MUSICAL THEATRE

PROJECT

MUSICAL THEATRE PROJECT

You are to write an essay on 2 of the shows that you need to
study.
This is essay is a musical study of these shows.
In the essay, you will look at the music that features, its
relationship with the characters, its relationship to the story
and comment on the musical elements if EACH MUSICAL
NUMBER.

MUSICAL THEATRE PROJECT

This should be the basic outline of your essay:
Introduction: Talk about some general info for the show
(release date, composers, synopsis, character list, etc). You
could also talk about any contextual references surrounding
the musical
Musical Commentary: This is the bulk of your essay. Here
you will take each musical number in turn and comment on
the musical elements of it. Does it have any melodies you
have heard before? What type of song is it? What is the role
of the orchestra?

MUSICAL THEATRE PROJECT

Commenting on the Musical Elements

Structure
Tonality
Texture
Timbre (Vocal and instrumental combinations, and different
vocal qualities)
Melody
Harmony any interesting harmonic devices?
Rhythm, Metre & Tempo
Dynamics
You do not need to analyse every song, just make musical
comments on them; are there any features of interest?

MUSICAL THEATRE PROJECT

You will have access to the piano vocal scores of your chosen
musicals, try to use them to justify/evidence a point.
Make sure you do researchnot just Wikipedia, although as
long as the point made is referenced, then it is OK to use.
DO NOT COPY AND PASTE. Feel free to summarise and sum
up the research you do, but I do not need to read an internet
blog that somebody else has written!