Broadway Glossary

Acappella:singingwithoutinstrumentalaccompaniment.Notthesamethingasmonophony,since,among
agroupofsingers,someperformerscouldbesingingaccompanimentallineswhileotherscarrythemelody
(i.e.,homophony)orthesingerscouldbeperformingsomesortofpolyphony.
BioMusical:Abiographyofasingleindividualinmusicalform,thoughthecreativeteamusuallyplaysfast
andloosewiththefactsoftheindividual'slifeinordertoraisetheentertainmentvalueofthebiography.
Typically,butnotalways,biomusicalsareaboutentertainmentfigures.Gypsy(GypsyRoseLee)wasall
fablefromstarttofinish,whileTheWillRogersFollieshadameasureoftruthtoit(thoughIdon'tthinkhis
futurewifespentanytimeontheMoon).Mack&Mabelwas,accordingtoJerryHerman,wreckedpartially
becausetheendingwastoofaroffthetruth.Also,toomuchrespectforthefigurebeingmusicalizedcankill
theshow.Forexample,therewasaflopmusicalaboutJackieRobinsonthatwasapparentlywaytoo
worshipfultoholdanyone'sinterest.Thegenrehasfallenintosomedisfavor,butmightberevivedwiththe
successofTheBoyfromOzthisfall.(IalwaysthoughtUlyssesS.Grantwouldmakeawonderfulsubjectfor
abiomusical,butmaybethat'sjustme.)
Book:Theactualstoryofamusical;theplaypart.
BookMusical:Amusicalwithastory.Somemusicals,usuallyrevues,don'thaveanykindofastory.
Othersmaketheattempttoweldastoryontothesongs(e.g.,FiveGuysNamedMoe),butIdon'tthinkthis
typeisconsideredabookmusicaleither.
ChamberMusical:Anintimatemusicaldesignedtoplayinfrontofasmallaudienceinasmalltheatre,
withjustafewactorsandmusicians.ForeverPlaidisagoodexample.Suchmusicalstendtodieaquick
deathifblownuptoBroadwayscale;theintimacygoesoutthewindow,andwithitmuchofthecharmof
theshow.Notethatthereverseisnottrue;asmallcastBroadwayscaleproduction(e.g.,IDo!IDo!,ILove
MyWife)couldeasilyplayasachambermusical.
Chorus:The"littlepeople"onthestageofamusical:thebackgroundsingersanddancers(andoccasional
actors).SeealsoGypsy.
Choreographer:Thepersonwhocreatesthedanceelementsofamusical.Theyalsoplansandarrange
dancemovementsandpatternsfordancesaccordingtothedirectorsvision.
ConceptMusical:Amusicalinwhichtheideaorconcepttakesprecedenceovertheplot;usuallya
nonlinearstory,oronethatincorporatesseveralthreads.AChorusLine,Company,andGrandHotelareall
conceptmusicals.Ihaveseenthetermexpanded,andusedinslightlyderogatoryfashion,torefertoany
gimmickyorweirdmusical.
CultMusical:EthanMordden,inOpenaNewWindow,definesacultmusicalasaflopmusical,the
recordingofwhich"asmallnumberofgaymencontinuetoplay."(Recordingsplayedbyasmallnumberof
plainoldpeoplehecalls"fondlyremembered.")Itakemildexceptiontothisdefinition,sincethelasttimeI
checkedIwasn'tagayman.(I'mcheckingnow....no,nope,stillnotone.Mydadthoughtitwasasilly
definitionaswell.)Iwouldsubstitute"asmallnumberofhardcoreaficionados."
DanceCaptain:Therec.arts.theatre.musicalsFAQdefinesthisroleas"thepersoninchargeofmaintaining
theshow'schoreography[who]oftenteach[es]choreographytonewreplacementsandhelp[s]with
understudyandcleanuprehearsals."

