Thoughts/Ponderings

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Aestheticism, Broadway, & Comedy: Oscar Wilde's Influence on Contemporary Musical Theatre

Aesthetics, Broadway, and Comedy:

The ABC's of Contemporary Musical Theatre

Throughout the course of theatre history, performance has been used to highlight different aspects of cultures around the world. In many cases, theatre has been a vehicle for promoting social change. However, as theatre has evolved, many commercial theaters have disposed of the critical aspects of theatre and instead choose to monopolize on the aesthetic of "the big Broadway musical" in order to return investments and increase monetary gain. In the pursuit of profit, Broadway musicals today have almost completely disregarded the importance of plot in a way that mirrors the farcical nature of Oscar Wilde's writing and the "Art for Art's Sake" movement of the 19th century.

During the late 1800s, Europe was desperate for both social and political change. In England, Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution, arguing that people are a product of both heredity and one's surroundings. In Germany, Karl Marx developed the ideals of communism, suggesting a more equal distribution of wealth amongst citizens. In France, August Comte developed the theory of Positivism, encouraging the observation of nature's cause and effect on everyday life. These three monumental theories spurred change throughout Europe, as new ideas bred rapid social and political revolution. However, despite the radical evolution of political and social life, European theatre at this time was still generally unsatisfying. Theatre relied heavily on melodramas, comic operas, and vaudevilles to entertain audiences. These works were simply spectacle for it's viewers, and often portrayed unrealistic story lines with a purely good hero and a purely evil villain. Theatre was not being utilized as anything more than entertainment. For artists during this time period, this shallow use of performance was deeply unfulfilling. Thus, realism was born. Beginning in France in the second half of the 19th century, realism stated that art should be made with the purpose to improve it's surrounding society.

Inspired by the new philosophies of Darwin and Comte, drama was used to observe contemporary society as nature. A prime example of this would be the work of Henrik Ibsen. His plays reflected mankind and often challenged the values of society in a way that promoted social change (Realism 1). For example, in Ibsen's classic play A Doll's House, housewife Nora abandons her family to become a free woman. In Europe at that time, this was considered almost sacrilegious, as a woman's commitment to her home and to her children were considered to be her most sacred duties. However, Ibsen challenges the belief that a woman should be bound to her home without truly knowing anything about herself or the world around her. As Nora leaves her husband, the audience is left to truly question the role of women in society. In this way, theatre challenged and ultimately changed the ideals of it's audience.

Conversely to the realistic and thought provoking ways of Ibsen and Chekov, Oscar Wilde became one of the pioneers of the art for art's sake movement, essentially ignoring all social responsibility of theatre and simply creating a gorgeous world of excess and aesthetics. Oscar Wilde was born in Ireland to a fabulously wealthy family. His father was an extremely successful eye and ear doctor and his mother was a well received poet. His mother's love of poetry inspired him to write from an early age, and their family's salons offered a sophisticated influence for Oscar during his formative years. His father was notorious for having several illegitimate children, for whom he financed their education but did not raise them in his house.

Oscar Wilde went on to study at Trinity College in Dublin, and then Oxford. He wrote and published poems throughout his time at school that were generally well received. In 1884, Wilde married Constance Lloyd and fathered two children with her; however, shortly after his wife's second pregnancy, he began to pursue homosexual affairs. Wilde found great success as a journalist, writing for The Women's World magazine until 1889, when he left the magazine to pursue his work in prose (Morely 5). After the publication of his novel Dorian Grey, Wilde received criticism for the book's homosexual allusions, to which he responded, "If a work of art is rich and vital and complete, those who have artistic instincts will see its beauty and those to whom ethics appeal more strongly will see its moral lesson," (Morely 81). Although Wilde was a well established writer at this point, his first two plays were met with very little success. He eventually found his voice through his comedies of society, beginning with his play Lady Windermere's Fan. The play was a commercial success, although it was not well received by critics. Wilde later found his greatest success with The Importance of Being Earnest, which remains today his most popular play. Only fifteen weeks after Earnest's premiere, Wilde was imprisoned on account of "gross indecency." After several trials, he was sentenced to two years of hard labor. While in prison, Wilde wrote De Profundis, addressed to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas. The letter recounts their relationship together and Wilde's spiritual journey throughout his time in prison. After his time in prison, Wilde's health sharply declined and he died in 1900.

Throughout his life, Oscar Wilde was a pioneer of the Art for Art's Sake movement. This movement stated that, "Verse and fiction are without any moral, social, cognitive, or other extraliterary purposes. The sole objective of a work of literature is to be beautiful, well structured, and well written," (Bell-Villada 3). This movement denies any artistic influence on society; moreover, it denies the connection between art and the circumstances of it's creation.

