The meaning of the word "Broadway" today is not limited to the street or to a concentration of theaters, but is used to refer to the quintessence of American theatrical art. The mark of true success as an actor is to have your name on a neon sign advertising a theater on Broadway. Broadway also coined terms such as "standing in the spotlight," which means to be the center of public attention, to be a celebrity. If your name was in the paper or you were the subject of conversation, people said you were "in the spotlight". "Broadway is a place of trials and tribulations that attracts thousands of people from all over the world every day, where laughter, tears, pride, and disillusionment can be found everywhere. You may be an overnight success, or you may have become a "millionaire" or a "pauper". Perhaps this is the magic of Broadway, which can only be fully realized by being there.
Theaters on both sides of Broadway in Manhattan, New York, are the center of American theatrical performances, making Broadway synonymous with American theater. Any play that has a successful run in one of the Broadway theaters becomes famous throughout the United States and the English-speaking world, and even throughout the Western world, and is then performed in that theater everywhere. Out of the same reasoning, most of the plays that are successful all over the United States also move to Broadway, and then push through the fame of Broadway to other places.
Musicals, as one of the fastest-growing artistic achievements of the last century, do have a lot of experience that we should emphasize, learn from, and borrow from in terms of their creative concepts, production methods, and marketing strategies. Musicals, as the name suggests, are "plays with music". But in fact, it also incorporates a lot of elements from other arts. Insofar as music is concerned, there are both American and popular music, traditional orchestras, electro-acoustic, jazz and various kinds of mixed bands; and the same applies to dance vocabulary, as ballet, tap, disco and modern dance can all be incorporated into it. The musical "The Lion King" is an animated movie launched by the Disney Company of the United States in 1994. After the great success of the show, Disney produced a Broadway musical of the same name in 1997. This play from the image modeling to the comprehensive use of artistic means, can be described as ingenuity. Shadows, puppets, acrobatics, stilts and other forms of art, as long as it is conducive to the expression of the dramatic scenes of the "Lion" play, any form can be used for my use. Therefore, the majestic momentum of the African savannah and the thrilling scenes of wild animals running wildly after being frightened are shown on the stage, which are no less thrilling than those in the movie. In addition to the integration of various art forms, musicals constitute a complete artistic whole with music, dance, dramatic performance, stage art, lighting, sound and other integrated aspects of stage art. In the several musicals we watched, almost all of them left us with this impression. Not only do the actors' performances and singing captivate you, but every aspect of the show blossoms into a dazzling light. Musicals have a more comprehensive sense of beauty than traditional stage plays, and the impact, shock and infectious power it gives to the audience visually and aurally make people feel the infinite charm of musicals.
If we compare early musical works with contemporary works, we will find that from the subject matter to the content, as well as the use of art forms, all reflect a kind of modern consciousness of advancing with the times and seeking new changes. This modern consciousness is a creative concept, and the second is the technical means.
Broadway musicals often make you feel that it is a play, not a unified model. Each play by the subject matter to determine the style and style, and always find the best combination. The organic combination of artistry, spectacle, and entertainment is what creates the principles that musicals follow. Modern Millie" is a modern urban theme of the musical, the creators cleverly the play people knocking on the computer keyboard action, very aptly evolved into a wonderful tap dance. MAMMA MIA is a romantic love story that takes place on a Greek island, and accordingly, its music and dance are passionate and unrestrained, full of romantic feelings and modernity. This kind of content is close to contemporary life, and the form is close to the general audience's consciousness, which is the most lacking in Chinese traditional art.
Broadway musicals are also good at using sound, light, electricity and other modern technical means to create colorful stage effects. The orchestra of a musical is not big, more than thirty people, less than ten people, but it is more expressive and infectious than a traditional orchestra, because it brings the sound processing technology of modern recording studios into the theater. Due to the use of modern technology, Broadway musicals often give you the impression of being accompanied by a large orchestra. Modern stage technology is also used in musicals to achieve certain artistic effects. For example, there is a hidden hydraulic platform on the stage of MAMMA MIA. At the end of the play, the platform slowly rises up and extends to the sea in the canopy, and a pair of lovers stand on the platform and walk towards the sea. The moon, the sea, and the lovers create a picturesque stage. In Aida, too, there is a magical visualization of the swimming pool scene, where the actors look as if they are floating in the pool, when in fact they are suspended in the air.
