Deck 8: The Musical Stage: Opera, Musical Theater, Dance

Question 1

Musical theater productions such as Wicked most likely owe their popularity to

A) the desire to make musical theater a higher form of art.
B) the reaction against the narrowness of opera.
C) an attempt to write musicals for children.
D) the desire to revise childhood stories for a modern world.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which Romantic composer wrote the musical scores for Rigoletto and La traviata?

A) Claudio Monteverdi
B) Richard Wagner
C) Guiseppi Verdi
D) Mozart

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which important musical by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim updates Romeo and Juliet to highlight racial tensions in New York City?

A) West Side Story
B) Oklahoma!
C) Porgy and Bess
D) Pal Joey

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which wordsmith and composer of sometimes unsettling pieces was the dominant force in musical theater in the late twentieth century?

A) Stephen Sondheim
B) Richard Rogers
C) Leonard Bernstein
D) Andrew Lloyd Webber

Question 5

A dance in which the dancer includes physical contact with the floor using more parts of the body than just the feet, is called

A) flamenco.
B) modern.
C) ballet.
D) folklore dance.

Question 6

In ballet, seeing a slow dance duet set to melodious accompaniment means that you are watching a

A) plié.
B) pirouette.
C) jeté.
D) pas de deux

Question 7

Of the musical Pal Joey, it might be said that its creators

A) took on political issues directly for the first time in musical theater.
B) updated Greek myth for the modern world.
C) fused serious content with a rock and roll score.
D) balanced a less likable character with the lightheartedness typical of the genre.

Question 8

When you watch a dance involving guitar, precise clapping, stomping, and singing, you are likely witnessing

A) ballet.
B) flamenco.
C) modern dance.
D) Asian dance.

Question 9

Which Romantic composer produced bold, heroic operas in German that were later used to promote Nazism in Germany?

A) Johann Strauss
B) Mozart
C) Richard Wagner
D) Giuseppe Verdi

Question 10

The late-Renaissance form of art that combined playwright, composer, chorus, singers, and dancers is

A) musical comedy.
B) musical play.
C) operetta.
D) opera.

Question 11

A dialogue-heavy work that integrates music and story is called a(n)

A) musical comedy.
B) musical play.
C) operetta.
D) opera.

Question 12

The written lyrics of an opera are referred to as a

A) libretto.
B) liet-motif.
C) score.
D) recitative.

Question 13

The choreographer who started a dance company to expand professional opportunities for African-American dancers was

A) Alvin Ailey.
B) Martha Graham.
C) Twyla Tharp.
D) George Balanchine.

Question 14

The technique in opera in which the characters sing through lines that would usually be spoken is called

A) aria.
B) recitative.
C) leit-motif.
D) libretto.

Question 15

The composer who brought the operetta to prominence is

A) Mozart.
B) Wagner.
C) Verdi.
D) Strauss.

Question 16

Which form of dance was initially developed by Italian street mimes?

A) ballet
B) modern dance
C) Flamenco
D) kathak

Question 17

The form of musical art that uses dialogue mainly to bridge songs and has characters that are often two-dimensional is called

A) musical play.
B) musical comedy.
C) operetta.
D) opera.

Question 18

The work of Rodgers and Hammerstein is significant because it

A) started the tradition of the musical blockbuster.
B) was the first in a long string of musical comedies.
C) took the musical from a frivolous to a more serious form.
D) was innovative among rock-and-roll musicals.

Question 19

The modern choreographer of Rites of Spring and Appalachian Spring who broke with traditions of dance (such as the one through eight count) was

A) Martha Graham.
B) Alvin Ailey.
C) Twyla Tharp.
D) George Balanchine.

Question 20

The opera technique of presenting continuous music and singing punctuated by arias was pioneered in the seventeenth century by

A) Giuseppe Verdi.
B) Richard Wagner.
C) Claudio Monteverdi.
D) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Question 21

What is a powwow?

Question 22

Using examples and discussion from the chapter, explain how modern dance compares with ballet. Discuss whether the two are more similar or different.
I. Identify important characteristics from ballet and modern dance.
II. Explain those features using examples of ballet or modern dance discussed in the chapter.
III. Compare the two forms based on those features.
IV. State if the two genres are more alike or different.

Question 23

How does a musical comedy different from a musical?

Question 24

Discuss how Pal Joey, Porgy and Bess, and Oklahoma! were important transitional works for Broadway theater.
I. Explain how Pal Joey is a musical play with dark themes and an untraditional hero.
II. Explain how Porgy and Bess uses folk themes in a genuine opera.
III. Explain how Oklahoma! shows that less grand or flashy material can appeal to audiences.

Question 25

Briefly describe the development of ballet, including its relationship with opera.
I. Describe the development, starting with Italian street mimes and progressing through court entertainment.
II. Identify the difference between French ballet and Russian ballet.
III. State the mandate by the late seventeenth century that every French opera include a ballet.

Question 26

What is singspiel?

Question 27

Choose an example of classical opera and an example of late twentieth-century musical theater. Using these examples, discuss three points of comparison. State whether the two genres are more alike or different.
I. Choose one example of classical opera and one from musical theater.
II. Identify three points on which to compare the two works.
III. Explain the similarity or difference between the two on each point.
IV. State if the two genres are more alike or different.

Question 28

Choose four examples: two from early musical theater and two from later. Use the examples to analyze how musical theater in the late twentieth century and beyond compares with musical theater from an earlier time.
I. Choose four examples, two early (such as Pal Joey, Oklahoma!, or Porgy and Bess) and two later (such as Sweeney Todd, Wicked, or West Side Story).
II. Identify the main features of modern musicals and the main features of early musical theater.
III. Compare those features using evidence from the works chosen.

Question 29

What is a spectacular?

Question 30

What is a leit-motif?