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!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOklahomawheretheWIND! COMES! SweepindownthePLAAAAAINS!!
Ahem.
The 1940’s saw the dawn of what’s known as the Golden Age of Broadway with Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s first collaboration in 1943. While other shows included narrative, Oklahoma! was the first to be considered fully integrated* with and prioritize it. The songs and dances grew out of the spoken scenes, first and foremost to express character and plot, not to potentially become radio hits or showcase the star’s talents. Everything was in service to the story.
*In fact, like the term “talkies” for the first films with sound, these shows were first known as “integrated musicals”.
Oklahoma! ran for a record five years and set a new standard for theatre creators. Even Irving Berlin, skeptical of this new style of show, was persuaded to write the score for Annie Get Your Gun (1946), including such now-classic tunes as “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “Anything You Can Do”. Earlier in the decade Berlin had created the revue This Is the Army (1942), with a cast of real soldiers and with all proceeds going to the Army Emergency Relief Fund. Integrated musicals like On the Town (1944) and South Pacific (1949) felt the influence of World War II as well, but with a more bittersweet or even critical eye on U.S. servicemen’s experiences and the culture they were defending.
What are your favorite/the most memorable examples of musical theatre from the 1940’s? If you’re not very familiar with this period, are you interested in changing that? Why or why not?
While none of the 40’s musicals I know are among my all-time favorites, they all have sequences I really enjoy, like the proposal scene from Oklahoma! or the comic love song “When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love” from Finian’s Rainbow. The one I like best is probably Brigadoon, due in large part to the lushly romantic lead performances of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse in the 1954 movie adaptation. There’s a version with Peter Falk out there I’d like to check out, as well.
P.S. – The 40’s also saw the debut of the Best Musical category at the Tony Awards! The very first winners were Kiss Me, Kate (1948) and South Pacific (1949).