Story: The Musical

There are many different methods of storytelling: novels, films, comics, television, oral, even the news can be considered storytelling. However, one method of storytelling that has become quite underrated is the musical. Throughout history, the musical has actually been a prominent way to tell stories. Just think of the theaters of ancient Greece when plays such as Oedipus the King and Antigone would tell stories and legends of the Greek culture. These plays were the earliest musicals—they utilized a chorus that sang refrains to the characters in the performance and had all the other components of a musical we still use today.  

                The musical has evolved from the ancient Greek plays to the Broadway hits that exist today. When you think about it, the musical has been around longer than the novel (which came around in the 17^th or 18^th century) which is interesting since most people regard books and novels as the primary method of storytelling today. There are several reasons the novel has survived this long. First of all, musicals have all the components that make a good story just like movies and books. They have relatable characters, vivid scenery, and a plot that includes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and a conclusion. This is just the skeleton of any basic story though. The reason musicals didn’t crumble though is not what makes them similar to other story telling methods—it’s what sets them apart. Musicals are able to convey profound emotion and stories in two to three hour periods, while books convey this emotion in hundreds of pages. People have short attention spans unfortunately and if they can experience a story in two hours rather than the two days it would take them to read a book, they’re most likely going to pick the two hour option—the musical. Unfortunately due to cost and transportation issues, musicals are less popular than movies. Yet they can often convey the type of insightful emotion seen in books better than movies since musicals use the component of song. Songs are powerful tools in the storytelling world because they can fit a world of emotion and character development in a three to five minute time span. In a musical, relatable lyrics joined with the performer’s intonation and the excitement in the music makes for a powerful combination. In one song, you can learn the context of a scene, a character’s backstory, the love between two characters, and more. For example, think of the Disney movie-musicals you watched as a kid. In Beauty and the Beast, the opening song gives the audience so much information in a short period of time. The scene is set: the movie takes place in a tiny French village where everybody knows everybody. The characters are established: we learn that Belle is the most beautiful girl in town, loves to read, and is thought to be weird; Gaston is arrogant, vain, and self-centered; and the village people are old-fashioned, normal people who live a routine life. The song also sets up the general plot of the story; it’s the ‘exposition’: Belle is sick of this village life and wants more from life; Gaston plans to marry her, etc. etc. Or how about Belle’s reprise of the opening song, the audience learns how she desperately wants to be free and get out of her little village and how she yearns for somebody to understand her and not think she’s strange. Through the song you can feel the desperation and passion in her voice. Other storytelling methods don’t have this tool. Musicals allow the audience to understand the context of the story and to empathize with the characters through song.

 

                Another reason musicals are unique is the fact that they’re live. When you read a book or watch a movie over and over again, the story becomes predictable. Eventually, the audience doesn’t become active participants in the story. But with musicals, the audience members always have to be active participants. With live events, there’s an element of unpredictability that keeps the audience on their feet.  There’s the possibility actors could drop a line and have to improvise, or a prop or piece of scenery wouldn’t make it out on stage on time, or the company of the show could plan to do something different for a special show or something. Point is, is that when you go see a musical, there’s always the possibility that the story can be changed. Unpredictability is exciting. It keeps the audience alert and at the ready. Sometimes, audience members even like it when an actor drops a line—it’s like a little game of who knows the show better, whether you can catch the line dropped or not.

                All in all, musicals are a unique way of storytelling that unfortunately many people glance over when they want a story. Most people gravitate towards books and movies as their storytelling method of choice, but the musical allows for a story to be told in a unique way, through song and dance as well as dialogue. Funny enough, many hit Broadway musicals were based on books. Wicked, Les Miserables, Rent, Matilda, the Color Purple, Mame…all of these famous musicals were based on a book. Musicals are a new way of looking at a story and allow us to participate actively in the story through live shows, music, and dance. Like the playwright Arthur Miller said, “the theater is so endlessly fascinating is because it’s so accidental. It’s so much like life.”  Musicals are a method of storytelling that are just as good as more popular methods of storytelling. So go to the theater, see your school’s spring musical, watch Les Miz when it comes on TV, and experience the magic of a musical.

 

P.S. And just for fun, here's a parody of the song 'Belle' from Beauty and the Beast.