, and those responding are actually interested in Musical Theatre. I asked the page to set the closing date of the poll to Th/30/06/16 as my deadline for the entire unit is Fr/01/07/16. The page posted my question for me and so far (27 minutes after posting the question) 52% vote Music Hall and 48% vote Opera! I shall keep checking on the page to see how this develops and changes. I wasn't going to vote on the page as I didn't want to make the vote biased, but unfortunately, I had to as to be able to see the votes and see how it was developing. However, I made the vote fair by going for the option that I genuinely thought was true, rather than going for what I thought would win. I voted for Opera as it was around before Music Hall and involves lavish costumes, exaggerated gestures, song and sometimes dance. However, I predict that Music Hall will win as it has the word "Music" in it, making it sound more like "Musical Theatre" so people may see the resemblance more.

Individual Unit (8) (Musical Theatre Types Examples Research)

I decided to do an example of each of the different eras that were posted on my last blog to ensure that I completely understood what was involved in each era. By doing this research activity, I have also gained a broader understanding of Musical Theatre by researching a few different musicals all from different eras.

Individual Unit (7) (Musical Theatre Types Research)

https://www.daydreameducation.co.uk/poster-history-of-musical-theatre-1
https://www.daydreameducation.co.uk/poster-history-of-musical-theatre-2
https://www.daydreameducation.co.uk/poster-styles-of-musical-theatre

Pre - 1900 = Musical Comedies & Operettas
1900 - 1929 = Musical Reviews & Broadway Extravaganzas
1930 - 1939 = Jazz Musicals & Naturalistic Dialogue
1940 - 1949 = The Golden Age
1950 - 1959 = Book Musicals & Romantic Comedies
1960 - 1969 = Counter-culture & Rebellion
1970 - 1979 = Rock Musicals
1980 - 1989 = Mega-musicals & Vast Concepts
1990 - 1999 = Jukebox Musicals & Revivals
2000 - 2009 = Reality TV Talent Contests

Most people tend to class Musical Theatre and Opera as two separate types of entertainment, however, Opera does count as a style of Musical Theatre. Although different vocal techniques are used for Opera and Musical Theatre, both involve exploring the plot through song and drama (and in Opera's case, through song the whole time, rather than being broken up by acted scenes). It is difficult to decide where the cross-overs are for Musical Theatre, but I believe that if a piece involves singing, acting and movement (i.e. the three threats) then it counts as Musical Theatre.

Individual Unit (6) (Broadway Research)

DEFINITION:
"a street in New York City, famous for its theaters, restaurants, and bright lights." - http://www.dictionary.com/browse/broadway

FIRST THEATRES:
"Thomas Kean and Walter Murray, actor-managers in the area, established a theater company that housed 280 residents. The Revolutionary War abruptly stopped all productions and the theater did not open back up until 1798." - http://www.newyork.com/resources/broadway-and-theater-history/

THEATRES:

 http://alfa-img.com/show/broadway-shows-map.html










LONGEST RUNNING MUSICALS:

• Phantom of the Opera - 26/01/1988 to now - Majestic Theatre - 28th year
• Chicago - 14/11/1996 to now - Ambassador Theatre - 20th year
• Lion King - 13/11/1997 to now - Minskoff Theatre - 19th year
• Cats - 07/10/1982 to 10/09/2000 - 18 years

Individual Unit (5) (West End Research)

DEFINTION:
"The western section of central London, England, noted for its fashionable districts and its shops and theatres. It includes Mayfair and Hyde Park." - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/West+End

FIRST THEATRES:
"London's first playhouse was built at a location known as the Shoreditch in 1576 and carried the name of 'The Theatre'. Prior to this plays had been performed in courtyards, Inn yards and even in people homes. In 1663 the first West End theatre opened, the mini venue played host to the earliest stars such as Neil Gwyn and Charles Hart. Tragically the theatre burnt down due to a fire in 1672." - http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/londons_vibrant_west_end.html
"The history of the London West End has been inextricably linked to the theatre for hundreds of years. From the opening of the first West End venue in Drury Lane in 1663, locals and visitors to the burgeoning capital flocked in their droves to the West End to be entertained and enthralled by the various shows on offer. - http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/london-west-end/

THEATRES:

 https://www.londontoolkit.com/theatre/london_theatre_breaks.htm

LONGEST RUNNING MUSICALS:

Les Misérables – opened 08/10/1985 at the Barbican, now at the Queen's Theatre – 30th year

