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Studies in Musical Theatre - Current Issue

The Musical-Theatrical Global South

The Musical-Theatrical Global South, Dec 2024

  • Editorial

      • Introduction: The musical-theatrical Global South

        Authors: Masi Asare and Emilio Méndez
        https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/smt_00168_2

        The Introduction to this Special Issue (‘The Musical-Theatrical Global South’) of delves into the expansive musical-theatrical traditions of the Global South, examining what it means to move beyond the dominant spaces of Broadway, the West End and Hollywood. The issue explores the dynamic contributions of artists from regions like Mexico City, Cairo, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, Jakarta and Bogotá, who engage with local traditions and negotiate their identities within and outside imported Global North musical forms. While conventional scholarship often overlooks the Global South, this collection of articles brings attention to the rich genealogies of song, dance and theatre in these regions, complicating the traditional definition of the ‘musical’. The issue further examines the political dimensions of musical theatre in the Global South which engage with complex historical narratives. Roundtable discussions with scholars and creators from countries such as Brazil, Lebanon, India, Nigeria and South Africa provide insights into the intersections between local traditions.

  • Articles

      • Brazilian musicals during the military dictatorship period (1964–85): Fighting violence through art

        https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/smt_00169_1

        During the Brazilian military dictatorship period (1964–85), a great variety of politically biased musical plays were created, which criticized and challenged the authoritarian regime. This article presents this history and analyses some of the most expressive shows of the period, introducing the historical facts, the courageous and talented artists who did not yield to repression, how the shows were produced, their reception histories and how they used metaphors to deceive censorship. The pieces selected for an analytical approach are: (1964), (1965), (1967), (1967) and (1976). These works cover the most severe years of the dictatorship and were created by some of the most significant Brazilian theatre and music artists of the time, such as Augusto Boal, Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, Vianninha, Zé Celso, Chico Buarque and Edu Lobo.

    • Concert theatre, a new genre of contemporary Iranian musical

      https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/smt_00171_1

      Iran has various genres of musicals. Some, like , date back to medieval times; others are more recent, including (‘concert theatre’), which has been dominant on Tehran’s stages in the past decade. This article examines the features of concert theatre, focusing on its development, structure and patterns. I also discuss how this musical style is a product of Iran’s current social climate and provide a contextualized analysis of the musical (30) as a case study. Drawing on available reviews and press coverage of , I observe how concert theatre shows reflect the tastes of audiences, create innovations in Iranian performing arts and utilize historical material and nostalgia about collective memories for box office success.

    • Orpheus in Hell: Adaptation and reimagination of a myth in Rio de Janeiro’s musical theatre

      https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/smt_00172_1

      This article explores two adaptations and reinterpretations of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in Rio de Janeiro’s musical theatre. It focuses on () from 1868 by Francisco Correa Vasques, and () from 1956 by Vinicius de Moraes with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim. The former is a parody of Jacques Offenbach’s (1858), which recontextualizes the myth within the rural outskirts of imperial Rio de Janeiro. The latter transplants the myth to a Black community in a favela, featuring an all-Black cast. The study delves into the musical depiction of hell in each adaptation and examines how the utilization of vernacular and popular forms of Brazilian music and dance (cateretê, fado, maxixe, bossa nova and batucada) reflect and comment on issues of social class and race during these works’ respective time periods. The article also contextualizes these works within the broader cultural, social and historical framework of their times and underscores the enduring relevance and adaptability of the Orpheus myth in diverse cultural landscapes.

