Full Description
Dramaturgy is at the heart of any musical theatre score, proving that song and music combined can collectively act as drama. The Musical Theatre Composer as Dramatist: A Handbook for Collaboration offers techniques for approaching a musical with the drama at the centre of the music.
Written by a working composer of British musical theatre, this original and highly practical book is intended for composers, students of musical theatre and performing arts and their collaborators. Through detailed case studies, conceptual frameworks and frank analysis, this book encourages the collaboration between the languages of music and drama. It offers a shared language for talking about music in the creation of musical theatre, as well as practical exercises for both composers and their collaborators and ways of analysing existing musical theatre scores for those who are versed in musical terminology, and those who are not.
Speaking directly to the contemporary artist, working examples are drawn from a wide range of musicals throughout Part One, before a full case study analysis of Everybody's Talking About Jamie brings all the ideas together in Part Two. Part Three offers a range of practical exercises for anyone creating new musicals, particularly composers and their collaborators.
Contents
Introduction
PART ONE: SECTION ONE - The First Shared Language: Theme
- Chapter 1: Finding the Way In
- Chapter 2: Theme, Story and Plot
- Chapter 3: Theme, Character, and Musical Parameters
- Chapter 4: Truth Themes and Branch Themes
PART ONE: SECTION TWO - The Second Shared Language: Shape
- Chapter 5: Dynamic Curves
- Chapter 6: Modes of Enunciation
- Chapter 7: Big Shapes
- Chapter 8: Small Shapes
Chapter 9: Mapping the Musical
PART TWO - Chapter 10: Piecing it Together: Everyone's Talking About Jamie
PART THREE - Chapter 11: Collaborative Workbook
References
Bibliography