Originating from the French phrase "L'Art pour L'Art," this movement encourages artists to disregard any social or moral obligation and instead pursue beauty in their art. The term first appeared in French literary circles during the early 1800s, who feared that art would soon be judged solely by utility rather than beauty (Art for Art's Sake 1). This idea became vital to the British Aesthetic movement, which emphasized the visual quality of a piece over the practical or moral features. This movement peaked during the 1870s and 1880s, and was found both in fine and performing arts. Painters J.M. Whistler and Albert Moore exude decadence in their work (Aesthetic Movement 1). This movement promoted experimentation within an artist's work, as writers and painters explored sexuality and sensuality. Poetry was a large part of this movement as well, as verse became extremely ornate and decadent in style. Artists during this time were able to experiment with the relationship between art and life as well. Wilde challenges his readers with the claim that art does not imitate life, in fact, life imitates art. He stated that London would fog not because of the world around it, but because artists had commanded it to do so (Burdette 1).

Although the Art for Art's Sake movement was created to focus on artistic value rather than political or social change, many artists found politics and art inseparable. Wilde criticized Victorian society through his plays, and used satire to question the rules of the upper class he had experienced firsthand as a child. British Aestheticism itself was also scorned by more conservative newspapers during this time. Cartoons would often satirize famous artists of this movement, such as Oscar Wilde. The decadence of this movement became synonymous with the degeneration of society by those with more "traditional" values (Burdette 1).

Interestingly, this movement draws several comparisons to today's world. For example, newspapers and other media are used to criticize artists who dare to take risks and experiment with their work. Specifically, the Broadway musical Hamilton. In this production, the story of our founding fathers is told through a company of non-white actors, and is most notably told through rap verse rather than traditional songwriting. While the show is currently a huge success, (like much of Wilde's writing was successful) there have been some more "traditional" or conservative theatregoers who have criticized the work for it's choice of cast and experimental form.

The performance of Wilde's plays also mimics that of a current Broadway musical. In performing one of Wilde's pieces, actors are forced to breathe in a particular fashion in order to properly proclaim their lines. For many of Wilde's higher society characters, they speak in witty epigrams that are meant to be spoken quickly and authoritatively. If an actor does not properly breathe before attempting to speak one of these epigrams, they will be forced to pause in the middle of the phrase and therefore will lose the effectiveness of it. This is not unlike the breathing techniques necessary to perform modern day musical theatre, as belting has taken over Broadway. In both cases, the actor must root themselves into the ground, take a deep breath, and truly push out the text in order for it to be effective (Roden 74). In many contemporary musicals, actors are expected to belt out long phrases that they simply cannot breathe in between.

Therefore, most musical theatre actors employ a vocal coach to help them work on breathing techniques. Especially in musical comedies, the "power note" has taken over, as songs will typically end by holding one last long high note before a button stop, applause, and then continuing with the scene. Often the power note is used to show authority and power onstage, as characters will belt it out after spending three long minutes deciding on a course of action. Once they are confident in their decision, they scream their note. In fact, so many musicals have begun to utilize sustained high notes that are meant to be belted, there is a term for how to perform them. Musical theatre performers refer to it as a "park and bark." This is when an actor simply stands onstage with no other blocking and "barks" out their song. Similar to Wilde's work, staging is often very stoic and still at points in order to highlight the rigidity of Victorian England. For more domineering characters, their stillness brings about a sort of distinct elegance and grace. Consider the role of Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. In her most iconic scene, where she refuses Jack as a match for Gwendolyn because of his family line, she does not ever get up to move around the room. She simply sits with a piece of paper and a pencil and questions Jack authoritatively. A sort of "park and bark" in itself.

Additionally, the emphasis on the "look" of the production is another common feature of both modern day musicals and Wilde's own work. For The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde spent the majority of his time during the rehearsal process working to create Victorian high society onstage. In a broadway musical today, designers will spend copious amounts of time creating flying set pieces and moving furniture that will accurately create a specific location onstage. In both of these cases, the aesthetics of the piece far outweigh any literary poignancy. While I highly doubt that anybody at The Lion King has been searching for lost meanings within the play's script, there are almost endless moving pieces and fly rails that contain stunning backdrops for each location. In Wilde's production of The Importance of Being Earnest, the creation of high society life onstage would have most definitely included decadent scenery that suggested an elegant and upscale life for his characters. In the first act, Wilde even states in the stage directions, "The room is luxuriously and artistically furnished," (Wilde 11). The costumes of the piece would have been gorgeous and colorful, as the piece was written to be visually stunning for it's audience. Although Wilde's play does have substance as a satire of the elite upper class, he chose to focus more on the beauty of the language rather than try to adopt a singular message about the upper class. Wilde's piece does not suggest change, it does not even offer any repercussions for those who have acted immorally during the play. In fact, Wilde rewards his two scheming male leads with a marriage celebration at the end of the play, rather than exposing them. The play has no clear moral message, and is simply meant to be enjoyed and not analyzed.