The Phantom of the Opera – opened 09/10/1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre – 29th year

Blood Brothers – opened 27/08/1988 at the Albery Theatre, later transferring to the Phoenix Theatre and closed on 10/11/2012 – 24 years

Cats – opened 11/05/1981 at the New London Theatre and closed on 11/05/2002 on its 21st anniversary

Mamma Mia! – opened 06/04/1999 at the Prince Edward Theatre, moving later to the Prince of Wales Theatre and now playing at the Novello Theatre – 17th year - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_End_theatre

Individual Unit (4) (Opera Research)

DICTIONARY DEFINITION:
"an extended dramatic composition, in which all parts are sung to instrumental accompaniment, that usually includes arias, choruses, and recitatives, and that sometimes includes ballet" -
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/opera

ORIGINS:
"Ballet and Opera were born out of royal entertainments in 17th-century Italy and France. They were unashamed propaganda aimed at impressing foreign dignitaries and other royals. The stories or themes were taken from classical mythology, drawing parallels between the ruler and the mythological gods or heroes." - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/early-opera/ 

FIRST OPERA:
"The first opera was Daphne, first performed in 1598 during Carnival at the home of Jacopo Corsi (d.1604) in Florence, music by Corsi and Jacopo Peri (1561-1633), libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini (1562-1621). It is recognized as the first because it was the first of a series of similar pieces which established the form of early 17th century Italian opera, and all subsequent developments were based on that tradition. The score does not survive." - http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/misc/opera.html

COMPOSERS:
Corsi (1561 - 1602) & Peri (1561 - 1633) - http://www.hoasm.org/IVD/Corsi.html
Bach (1685 - 1750) // Mozart (1756 - 1791) // Beethoven (1770 - 1827) // Verdi (1813 - 1901) // Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) // Chopin (1810 - 1849) // Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) // Puccini (1858 - 1924) // Handel (1685 - 1759) // Stravinsky (1882 - 1971) - http://historylists.org/people/top-10-most-famous-classical-music-composers.html

PERFORMERS:
Lind (1820 - 1887) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Lind & http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/0-9/19th-century-opera/
Schwarzkopf (Soprano) (1915 - 2006) // Geda (Tenor) (1925 - ) // Price (Soprano) (1927 - ) // Wunderlich (Tenor) (1930 - 1966) // Flagstad (Soprano) (1895 - 1962) // Pavarotti (Tenor) (1935 - 2007) // Sutherland (Soprano) (1926 - 2010) // Domingo (Tenor) (1941 - ) // Callas (Soprano) (1923 - 1977) // Fischer-Dieskau (Baritone) (1925 - ) - http://listverse.com/2012/04/08/top-10-greatest-opera-singers/

I researched Opera as it was heavily influential on musical theatre we know today. Some opera does technically count as musical theatre as it obviously involves singing, acting (through song) and sometimes dancing. The musical "Rent" (by Jonathon Larson) was loosely based on Puccini's opera "La Bohéme". Opera was also influential with its use of lavish costumes and comical songs (such as "Mein Herr Marquis" from "Die Fledermaus").

Individual Unit (3) (Music Hall Research)

DICTIONARY DEFINITION:
"A form of variety entertainment popular in Britain from circa 1850, consisting of singing, dancing, comedy, acrobatics, and novelty acts. Its popularity declined after the First World War with the rise of the cinema" - http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/music-hall

ORIGINS:

"Music halls can be traced back to the taverns and coffee houses of 18th century London where men met to eat, drink and do business. Performers sang songs whilst the audience ate, drank and joined in the singing. By the 1830s taverns had rooms devoted to musical clubs. They presented Saturday evening Singsongs and Free and Easies. These became so popular that entertainment was put on two or three times a week." - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-story-of-music-halls/

PERFORMANCES:

"Members of the public flocked to theatres around the country to sing along to favourite popular songs, or watch entertainments as diverse as acrobats, trapeze artists, ‘operatic selections’, ‘black-face minstrels’, or can-can dancers." - http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item106422.html

PERFORMERS:

Paul Cinquevalli (juggler); Lottie Collins (skipping rope dance act); Gus Elen ('coster' comedian); El Niño Farini (acrobat); Dan Leno (pantomime dame); Marie Lloyd (singer); Vesta Tilley (impersonator) - http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/m/music-hall-performers/

THEATRES:

