Backstage am Broadway: das Filmmusical 42ND STREET (USA 1933, Lloyd Bacon) zwischen musikpraktischem Realismus und choreografischen Fantasien

Abstract

The 1933 movie musical 42ND STREET is considered as a prototype of the so- called »Backstage Musicals« – a genre which puts the developmental process of a musical at the heart of the story. Due to the realistic portrayal of this process, 42ND STREET is seen as one of the most prominent and influential works in the history not only of movie musicals, but of staged musicals as well.

One of the most decisive parts in this realistic portrayal is the almost entirely diegetical use of music within the movie, resulting from rehearsals or performances shown on the screen. Additionally, the songs within the fictional musical Pretty Lady strictly follow the musical and formal standards at that time. Last but not least, the orchestrations of these songs adhere to the rules of Broadway back then – as an analysis of the orchestrated partiturs with regard to its musical, theoretical, and dramaturgical structure shows. However, certain significant differences in the style of these orchestrations, which resulted from specific circumstances on a movie set, can be seen there, too.

Unlike that musically realistic approach, the visually spectacular choreographies by Busby Berkeley, which contained (at that time) up-to-date technical possibilities like tracking shots and overhead shots, were only practicable by means of the cinematic genre. However, during the performance of Pretty Lady, the spectators are often pulled out of these choreographic fantasies, when cuts from close-ups all of a sudden show the entire theatre stage as well as the conductor and the orchestra, thereby transferring the audience in the reality of a staged musical performance.

This essay examines the means and reasons of the musical realism of 42ND STREET, its connection to the way the songs were choreographed and how this movie has shaped movie musicals and stage musicals to this day.