ROUND 5!

Welcome to the Davis Musical March Madness Challenge Round 5!

 Tradition! & Turn of the Century/Period Pieces

A period piece is a play, book, or movie that is set at

 a particular time in history and describes life at that time.

REMINDER:

Please cast an informed vote by reading the background information on each of the musicals in today's bracket and watching the video performance clips found in the Davis Musical March Madness Voting Form for Bracket Round 5 which is located at the bottom of this post and on the links to the right of this post! 

Additional video links for learning more are included within the blog post for those interested in learning more about each musical.

All votes must be received by 5pm today, Tuesday, 3/24. 

• Block 1, 2, & 3 students make sure to vote each day; this counts as your daily class participation!
• The form stops collecting responses at 5pm so please cast your vote between 7:30am and 5pm. 
• Google Forms timestamps & records every submitted form response. 
• You will see this window and reply after submitting your form. 

• MAKE SURE it says "your response has been recorded". (see above image)
• If you do not see the response, you either left the form/closed your window before submitting or did not hit submit the form. 
• If you are uncertain if your form response was received either submit the form again or email me between 7:30am and 4:55pm and I will confirm with you if you are unsure.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1964, Bock, Harnick & Stein)

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyricsby Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters (or Tevye the Dairyman) and other tales by Sholem Aleichem. The story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon the family's lives. He must cope both with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters, who wish to marry for love – each one's choice of a husband moves further away from the customs of their Jewish faith and heritage – and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village.

The original Broadway production of the show, which opened in 1964, had the first musical theatre run in history to surpass 3,000 performances. Fiddler held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed its run. The production was extraordinarily profitable and highly acclaimed. It won nine Tony Awards, including best musical, score, book, direction and choreography. It spawned five Broadway revivals and a highly successful 1971 film adaptation and has enjoyed enduring international popularity. It has also been a popular choice for school and community productions.

2015 Tony Awards Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler's original Broadway production in 1964 was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning nine, including Best Musical, score, and book, and Robbins won for best direction and choreography. Mostel and Karnilova won as best leading actor and best-featured actress.


It is a story that captures the essential human longings for love, community, success, freedom, family, and meaning. Fiddler features such iconic songs as the beautiful “Sunrise, Sunset,” the boisterous “If I Were a Rich Man”, and the classic “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.”

What is the story of Fiddler on the Roof?

It's pre-revolutionary Russia in the largely Jewish community of Anatevka, Ukraine, whose residents are ruled by community and cultural traditions.

For the poor dairy farmer, Tevye, and his wife, Golde, those traditions include getting the town matchmaker, Yente, to find their five daughters - the three oldest, Tzeitel, Hodel and Chava, who are barely of marrying age - suitable wealthy husbands, especially important since the girls will have no dowries.


Tzeitel, not yet twenty, doesn't like that Yente only chooses old men. She is also in love with the poor tailor, Motel. Motel doesn't believe Tevye would approve of a union between himself and Tzeitel because of Motel's poor socio-economic state, and without someone arranging the union.


Hodel understands these traditions better than her elder sister, Hodel who has her sights on the rabbi's son, because of what he is, not because of who he is. Chava accepts her fate, marriage still being years away, but she hopes for someone she will love while she now focuses on her love of books.


Change from those traditions is in the air, which is confirmed by Perchik, a young man, a student espousing Marxist ideals, recently arrived from Kiev. This change may affect what happens matrimonially with Tzeitel, Hodel and Chava. But this change comes anti-Jewish sentiment sweeping across Europe, which may affect what happens to Tevye, his family, and the Jewish community in Anatevka as a whole.


