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Musicals vs Operas

Mon, 10 Sept 2001, 12:39 am
Walter Plinge26 posts in thread
Just to kick-start this brand-spanking new section (thanks Granty!), I thought I'd pose the toughest question there is in this area..... just what the hell is the difference between a musical and an opera?

Given that we are all eargerly awaiting the arrival of "Les Miserables" at the Regal (some more eagerly than others though, I have to say), and that that production features opera-type dudes like David Dockery and Justin Freind right alongside your more musical-theatre-type broads like Amanda Chesterton and Gillian Binks, I was wondering where people drew the line.

Is "Les Mes" an opera? Is "Threepenny Opera" a musical? Or vice versa? Or neither?

Thoughts, people!



D.M.

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Thu, 27 Sept 2001, 06:54 am
Walter Plinge
What happens if we take the script of a straight play, write an incidental score to play under it from beginning to end to accentuate the relevant actions and emotions (aka: movie scores), give it a theme tune for the opening and curtain-call, and maybe chuck in a stand-alone monologue with its own background tune...?

If we produce the whole thing as a unified piece, is that a musical?

Thread (26 posts)

Musicals vs OperasWalter Plinge10 Sept 2001
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