Director:Atheatredirectororstagedirectorisadirector/instructorinthetheatrefieldwhooverseesand
orchestratesthemountingofatheatreproduction(aplay,anopera,amusical,oradevisedpieceofwork)by
unifyingvariousendeavoursandaspectsofproduction.Thedirector'sfunctionistoensurethequalityand
completenessoftheatreproductionandtoleadthemembersofthecreativeteamintorealisingtheirartistic
visionforit.Thedirectorthereforecollaborateswithateamofcreativeindividualsandotherstaff,
coordinatingresearch,stagecraft,costumedesign,props,lightingdesign,acting,setdesign,stagecombat,
andsounddesignfortheproduction.
Entr'Acte:Themusicplayedatthebeginningofthesecondactofamusical,beforetheactionresumes.
OftenjustanotherversionoftheOvertureoroneofthesongsintheshowplayedbytheorchestrainthepit,
thoughoccasionallyitgoesbeyondthat,asinthe"LifeIsLikeaTrain"numberfromOntheTwentieth
Century.Theentr'acteofCabarethasallthesleazymusiciansfromtheKitKatKlubbunchedtogetheron
thecatwalk,playingajazzyversionof"TwoLadies"andjammingindividually,whichisoutrageouslycool!
House:Technically,thetheatre.Morecommonly,theaudience,specificallythenumberofseatssold.
Interval:Ashortbreak,usuallymidwayorbetweenacts,togivetheaudience,actors,andtechnicalcrewa
timeout
Libretto:Thelyricstoamusical.Oftenincludessome"connectivetissue"thatexplainswhathappens
betweenthesongs.SeealsoBook.
Lyricist:Alyricistisawriterwhospecializesinwritinglyrics.
MusicalDirector:Incompletecontrolofthemusicintheproduction,undertheoverallcontrolofthe
Director.Rehearsesthesingersandmusicians,conductstheorchestraorband,andusuallyarrangesthe
musictoo.
OBC:OriginalBroadwayCast.ReferstotheopeningnightBroadwaycastofamusical.
OffBroadway:Typically,thehomeofnoncommercial(andhistoricallynonprofit)theatre.Tendstobe
muchmoreseriousandartythanBroadway.Unexpectedlypopularofferings,likeHair,sometimesfindtheir
waytoBroadway"legitimacy."Assassins,ontheotherhand,whichranfortwomonthsoffBroadway,was
theusualSondheimflopthathassinceattractedadevotedfollowing.UrinetownmovedfromoffBroadway
toBroadwaystatuswithalmostitsentirecastintactandhasbecomeahit.TheGoldenAppledidthesame
thingandtanked.
Overture:Asongusedtoopenamusical;italmostalwaysconsistsofamedleyofgoodbitsfromtheother
songsintheshow.Somemusicalsdon'thaveovertures,andafewoverturesincorporatebitsofcutsongs
intothemselves(e.g.,themorerecentversionsoftheoverturetoFollies).Oneofthemanymusicaljokes
inUrinetownisthattheoverturehasnothingtodowithanyoftheothersongsintheshow.
Producer:Atheatricalproducerisapersonwhooverseesallaspectsofmountingatheatreproduction.The
producermanagestheoverallfinancialandmanagerialfunctionsofaproductionorvenue,raisesorprovides
financialbacking,andhirespersonnelforcreativepositions(writer,director,designers,composer,
choreographerandinsomecases,performers).
NBC:NewBroadwayCast.Referstotherecordingofarevivedmusicalbytherevivalcast.
Rptiteur:OriginallyfromtheFrenchwordrpt,meaningrepeated,isthenamegiventotheperson
responsibleforplayingthepianoatrehearsals.