Productions
1964 Broadway
1967 West End
1971 film
1976 Broadway revival
1981 Broadway revival
1983 West End revival
1990 Broadway revival
1994 West End revival
2003 UK tour
2004 Broadway revival
2007 West End revival
2008 UK tour
2009 US Tour
2015 Broadway revival
2018 US Tour
2018 Off-Broadway revival
2019 West End revival

Awards
1965 Tony Award for Best Musical
1965 Tony Award for Best Score
1965 Tony Award for Best Book
1990 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical

Fiddler on the Roof National Tour 

RAGTIME (1996, Ahrens, Flaherty & McNally)

Ragtime is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E. L. Doctorow. At the time it was written, it was heralded as a unique adaptation of the historical narrative genre with a subversive 1970’s slant.  The novel and the show blend fictional and historical figures into a framework that revolves around events, characters, and ideas important in American history. 

The musical was written by Terrence McNally with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty and made its world premiere at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in Toronto on December 8th, 1996. The show debuted on Broadway on January 18th, 1998, and ran for two years and over 800 performances before it closed in 2000. 

The original show included on-stage fireworks and a working Model T. The original cast featured the talents of Brian Stokes Mitchell (Coalhouse Walker, Jr.) and Audra McDonald (Sarah), as well as Lea Michele (Glee) in her Broadway debut. 

Set in the early 20th century, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in the United States: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; upper-class suburbanites, represented by Mother, the matriarch of a white upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. The show also incorporates historical figures such as Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T. Washington, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Stanford White, Harry Kendall Thaw, Admiral Peary, Matthew Henson, and Emma Goldman.

The show was nominated for 13 Tony Awards in 1998 but lost in many categories to The Lion King, including Best Musical. Ragtime was revived on Broadway for the 2009 season and received another 7 Tony Award nominations.

Fun facts about Ragtime

• The Father” of ragtime music, Ernest Hogan, was born in Bowling Green, KY in 1865. He is credited as being the first person to publish in the ragged musical style.
• There have been 38 different musical numbers in the show at one time or another. Many have been shortened or excised in different versions of the production.
• The original orchestra included 26 musicians playing 22 different instruments due to the wide variety of musical styles throughout the show.
• The ragtime style of music was one of the main influences on the early development of jazz and the blues. As jazz grew in popularity, ragtime slowly faded from the forefront, but it has had several revivals throughout the years.

What is the story of Ragtime?

Based on the novel of the same name by E.L. Doctrow, Ahren’s and Flaherty’s Ragtime is a compelling epic capturing the American experience at the turn of the 20th century. 

Tracking three diverse families in pursuit of the American dream in the volatile “melting pot” of turn-of-the-century New York, Ragtime confronts the dialectic contradictions inherent in American reality: experiences of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair.

Over the course of the show, the worlds of a wealthy white couple, a Jewish immigrant father and his motherless daughter, and an African American ragtime musician intertwine. 

Together, they discover the surprising interconnections of the human heart, the limitations of justice and the unsettling consequences when dreams are permanently deferred. 

Featuring many of the historical figures that built and shaped turn-of-the-century America, including J.P. Morgan, Emma Goldman, Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit and Henry Ford, this musical sweeps across the diversity of the American experience to create a stirring epic that captures the beats of the American experience: the marches, the cakewalks and - of course, the ragtime.

More about Ahrens and Flaherty read below:

http://www.ahrensandflaherty.com/ 

https://www.playbill.com/article/how-lynn-ahrens-and-stephen-flaherty-became-an-acclaimed-songwriting-team

Les Miserables (1985 London, 1987 Broadway  Boubil & Schoenberg) 

Les Misérables was originally released as a French-language concept album, and the first musical-stage adaptation of Les Misérables was presented at the Palais des Sports in 1980. However, the production closed after three months due to the expiry of the booking contract.

In 1983, about six months after producer Cameron Mackintosh had opened Cats on Broadway, he received a copy of the French concept album from director Peter Farago. Farago had been impressed by the work and asked Mackintosh to produce an English-language version of the show. Initially reluctant, Mackintosh eventually agreed. Mackintosh, in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company, assembled a production team to adapt the French musical for a British audience. After two years in development, the English-language version opened in London on 8 October 1985, by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Centre, then the London home of the RSC. The success of the West End musical led to a Broadway production.