"Mr Charles Morton, publican of the Canterbury Tavern in Lambeth, opened the first purpose built music hall, The Canterbury Hall, in 1852. It held 700 people. Audiences were seated at tables and food and drink was served throughout the performance, which took place on a platform at one end of the hall under the watchful Chairman, the vocalist, Mr John Caulfield. Entrance was by a sixpenny refreshment ticket and the star was Sam Cowell, who had been lured from Evans’ Supper Rooms. So great was Cowell’s success that Morton had to build a larger hall on the same site. The more ornate hall opened in 1856 complete with chandeliers, balcony and art exhibition. It held 1500 people. Admission was sixpence to the floor and ninepence to the gallery. Refreshments, now charged separately, were served at tables. Mr Chairman sat at a table on the stage." - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-story-of-music-halls/
"Institutions: The backroom of the pub, where simple sing-songs gave way to the singing saloon concert // Popular theatre, sometimes in pub saloons but mainly at travelling fairs // Song & Supper Rooms, where more affluent middle class men would enjoy a night out on the town // The Pleasure Gardens, where entertainment became more low brow as the years passed." - http://www.musichallcds.co.uk/music_hall_history.htm

STRIKES:

In 1907 there were strikes due to contracts becoming stricter. - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-story-of-music-halls/ (bottom of the page)

THE END: In the 1950s, Rock and Roll arrived, which drove away older audiences and brought in younger audiences (who weren't interested in the Music Hall acts). Competition for Music Hall also appeared in the form of television. "The music hall is dying, and with it, a significant part of England. Some of the heart of England has gone; something that once belonged to everyone, for this was truly a folk art." — John Osbourne, The Entertainer (1957).- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_hall


I knew it was essential to conduct research on Music Hall to enable myself to have a strong knowledge of the history of Musical Theatre, as I had heard of Music Hall and believed it to be where Musical Theatre stemmed from. However, I do understand that Opera had a strong influence on Musical Theatre, so I shall research this in depth too. I was eager to begin my research on Music Hall, as I have had a little taster of it having taken Musical Theatre singing grades, and found it really interesting. I thought that having a dictionary definition of the term "Music Hall" would be a good place to begin my research. I then broke the research down into small subtitles to make the research more manageable. Having done a research log of purely Music Hall, I will be able to produce a very detailed timeline by the end of this unit. I strongly believe that by understanding the routes and influences of a chosen subject, you will gain a better understanding of the subject itself.

Individual Unit (2) (Timeline layout plan)

At the end of this unit, I shall present my research in a timeline. I think that this is the most appropriate way to display my research as I can include all information on it and it would be clear and easy to read. This method also provides a clear visual presentation of the history of musical theatre, making it easier to understand and find specific information you desire to find out. 

The fist image is my original draft for my timeline. I wanted to separate Broadway and West End from each other so I could clearly see the difference between the two. However, I then made a second draft which mirrors the two sets of information, with the date bar in the middle, to make it easier to compare the two sets of information. I thought this would be useful as it would be interesting to see how both Broadway and West End were developing at certain times. After making my second draft, I realised that Music Hall was a type of British entertainment, ad so would not be relevant under the Broadway section of my timeline. I then remembered that opera came before Music Hall and so needed to include this on my timeline as well. As neither of these two sections fit my idea of comparing West End and Broadway, I decided I should make my timeline less focussed on them and more broad to include all of the history (as a lot of musical theatre productions originated in fringe theatres as opposed to being large-scale Broadway and West End productions). Therefore, in my third draft, I have made my timeline very broad and shall write next to the title of each example of types of theatre whether they are West End, Broadway or Fringe. (To make these drafts fairly accurate, in terms of where I placed Opera and Music Hall, I did a tiny bit of research to discover the approximate dates of when these two types of entertainment existed).

Individual Unit (1) (Proposal)

I have decided to do my special subject investigation on musical theatre as I want to pursue a career in it. Therefore, by getting an in-depth knowledge of the history of musical theatre I would get a better
understanding of the arts. I shall also research the important musical theatre figures and the different types of musicals as to be able to create a timeline of musical theatre from music hall to musicals today. By understanding music hall thoroughly, I would be able to understand the transition from music hall to the musicals we know today better. I will also research different types of shows to be able to make a timeline of the history of musical theatre including significant figures. I could do primary research on popularity of different types of musicals by putting a question poll, asking what people's favourite type of musical is, on the twitter site that is targeted at musical theatre fans (https://twitter.com/justmusicalpoll). Moreover, I shall do an in-depth comparative study of Broadway and West End (including facts and statistics) to be able to make a dual timeline to compare them both and how they advanced and developed.