The Musical Theatre Interest Group held its annual meeting on March 8th, 2021 as part of the virtual MLA Conference. Because the entire conference was organized jointly with the Theatre Library Association, we were very pleased to welcome many members of TLA among our 64 interest group meeting attendees.
Our first item of business was to issue a request for a new coordinator, which resulted in the appointment of Terry Lewis following the conference.
As is often the case in our meetings, we discussed online and print resources related to musical theatre, but this year, with the additional participants in the meeting, the list of good resources increased considerably. Because the number of reliable streaming resources for musical theatre is limited, there was a brief discussion of this issue. Some resources are available only to individual users, so they are not accessible for class use. However, The National Theatre Collection was mentioned as a particularly useful resource.
Theatre closures during the pandemic were also a major topic, and the discussion of ways in which musical theatre was being presented online provided many good links in the meeting chat. A few of those links are listed below:
2) The Virtual StageStruck Conference (now past)
3) Theatre Research from Remote Locations (hosted by NYPL)
4) Full 1995 production of “Victor/Victoria” with Julie Andrews, free on YouTube
Recommended print resources for musical theatre were numerous. Authors cited included Richard Kislan, Martin Gottfried, Abe Laufe, Dan Dietz, Ken Bloom, Laurance Maslon, John Kenric, and Ethan Mordden. And, although not addressing musical theatre specifically, two books on Black theatre were recommended to the group: It’s Always Loud in the Balcony: A Life in Black Theatre, from Harlem to Hollywood and Back by Richard Wesley; and Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way by Stewart Lane.
Our discussions at previous meetings of cataloging-related issues continued at this meeting, particularly in regard to Subject and Genre/Form headings to distinguish “operas” vs. “operettas” vs. “musicals.” We have search terms for “operas” and for “musicals,” but the genre of “operettas” has always been a controversial topic in regard to implementing a search term, because characteristics that constitute an operetta have not been clearly defined in the library world. Additionally, the question of evolving musicals arose, that is, shows with different versions–some with radical changes–which develop over time through ongoing revival productions, and this brought up a number of questions and issues. For example, how does a cataloger codify the date of such works? When is the work finalized? Relatedly, how does one define the medium of performance for shows that change after their initial presentation? Can the cataloging community establish methods to accommodate the ever-changing life of a musical theatre work? And what truly defines “the work”?
The discussion moved into the area of contextualization of musical theatre productions in library cataloging, including shows that were intended for Broadway but never opened on Broadway, shows that ran in outside of New York City, and original college musical productions.
The discussions were lively and multi-faceted, and the level of enthusiasm made it clear that further collaborative meetings with TLA would be highly desirable.
Submitted by Frank Ferko
The featured image is a vintage cover from the 1923 original Madrid production of the zarzuela Doña Francisquita. Though not specifically tied to the March interest group meeting, it reflects the group’s intent to discuss and disseminate information about all forms of musical theatre.