The Broadway production opened 12 March 1987 and ran until 18 May 2003, closing after 6,680 performances. At the time of its closing, it was the second-longest-running musical in Broadway history. As of 2020, it remains the sixth longest-running Broadway show. The show was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

Subsequently, numerous tours and international and regional productions have been staged, as well as concert and broadcast productions. Several recordings have also been made. A Broadway revival opened in 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre and closed in 2008, and a second Broadway revival opened in 2014 at the Imperial Theatre and closed in September 2016. The show was placed first in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of Britain's "Number One Essential Musicals" in 2005, receiving more than forty percent of the votes.[9] A film version directed by Tom Hooper was released at the end of 2012 to generally positive reviews as well as numerous awards nominations, winning three Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and four British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) 

It’s been seen by over 70 million people worldwide in 45 countries and in 22 languages and shows no signs of slowing down. There’s literally something for everyone in Les Misérables. It’s an epic musical about passion, destruction, revenge, poverty and hope all set against the French revolution. It’s a relatable story about redemption and survival coupled with a goosebump-inducing score. With some of the most well-known, memorable and loved songs in musical history – including “I Dreamed A Dream”, “On My Own”, “Do You Hear The People Sing?” and “One Day More” – you’ll want to sing along to this incredible show even on your first viewing. If you can speak through your sobs, that is. Les Mis is the quintessential musical that has achieved legendary status across the world. Sounds pretty good now, doesn’t it?

What is the story of Les Miserables?

The action begins in 1815 as Jean Valjean, a man condemned to 19 years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family, finds only hatred and suspicion when he is released on parole. Meeting one man who believes in him, Valjean breaks his parole to begin a new life. The story truly begins as Jean Valjean crosses the landscape of early 19th century France, always pursued by the righteous police inspector Javert. From his adoption and love of the orphan Cosette to the darkly funny plots of the thieving Thenardiers, from the soaring revolutionary fire of the student rebels who fight on the barricade in the streets of Paris to the final confrontation between Jean Valjean and Javert, the story of Les Miserables is one of love, courage, and redemption.

The Phantom of the Opera (1986 London, 1987 Broadway,  Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber, Hart, Stilgoe) 

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, and a book by Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe.

Based on the 1910 horror novel by Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera is a thrilling and romantic account of the legendary Phantom, a musical genius who dwells deep beneath a majestic opera house in Paris. Its central plot revolves around a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opéra House.

The musical opened in London's West End in 1986, and on Broadway in 1988. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, and Michael Crawford (in the title role) won the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical. It is the longest running show in Broadway history by a wide margin, and celebrated its 10,000th Broadway performance on 11 February 2012, the first production ever to do so. It is the second longest-running West End musical, after Les Misérables, and the third longest-running West End show overall, after The Mousetrap.

With total estimated worldwide gross receipts of over $6 billion and total Broadway gross of over $1 billion, Phantom was the most financially successful entertainment event until The Lion King surpassed it in 2014. By 2011, it had been seen by over 130 million people in 145 cities across 27 countries, and continues to play in London and New York.

What is the story of Phantom of the Opera?

Shunned by society for his horrible facial deformity, he takes a promising young soprano, Christine, under his wing and grooms her for operatic fame, all the while falling deeply in love with her.

As Christine grows ever more successful, and a handsome young man from her past begins to successfully court her, the Phantom descends into a jealous rage and terrorizes the opera company with increasingly dangerous threats. 

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score soars with such famous tunes as “Think of Me,” “All I Ask of You,” “The Music of the Night,” and the title song, “The Phantom of the Opera,” and Phantom has gone on to become a cultural tour de force, and one of the most successful musicals of all time.

ROUND 5 BRACKET VOTING FORM! TRADITION! & PERIOD PIECES/LONGEST RUNNING MUSICALS IN THE WORLD