Reprise:Arepetitionofasongsungearlierinamusical.InAnnie,"Tomorrow"isreprisedtwice.InMack
&Mabel,"IWon'tSendRoses"issungbyRobertPrestonandthen,withdifferentlyrics,byBernadette
Peters;Peters'sversionisconsideredareprise.Althoughsomeshowsjustrepriseasongbecauseit'sahit
song,areprisedoneintelligentlycanchangethemeaningofthelyrics.Forexample,inNine,"NotSince
Chaplin"isfirstsungbyadoringfansasastraightforwardwaytopraisefilmdirectorGuidoContini's
importance.Muchlater,withhisworldcollapsingaroundhim,Continibitterlyreprisestheopeningwordsof
thesong,turningthemintoirony.
Revue:Ashowthatconsistsofdisparatemusicalnumbers,eitherbymanydifferentcomposers(e.g.,Hey,
Mr.Producer!)orbyoneindividualorteam(e.g.,LouisJordan,FiveGuysNamedMoe;Kanderand
Ebb,AndtheWorldGoesRound).Whatseparatesarevuefromaplainoldconcertisthestaging;thesongs
areperformedratherthanmerelysung.Sometimestheremightbeathematicthreadrunningthroughsome
orallofthesongs,butthereisnooverarchingstoryline.
RockMusical:Amusicalthatusesrockmusicratherthan"Broadway"music.Rockmusicisgenerallynot
suitedtothemusicalformbecausethebeattendstooverpowerthesingingandbecausemostrock
composersdon'tunderstandadamnthingaboutcreatingBroadwaymusicals.However,thereareafewgood
onesoutthere,likeHairsprayandLittleShopofHorrors.
Score:Thesheetsofmusicthatyousingorplayfrom.
SungThrough(alsoSungThru,ThroughSung,orThruSung):Amusicalwhereallthedialogueis
sung.Thiscanbeincrediblyannoyingiftheactualsongsarenotclearlydistinguishablefromthemusical
dialogueit'shardtotellwhenthe"dialogue"stopsandthe"song"begins.MissSaigonmademeandmy
parentscrazybecausebigchunksoftheshowsoundedlikelong,meandering,pointless,boringsongswith
nohighpointstobreakthroughthemonotony.Ontheotherhand,TheGoldenApple(oratleastthehalfthey
preservedonCD)isoneofthefewsungthroughshowsI'veeverheardthatdiditright.
Swing:AccordingtoknowledgablereaderRafaelDueno,"Aswingistheunderstudyofthechorus.You
knowhowchorusmembersunderstudythesmallerpartsandthepeopleinthesmallerpartsunderstudythe
leads?Swingsarepeoplewhoknowthechorusnumbersperfectly,sotheycanequallyreplaceanabsent
chorusmemberatthefrontofthelinetotherightaswellasoneatthebacktotheleft.Sometimeschorus
membersdon'talldotheexactsamedancesatthesametime;sometimestheyaresplitinhalfandeachside
mirrorstheother.Askaregularchorusmembertosimplyswitchover,andthey'reboundtomessup,for
theyhavealreadyperfecteddoingitfromoneside.Swingsarecapableofdoingeitherside,fortheyhave
learnedbothsectionswell."Aswingisoftenthedancecaptain.
TouringCompany:ThehardysoulswhotakeashowontheroadtolessfortunatetownslikeDenver.
Thoughsometimestouringcompaniescanbecomposedlargelyofnewcomers,minorTVactors,ordinner
theatreveterans(thetourofWestSideStoryacoupleofyearsagowaslargelymadeupofrankbeginners),
theycanalsohostbignames,andtheycanalsobebetterthantheoriginalBroadwaycompany(aswassaid
oftheGuysandDollstroupe).I'veseenChitaRivera,LornaLuft,LenCariou,JerryLewis,andother
luminariestrodtheboardsattheTempleBuellTheater.ThetouringcompanyofParadeconsistedmostlyof
theoriginalBroadwayperformers,andthecomposerhimselfconductedtheorchestra.
TripleThreat:Someonewhocansing,dance,andact.Thecombinationisrarerthanyou'dexpect,
especiallythesedayswhenactorsandactressesgravitatetowardHollywoodratherthanBroadway.Classic
triplethreatsincludeGwenVerdonandChitaRivera;moremoderntriplethreatswouldbeKarenZiemba
andDonnaMcKechnie.
Understudy:Someonewhohasasmallroleinashowandalsocancoverforoneormoreother(usually
larger)roles.

Unison:Unisonisthesimultaneoussoundingofthesamenotebytwoormoresingersorplayers.Unison
songsarenotindifferentparts,withallsingerssingingthetunetogether.
WestEnd,the:London'scounterparttoBroadway.
Composerthepersonwhowritesthescore(themelodies/notes)
NAME:

Broadway Glossary
Acappella:
Composer:

BioMusical:

Book:

BookMusical:

ChamberMusical:

Chorus:

Choreographer:
ConceptMusical:

CultMusical:

DanceCaptain:

Director:

Entr'Acte:

House:

Interval:

Libretto:
Lyricist:

MusicalDirector:

OBC:

OffBroadway:

Overture:
Producer:

NBC:

Rptiteur:

Reprise:

Revue:

RockMusical:

Score:

SungThrough(alsoSungThru,ThroughSung,orThruSung):

Swing:

TouringCompany:

TripleThreat:

Understudy:

Unison:

WestEnd,the: