Julie Andrews is host of the video and source for this paper. She begins with “The lights of Broadway have always been irresistible.” She is so right! She takes us from the start and what is so excellent about her commentary; she had a front row seat not just as a spectator, but as an entertainer and as a superstar! The American Broadway Musical invites everyone to step outside of themselves and bask in the magic that come with the bright lights of the theater.
Minstrel shows, comical shows, vaudeville, and opera on 39th Street on the East Side were the craze of the era. America was able to express views on just about anything through the theater. The comics would make jokes about different ethnic groups. They could joke about the world conditions without inciting people to riot or be terribly offended. In today’s society, the same jokes will be considered racism leading to hate crimes. As Broadway saw the avenue to be heard, the political and social issues were pronounced and ideas were presented though this media. People listened. This seemed to be a venue to help the law makers wake up and listen. World War I and World War II lent themselves to plays and most importantly views from all sides could be expressed. With the War, Broadway actually boosted the morale of the country and garnered support for the men and women working to keep the enemy at bay.
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1893 opened the New York Broadway era with Ziegfeld Follies. Florenz Ziegfeld was 26 years old when he came to New York looking for entertainment for Chicago. However, he stayed with his production of Ziegfeld Follies right there in The Big Apple. The critics all hailed him as brilliant and masterful. He was a man with the best and biggest ideas and everything he touched became a spectacular event. He used the best of everything to captivate and entertain his audiences. The best in lighting, scenery, costumes, color, props, and most importantly, the most beautiful women in the world graced his sets. He believed that sex sells, however it was not smutty, just very much the way it was in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. Then came 42nd Street BROADWAY! Lion King, My Fair Lady, Westside Story, Phantom of the Opera and others came to life on the grand stage, which have produced top musical scores that one can hum and that never seem out of time. Standards came from these memorable shows.
It would be remiss not to mention “one of the greatest song and dance men who ever lived” according to someone interviewed for this production, George M. Cohen. Cohen came out of vaudeville, as most of those coming to the Broadway stage. He could write, and that he did. George M. Cohen not only wrote but took the lead role in Give My Regards to Broadway. He had Broadway in his blood and wrote many songs for musicals on the stage. There is a statue to honor him on Old Broadway. James Cagney, who is mostly known for his movie roles as a tough guy, played the lead role in George M. Cohen’s famous musical production Give My Regards to Broadway “making famous, I’m a Yankee doodle dandy…….” adding to the acclaim of George M. Cohen.
Bert William was the first black to write and perform in a Broadway production. When listening to Julie Andrews and other commentators, I felt a deep sorrow for this man. This man was appreciated by many notable people but with the black face and his early roles he was stereotyped and did not achieve his dream. Bert Williams wrote a song called “Nobody.” It expressed the sorrow and disappointment of this gifted entertainer; he was far ahead of his time. C.W. Fields said of this gifted entertainer, “He was the funniest man I ever met and the saddest man I ever knew.”
Where did all the other music come from? There was a street close to 42nd Street known as “Tin Pan Alley.” People lived in apartments with windows opened and a piano in everyone’s living room. They wrote songs that sold for 10 cents each. It was a beginning. Irving Berlin wrote the first musical with ragtime as the music. This style was practically forbidden, yet in 1911, he wrote Alexander’s Ragtime Band which was well received and this was the opening for him to Broadway. He composed a song for Fanny Brice and suggested she sing it with a Yiddish dialect. Her rendition was also well received; Ziegfeld hired her for $75.00 a week. She was so happy and excited, she ran through the streets of Broadway telling everyone. Fanny Brice was not the typical Ziegfeld girl but she had so much talent and was so unique in her style, he scooped her right up. She could sing, dance, do comedy (slapstick), and change from one mood to another without batting an eyelid. Implementing the Yiddish dialect really propelled her to success. It was like a trademark.
