Genre Counterpoints: Challenges to the Mainstream Musical

Roesner, David P. (January 2017): Genre Counterpoints: Challenges to the Mainstream Musical. In: Jubin, Olaf and Gordon, Robert (eds.) : The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Abstract

This chapter offers three contemporary case studies of the British musical, which push the boundaries of what might normally be considered to belong to this art form and genre: Shockheaded Peter, Jerrry Springer: The Opera, and London Road. They do so by challenging conventional creation processes, theatrical and musical dramaturgies and idioms, performance aesthetics and topics. By contextualizing them within the theoretical discourse on ‘genre’, the author seeks to explore the dialogic nature of artwork and audience in relation to generic conventions and expectations, arguing that these are particularly relevant in the case of the musical. These case studies demonstrate the critical and even subversive potential that the musical—often unfairly dismissed as the most commercial and conventional form of music theatre—has.

• Item Type: Book Section
• Form of publication: Publisher's Version
• Keywords: Musical, British, Genre
• Faculties: History and Art History > Department of Art History > Theatre Studies
• Subjects: 700 Arts and recreation > 780 Music
• Place of Publication: Oxford
• Language: English