    • Africanist diasporic identities: Nigerian immigrants in the Global North in Bode Omojola’s opera

      https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/smt_00173_1

      This study offers an interdisciplinary analysis of Bode Omojola’s opera (2018) and its musical-theatrical representation of the socio-economic experience of Nigerian immigrants in the Global North. Drawing from the fields of musicology, diaspora studies and sociology, this work seeks to unknot the intricate relationship between cultural bearings and the phenomenon of diasporic communities. , a seminal work by the famous Nigerian composer Bode Omojola, is core to this study. The opera sums up Nigerian immigrants’ miscellaneous expeditions as they traverse their embraced countries’ composite landscapes. The work conveys the rich musical traditions of Nigeria, as well as the ambition, provocations and victories of Nigerians in the diaspora as they encounter various issues around identity, integration and socio-economic discrepancies in the Global North. Engaging the mixed-method approach, the study combines qualitative analysis of with ethnographic fieldwork through interviews and observations of Nigerian immigrant communities in the Global North. The analysis of the opera’s theme, musical motifs and narratives within the context of socio-economic circumstances and cultural adaptations of Nigerian immigrants details how Omojola’s opera meaningfully represents immigrant experiences rarely seen and heard at the operatic stage.

  • Roundtable Transcript

      • Musical-theatrical Global South roundtables: Selected excerpts

        Authors: Masi Asare and Emilio Méndez
        https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/smt_00174_7

        In January 2024, Masi Asare and Emilio Méndez convened three Zoom conversations with artists and researchers from around the globe on the topic of the ‘Musical-Theatrical Global South’. Below are excerpts from these conversations, lightly edited for clarity. These excerpted comments are collectively organized around five themes that recurred across the roundtables: (1) the relevance of the term in Global South contexts, (2) language and translation, (3) Indigenous and popular musical elements, (4) migration and transnational travel and (5) forms of musical-theatrical performance. This last theme, about form, can be understood to directly respond to and expand upon the first theme about terminology and ways of defining ‘the musical’.

  • Excerpts

      • https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/smt_00176_7

        is a musical about the real-life trial and execution of Miguel Ángel Flores, an undocumented Mexican in Texas, who murders Angela, a US citizen. Both the victim and perpetrator aspired to be singers, but ended up bloodied in a car after a deplorable femicide. The musical also reflects on the 2000 US presidential elections, which coincided with the vote that sealed Miguel’s execution. Influenced by both Brecht and Broadway, features a traditional Mexican lullaby and nine original songs by Lorena Oliva and Claudia Romero Herrera, orchestrated in the 1980s and 1990s style to orient ourselves in time and to contrast the play’s dense content. From its conception, envisioned a farcical but intimate and reflexive atmosphere, as an alternative to the conventional musical that bases its appeal on the lavishness of the production and choreography. argues that no murder can be the solution to a problem, neither the one that takes place in the darkness of anonymity nor the one that occurs under the intense light of legality. In this fragment of , a clownish representative of the Mexican government begs for mercy to a George W. Bush who is only interested in becoming President-elect, and who ultimately proceeds with Flores’ execution. Flores bids farewell to his family and has a last imaginary encounter with Angela. He sings a repentance song to silence Angela’s voice in his head, and is afterwards transported by the chorus to the first encounters with her, back in 1989, to discover his real motivations to carry out the femicide.

    • Context for

      https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1386/smt_00177_7

      was produced and directed by Bolanle Austin-Peters (BAP). It ran from 26 December to 29 December 2020 in Lagos State, Nigeria. Olurombi is a popular folk tale among the Yorùbá people in Nigeria. It tells the story of the beautiful and newly wedded Queen of Idi-Iroko, Olurombi, who desperately seeks the help of Iroko Oluwere (the forest tree spirit) to solve her life of misery due to barrenness. Against the vehement admonition from Iroko Oluwere, Olurombi forges ahead despite the caveat of huge consequences associated with the help she seeks.

      was produced against the backdrop of the ENDSARS protest. The ENDSARS protest was borne out of police brutality, extortion and torture by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) on innocent Nigerians. Despite pleas from citizens for the government to disband the group, SARS continued its brutality on the citizenry with impunity and mainly without consequences. Hence, the movement saw the rise of Nigerian youth seeking accountability from their leaders to keep to their words and promises of ending SARS.

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