Behind the curtain: The world of musical theatre uncovered
A comprehensive guide to the world of musical theatre by co-authors Professor Scott Harrison and Dr Jessica O’Bryan will be helpful for educators, performers and fans of the genre.
Musical Theatre is most probably the most popular performing art these days. We see so many great musicals (and a few lesser ones) that are full of energetic and talented performers.
I wonder sometimes – and I’m sure you do, too – how they manage, with up to eight shows a week.
Well, it’s tough, according to Dr Jessica O’Bryan, co-author of Musical Theatre Education and Training in the 21st Century. Her co-author is her husband, Professor Scott Harrison. Both trained as singers. O’Bryan still sings, while Harrison has hung up his vocal folds, according to his wife, who has tried to lure him out of retirement to form a duo. You never know, maybe one day.
Mind you, he is busy as Pro Vice Chancellor of Arts Education and Law and Assistant Vice Chancellor of Cultural Curation and Community Partnerships at Griffith University, based in Brisbane.
O’Bryan teaches across several universities and has worked as a music educator in schools. She has performed jazz and opera, among other things.
They have written together before, then set about the fairly mammoth task of producing a book that is comprehensive, practical and informative. And although there is academic rigour and intent, the book is also very readable, which helps.
I must admit I dipped in and out when I received my copy, but this is allowed, O’Bryan says. With that in mind, chapters and sub-headings clearly mark out the territory so readers can go straight to areas of interest.
Interested in vocal health? There’s a section on that. Interested in learning about those talented artists called swings? There’s The Swing. Fascinating, for those of us not in the business, to learn about.
It’s one of the things that makes the book so attractive. It fills in the behind-the-scenes stories of musical theatre with some history, along with the expert advice and views of an amazing array of people in Australia and in the UK and US, where the authors have travelled during their research.
We hear from performers including Naomi Price, Lucy Durack and Philip Quast, producers such as the great John Frost, stars such as Tim Minchin and educators like Professor Paul Sabey, director of Griffith University’s Queensland Academy of Excellence in Musical Theatre (which runs in partnership with QPAC).
O’Bryan admits that it was Sabey, whom she admires greatly and has worked with, who gave her and Harrison the inspiration for the book.
“Paul has changed the face of musical theatre in Australia,” O’Bryan says. “He’s amazing.”
The demanding work life of a musical theatre artist
Having taught at Griffith University and elsewhere, O’Bryan has firsthand experience of what goes into making a musical theatre performer … and it’s not easy. As I said in my introduction, the work load is immense at times and the authors point out that this can take a toll. It’s physically and emotionally demanding.
“And if you are guaranteed to not work 95 per cent of the time, that’s hard to stomach,” O’Bryan says. “We tend to see the magic at the end but we don’t see the hard work. It’s amazing how performers manage to stay fresh when they are performing eight shows a week.
Subscribe for updates
“I’ve seen Hamilton three times in Australia and each time I was astounded by how fresh it seemed,” she says. “That shows the discipline and rigour, that they can make it look amazing night after night.”
I have been lucky enough, as a journalist, to attend rehearsals of various shows, including musical theatre, ballet and opera. It’s always a fascinating insight. In a section called Putting on A Show, the authors point out that this is where the magic starts to happen.
“All our participants stated explicitly that the most dynamic learning tended to happen on the rehearsal floor, when shows are being put together for presentation. The importance of such skill-building activities cannot be overstated, as this is the time when most of the implicit learning takes place and where the disciplines are combined.”
And as they point out throughout the book, musical theatre performers are expected to be across multiple ways of performing – singing, dancing, acting. Sometimes it looks easy. Therein lies the skill, of course.
As well as presenting a wide range of viewpoints on the musical theatre profession, the book brings together research from the UK, US, Australia and beyond, providing an essential resource for educators, students and everyone involved in training for musical theatre.
The research draws on best practice from creatives, producers, practising artists and the academy, to reveal a multiplicity of approaches and educational pathways for consideration by performers, educators, institutions and the profession.
The book goes beyond the key elements of performance training in singing, dancing and acting to explore adjacent creative and business skills, along with some of the more recent and challenging aspects of the profession such as diversity of representation, both on and off stage, building safe working environments and managing mental and physical health and wellbeing.
The authors incorporate information from more than 100 interviews with everyone from emerging performers to leading professionals. They explore the practicalities of pre-professional training, skills development and curricular design, alongside the broader attributes required in preparation for the profession. This book offers vital insights into how musical theatre practitioners can best be prepared to make their way in the field now and in the future.
It’s the people interviewed who help enliven the book, which is by no means a dry academic text. I found reading about what goes on behind the scenes interesting and I think the general reader will, too.
So many people attend musicals nowadays without being across what goes into making a musical theatre performer and, sometimes, a star. There’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. For educators or aspiring performers, this book is both edifying and bracing – inspirational – and a bit of a reality check.
Musical Theatre Education and Training in the 21st Century by Jessica O’Bryan and Scott Harrison, Routledge, $55.99, order online at routledge.com / amazon.com.au