It's impossible to think about the Broadway phenomenon without talking about its ticket-pushing and publicity techniques. Tickets for Broadway plays are, to put it mildly, expensive, and two hundred dollars a pop is not uncommon. However, Broadway's ticketing method is really flexible, seven or eight will be treated as a group ticket, can be discounted. In the afternoon, there is a special place in front of Times Square that sells the remaining tickets of the day, and you can usually get a discount. So you can often see long lines for cheap tickets here. In terms of publicity, Broadway is very skillful in the design and presentation of advertisements. Some of the ads even a few years before the opening of the show will be killed out, spread all over the world, known to all, some secretly planning, extremely creative positive and negative hype, ruffling your nerves, activate your curiosity, there is a forced you have no negotiable way, such as to the "New York Times" page of the money up front by the advertising company, as for the theater producers to the advertising company how much money, depending on the publicity to the stage show to bring the attendance rate depends on. How much the theater producer pays the ad agency depends on how much publicity the play brings in. Forced to do this, the ad agency had to think of a way to get the audience's attention and pay for it voluntarily, by using "superb" ads that were out of this world. Like The Phantom of the Opera's stirring tagline: "If you only see one musical in your life, The Phantom of the Opera is the only one you'll ever choose. It's naturally easy to introduce audiences to the theater. Off-Broadway refers to theatrical activity outside of New York's commercial theater centers, mostly performed by a number of troupes in theaters or rented old halls and basements from 41st to 56th Streets. It had emerged as an avant-garde as early as the early 20th century, characterized primarily by lower-cost theatrical experimentation and opportunities for Broadway-unappreciated theatre workers to perform. Two early well-known Off-Broadway theaters were founded in New York's Greenwich Village. One was the Washington Square Theatre, founded in 1914 to perform plays of artistic merit that had been neglected by commercial theaters, which later evolved into the Collegial Theatre in 1919, and which played a large part in raising the standard of the American theater; and the second was the Provincetown Playhouse, founded in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in 1915 by some of the members of the Washington Square Theatre, with the aim of "to give American playwrights an opportunity to express themselves freely," moved to Greenwich Village in 1916, and remained active for more than a decade, especially known for first performing the plays of E. O'Neill.
During the Depression of the 1930s, Off-Broadway was a venue for workers' theater and plays with left-wing political ideas, with M. Gorelick's Collective Theatre being the best-known troupe. After World War II, Off-Broadway not only staged new plays, but also revived plays that had failed on Broadway, and had the courage to explore boldly in terms of direction, performance, and acting style, thus forming a powerful Off-Broadway movement. in the 1960s, Off-Broadway staged more than 80 plays each year, including classical, serious, comedic, experimental, and burlesque theater works of various genres. But Off-Broadway also became increasingly commercialized after the 1960s, and the cost of performances continued to rise. Some young playwrights then staged more innovative experimental plays at very low cost in some Greenwich Village cafes, bars, penthouses or churches. Broadway Across America Summer Camp gives professional young musical theater actors ages 10-21 the opportunity to learn from current Broadway performers, including Tony Award winners and some of the leading experts in the field. During the camp, we offer professional enunciation techniques, song translation, monologues, scene study, auditioning techniques, character study, improvisation and dancing including current Broadway musical theater repertoire. The camp is used to discover the three sides of the actor's program of training, all intensively trained so that participants can audition for the top directors, agents and managers in New York City. If you attend the second session of the camp you can also receive invitations to see off-Broadway theater sessions as an audience member.
Broadway Summer Camp also offers one-day master class sessions, each on a different Broadway opera theme, and going through these master classes is the best way to get to know Broadway Summer Camp as you study with your favorite Broadway performers. The camp is divided into three main specialties: voice, acting and dance. Campers will learn from some of New York's most famous Broadway dancers, music directors, choreographers, professors and directors, with highlights such as Broadway shows (e.g., Next to Normal, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, and Mary Poppins' Wicked, Wicked, Wicked, Wicked, and In the Heights). In the Heights,) Tony Award-winning actors and directors, audition directors and agents, (West Side Story, In the Heights, A Chorus Line, Bye Bye Birdie, Wicked the Wicked Witch, and 42nd Street). Street!)
Directors and dancers make up the guest workshops, and students can choose from over 30 classes with some of New York's finest artists/educators, including: Musical Theatre Scenes, Song Interpretation, Business, Marketing and Programming, Improvisation, Vocal, Shakespearean Drama, 2-Minute Monologues, New Repertoire (the latest in music and dance from Broadway), Choreography art, stretching techniques, tap, jazz, ballet and much more.