From Narrative to Musical Number After reading this section, you should be able to:
discuss the "You Were Meant For Me" sequence in Singin' In The Rain as a characteristic example of the relationship between narrative and musical numbers in the film musical.
discuss the features of classical realist narration, and describe the ways in which the musical differs from realist narration.
distinguish movies in which characters sing or play music from musicals as a genre.
define "register," and compare the two dramatic registers that make up the film musical, both in general and in reference to the film Chicago in particular.
discuss the structure of the film musical as an alternation between reality and fantasy that gets resolved in the final number.
Narrative and Musical Number: Degrees of Integration After reading this section, you should be able to:
discuss the history of the film musical in terms of both its disintegration and its integration.
Musical Forms After reading this section, you should be able to:
describe the characteristics of the "backstage musical," and name several examples of backstage musicals.
discuss the relationship between realism and fantasy in terms of space in the musical films of Busby Berkeley.
suggest several reasons why performers are often the subjects of musicals.
Transformation of Space: Performer, Props, Audience After reading this section, you should be able to:
discuss the distinction between narrative and spectacle in the musical in terms of the spaces each is capable of inhabiting.
discuss the ways in which individual props make the transition from narrative elements to spectacular elements in the musical.
discuss the relationship between performance and audience in the musical.
Stylistic Registers After reading this section, you should be able to:
list several musicals in which stylistic devices are used to mark shifts in register, and list several such stylistic devices.
The Operetta After reading this section, you should be able to:
describe the characteristics of the Operetta or Light-Opera subgenre of musicals.
examine the change in patterns of speech in operettas as marking shifts in register.
The Astaire-Rogers Musical After reading this section, you should be able to:
describe the characteristics of the Astaire-Rogers musicals, or "screwball musicals" in general.
discuss the integration of musical numbers into narrative in the Astaire-Rogers musicals.
The Integrated Musical After reading this section, you should be able to:
describe the "Freed Unit," and name several films, performers and writers associated with the Freed Unit.
discuss the relationship between narrative and spectacle in both individual musical numbers and the films of the Freed Unit as wholes.
analyze the "Singin' in the Rain" sequence from the film of the same name in terms of its interplay between narrative spaces and musical spaces.
Ideology And The Musical After reading this section, you should be able to:
examine the musical as an exemplary form of pure entertainment, and consider the function of entertainment in capitalist society.
discuss the political and ideological characteristics of the musical as a genre, and distinguish between conservative musicals such as Grease and progressive musicals such as Pennies From Heaven.
The End Of An Era After reading this section, you should be able to:
discuss the status of film musicals from the end of the Golden Age of the American film musical in the 1960s to the middle of the 1990s, with attention to such markers of popularity as awards and box office success.
A New Era Begins After reading this section, you should be able to:
discuss the history of the rock 'n roll musical.
discuss the comeback of the film musical in the last 10 years, with reference to specific films.
