Welcome to the Musicals Thread, the Avocado’s space for anything and everything related to musical theatre! Every month I’ll post a discussion prompt, but please feel free to comment on other topics, from new discoveries to old favorites. If you have ideas for future prompts or would like to write a feature for the thread, let me know!
For neither the first or last time, musical theatre in the 1930’s was a land of contrasts. On the one hand, musicals provided audiences a few hours of glamour, escapism, and comic relief. Cole Porter, who first won popular acclaim in 1928 with Paris (in particular, “Let’s Do It”), continued to pen lighthearted shows with catchy, clever numbers that transcended their original context. Anything Goes alone gave us “I Get a Kick Out of You”, “You’re the Top”, and the title song.
On the other hand, theatre offered creative freedom unavailable in movies or radio, and writers used it to address the harsh realities around them. Even revues were tinged with social commentary. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”, anthem of the Great Depression, was first performed as part of Americana (1932), and As Thousands Cheer (1933), structured in imitation of a newspaper, included “Supper Time”, inspired by a headline about a lynching. George and Ira Gershwin were both praised and criticized for their portrayal of black people living in poverty in Porgy and Bess (1935). Earlier in the decade, though, their political satire Of Thee I Sing (1931) was the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
What are your favorite/the most memorable examples of musical theatre from the 1930’s? If you’re not very familiar with this period, are you interested in changing that? Why or why not?
I recently borrowed an audio recording and libretto of The Cradle Will Rock from the library. The score follows a narrative but also has the quality of a themed revue – each main character in turn has a spotlight moment to demonstrate how they embody the corrupting influence of need or greed for money and power on a different area of life, from academia to the arts to religion. The main exception is the heroic Larry Foreman, calling for unionization and revolution.