The New Music Theater

Abstract

Alternatives to grand opera and popular musical go back at least as far as Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, early Stravinsky, and Kurt Weill as well as the Broadway and off-Broadway theater operas of the '30s and '40s, and the modernist experiments of the '60s. Yet this long and continuing history, with its complex ideas and philosophy as well as musical and theatrical achievements, has never been properly sorted out. This book is the first comprehensive attempt in English to cover a still-emerging art form in its widest range. It provides a wealth of examples and descriptions, not only of the works themselves, but of the concepts, ideas, and trends that have gone into the evolution of what may be the most central performance art form of the post-modern world. The first two sections of the book deal with Music in Music Theater (including the many new and various uses of the human voice) and Theater in Music Theater (including culture, text, visual strategies, and the multiple new concepts of space). The third section covers European and American music theaters in their various histories and manifestations, with chapters on the more innovative wing of popular music theater, extended voice, and the influence of new media. The fourth part of the book discusses criticism and analysis, improvisation, the issues surrounding pop and high art, and the crucial questions about the audience for music theater. An appendix includes a music-theater bibliography and information about some of the principal venues for the art form.

Independent Theatre in Contemporary Europe : Structures – Aesthetics – Cultural Policy

“…16 Be that as it may, the jumping-off point for Theaterschrift's editorial collective lies in 'institutes' -but ones which 'all stand, to a greater or lesser extent, on the fringes of the theatrical landscape as it appears in their respective countries; so for them Theaterschrift is also a way of arriving at a "self-definition"'. 17 The task These artists' basic initial situation as regards dramaturgy and aesthetics consists in the fact that 'at present, at the close of the 20 th century, the theatrical basic code, that is to say, the essential dialectics between fiction and realityappears to be interpreted in a fundamentally different way than at the start of this century.…”

“…16 In particular, there is a lively exchange between both systems in the independent scene; a large number of the independent artists work flexibly for the theatre for children and young people and the theatre for adults, especially in project-specific "production ensembles". 17 In many European countries, independent groups often produce for a young audience, at least in part.…”

“…Perhaps an improvement in quality will result.' 16 Funding models are yet to be evaluated in terms of their real impact, so this is a legitimate demand.…”

“…", in Theater der Zeit 12 (2012) 'The result is pretty much that companies are in deep debt, actors are technically unemployed (or decide to work for free), and many times are forced to leave the country -but this time because of economical and not political reasons (at least on the surface).' 16 As in the seventies, independent theatres see themselves in opposition to a political system which poses more and more aesthetic requirements. Whether the independent theatres will survive this precarious situation is uncertain.…”