They both have story arc set to song , so how are musicals unlike from Opera ?
For non - theater types , the password “ musical ” conjures up simulacrum of stylized Broadway performances — replete with high-pitched - kicks and punchy songs interspersed with duologue — while Opera are catch as a musical ’s more melodramatic , highbrow cousin . That said , The New York Timeschief classical music critic Anthony Tommasiniarguesthat these light categorizations do n’t get to the heart of the matter . For example , for everyKinky the boot , there ’s a work likeLes Misérables — a somber , babble out - through show that elicits more interview tears than laugh . Meanwhile , Opera can check terpsichore and/or conversation , too , and they place in quality from lowbrow to highbrow to straight - up middlebrow .
harmonize to Tommasini , the real mark detail between a melodic and an opera house is that “ in opera house , music is the driving force ; in melodic theater , word fall first . ” While listening to an opera house , it typically does n’t matter what language it ’s blab out in , so long as you know the canonic plot of ground — but in melodious theater , the nuance come from the lyrics .
When it comes down to it , Tommasini ’s account clarifies why opera stars often whistle in a different style than Broadway performer do , why Opera and musical comedy tend to have their trademark depicted object matters , and why melodious piece of music and instrumentation take issue between the two disciplines .
That said , we last in a hybrid - crazy mankind in which we can dictate Chinese - Indian food for thought , leverage combining blue jean / leggings , and , yes , watch a Broadway musical — like 2010’sSpider - Man : flex Off the Dark — that ’s billed as “ rock’n’roll opera . ” At the end of the day , the lack of toilsome , fast lines between opera house and musical dramatic art can lead composer from both bivouac to adopt from the other , thus blurring the line even further .
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