Research On The Artistic Features Of American Off-broadway Musical Theatre

Musical Theatre(For short,musicals)originated in the end 19 thcentury in London's West End and flourished in American Broadway in the early 20 th century.Based on drama and through the integration of drama,dance,music,art and other elements,musicals unravel itself in the form of music and dance in telling stories,portraying characters and revealing philosophies of works.Musicals are featured by comprehensiveness,entertainment,commerciality,popularity,and so on.American musicals have formed their unique style in the development process.In addition to the world-renowned Broadway musicals,there are also off-Broadway musicals with experimental and avant-garde works as their goals.Off-Broadway musicals have displayed creative attitude and experimental ideas in the creation of works.The musicals are also the representative of small theater experimental drama in the United States,and cherished more by the local residents.Off-Broadway musicals are unique in artistic characteristics as they are innovative and diversified from songs and dance drama.This article mainly focuses on off-Broadway musicals to help deepen our understanding of American musicals.The article consists of six parts in total.The introduction discusses the significance of research on musicals and off-Broadway musicals.The first chapter provides a brief introduction of the origin,development and social background of off-Broadway musicals.Through analyzing the artistic features of the music of the musicals,the second chapter indentifies the music as the one capable of telling stories,creating images and heightening atmosphere.Moreover,this chapter also summarizes the usage of music elements including rock and roll,jazz and rap in musicals,andsuggests that the music of off-Broadway musicals be dramatic,diversified and popular.In the third chapter,the author gives an analysis of drama's role in creating topics and setting the tone from the perspective of drama in musicals;centers on diversity and avant-garde in selecting the topics of the musicals,and describes drama's creation as experimental and diversified.The fourth chapter provides some examples and analysis on the role of dance,composing elements and artistic features in the musicals.The fifth chapter is the conclusion and summary of the value and significance of off-Broadway musicals,exploring what can be learnt from them.The last part of this article is the conclusion which gives a summary and proposes the author's views.