Ziegfeld took a giant step when he decided to create a Broadway musical out of Show Boat where there was a case of miscegenation, “crossbreeding, interbreeding (noun) reproduction by parents of different races (especially by white and non-white persons),” (Webster’s dictionary). Taking on this subject could ruin him. Plus the story was so sad; could it even qualify as a musical, which are usually seen as happy or at least spirited? One of the greatest musical teams, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the musical score for Show Boat and tackled it with him. Ole Man River was born out of this story and Can’t Help Loving That Man of Mine. With its opening night there were no curtain calls and there was no appreciation or so it seemed, just a mild or short applause and everyone left. However, the next day the reviews were more than excellent. Such a delicate subject was handled with taste but not soft soaped. This production was an awakening when it came to racism, slavery and segregation. It is hailed as one of the greatest Broadway productions. Other Broadway plays began to make statements as well. This was a medium where one could protest and take a side. The theater had treated war, prohibition, women’s rights, and was ready to tackle labor and union movements, the depression, and Hollywood. The theater made the issues prominent and had the whole nation often in a state of complete agreement with what they projected. West Side Story exposed gangs, gang wars, and racial strife mingled with a beautiful love story with some of the most memorable music ever written. West Side Story was a Broadway production in 1957.
With the introduction of jazz and The Jazz Singer, Al Jolson made an opening for the Negros and their work with jazz. The greatest star of the prohibition era was Jolson, who began with the black faced from ministries. His black faced Mamma songs were so touching that people were so moved and entertained. The Roaring Twenties, with this introduction of jazz, seemed to break things wide open. Shuffle Along truly opened theater for the black man. In 1921, James Hubert Blake got his first break. Prior to this, Negros were not allowed to present anything like this but with his hit song “Love Will Find A Way” blacks began to perform “themselves” in the Broadway musical.
Prohibition certainly ushered in an era of a breakout for the women. It was like; they just were over being held back. They changed their dress, started smoking, and as they wanted to be free they began to have fun. The Roaring Twenties brought out a side of women never quite seen. From it came the “Cancan” and the “Charleston”. Women literally let loose! This also began the Cinderella age and one young spirited girl caught the eye of Ziegfeld. Mary Miller, known as Mademoiselle Sugar Drop became an instant sensation. It wasn’t her beauty or voice but her grace and attitude. She was the Cinderella girl making everyone’s dreams seem like they would all come true. The Broadway show, The George White Scandals was born in the twenties. George White wrote and produced the show. He hired George Gershwin, one of the most gifted musicians who actually learned or polished his craft with George White. Gershwin wrote one of his greatest songs “Shawnee.” Al Jolson heard this song and sang it with such expression that it became, or was considered, Gershwin’s absolute best piece. Ira and George Gershwin were over the top!
The crash of Wall Street happened in 1929, right after the opening of The Jazz Singer on the movie scene with Al Jolson singing to his mother and than talking to her right there from the piano. Enter Hollywood! Then came the Depression and the struggle of Broadway truly began but as we know the industry survived and 42nd Street is still the center of America.
The history of the Broadway musical is remarkable because it makes connections between society and culture and American History like following a time line. The issue of the day or whatever year is on display, and an awareness of so many things from art to war become the subject and the talk of the town. The issues of war and political events and the changing pace in society seem to go hand in hand with the musicals of Broadway. As I have shown from Showboat and Westside Story the racial strife as well as the changing times. With the introduction of the Roaring Twenties, women’s rights and their break through can be traced in history or by revisiting Broadway.
Though I am not in the exact chronological order of The History of American Musical as told by one who graced the stage for so long, Julie Andrews, I want to be certain to give her the proper place in this commentary. She is a woman of renowned and should be recognized for her magical career, one that has thrilled countless of viewers for years with The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Camelot, and so much more. I want to praise the magnificent productions of these musicals and everything my favorite Broadway star has ever appeared in. In my mind the musical scores from these productions are some of the greatest ever written and performed by one of the most distinguished actresses in her field.
I am uncertain where the following quotes are from but I can hear Julie Andrews saying them: “Broadway, it’s the street of dreams” or “The American musical blows the dust off the soul.”
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