Most contemporary musicals on Broadway today are similar in that they are meant to be enjoyed by audiences rather than analyzed for deeper meaning. This is especially true in musical comedies on Broadway today. In a Broadway house, the audience is likely to be made up of over 50% tourists who have come to New York City on vacation and want to experience a Broadway play. Many of these families have not seen a professional play before in their lives, and a good deal of them have small children. When all that is considered, it makes sense that Broadway has become home to sticky sweet Disney blockbusters. These productions are guaranteed to return their investment and attract large crowds every night, as families will flock to see them night after night. A family on vacation is not likely to seek theatre that will force them to think about today's society and how they can work to change it. They simply want to go to the theatre, enjoy the beauty of the production, and then go back to their hotel room to have a nice quiet evening before waking up at 6AM to go see The Statue of Liberty. Just like Oscar Wilde's plays, the emphasis is not on the content of the play, but rather on the aesthetic enjoyment of visualizing the piece.

One Broadway musical that was clearly inspired by Oscar Wilde and the Art for Art's Sake movement includes the hit comedy A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. Just like in The Importance of Being Earnest, Gentleman's Guide satirizes the Victorian upper class, painting them to be extremely snooty and obsessed with money. The character of Lady Bracknell is reincarnated here as Lord D'YSquith. Both characters are the heads of their households, hold family and background in very high esteem, and both live by an extreme set of societal rules in order to keep their position on the upper crust. These two characters serve as the driving comic forces in each play. In both Earnest and Gentleman's Guide, the main character lies his way to the top ranks of society in pursuit of a woman; and, in the end, does not face any consequences for his actions. In Gentleman's Guide, Monty Nevarro goes on a killing spree after discovering that he is a long lost heir to the prominent D'Ysquith family fortune and Earldom. He is motivated by a love for his childhood sweetheart, Sibella, who claims that she cannot marry him because he is not in a powerful position in society. This directly parallels the relationship between Jack and Gwendolyn, as Gwendolyn claims to love Jack but is unable to marry him because he has no family. Like Monty, Jack later discovers that he happened to be related to a powerful upper class family all along, and so he is able to marry his love and live happily ever after.

In the Tony Award winning production of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, lavish costumes alluded to the British Aesthetic movement, and a constantly changing but elaborate set created the high Victorian society that Wilde worked to establish in his own production of Earnest. In fact, musical's main selling point was not at all to do with the script or score, but rather with one of the aesthetic features of the production. As Jefferson Mays portrayed each of the D'YSquith family members, audiences were mesmerized by his never ending quick changes and consistent energy onstage for each character. In each scene, Mays would take on a new character, flawlessly capturing the same comedic force with each new D'YSquith. This became the most fascinating aspect of the piece. The story did not ever change or challenge the audience, it was simply laid out in three parts: first, Monty discovers that he is an air, then Monty kills a series of people, and lastly, Monty becomes the new Earl. He is never truly challenged by his murders. Although each one requires a slightly different strategy, by the end of each three minute song, Monty is busy planning his next move.

This farcical style of writing is extremely similar to that of Oscar Wilde. Monty's ease in murdering each of his relatives in order to ascend to the Earldom provides a commentary on Victorian society, as people were far too caught up in their own vanity to notice the murderer committing these brazen acts right before their eyes. The comedy style of Gentleman's Guide mirrors that of Earnest not only in plot similarities, but in structure as well. In both works, upper class characters allow their arrogance to blind them from their surroundings. For example, in the song "I Don't Understand the Poor," from Gentleman's Guide, the Earl states that he does not understand why the poor does not simply stop being poor and instead become rich like he is. He so clearly does not understand the world that exists outside of his high-society bubble, in the same way that Lady Bracknell's suggestion for Jack to "find some relations" in order to marry Gwendolyn demonstrates her clear lack of empathy and understanding for those who are less fortunate than her. It is this sense of arrogance and not understanding that creates such effective comedy onstage. The satirical nature of both pieces highlights the hypocrisy and ridiculous nature of the societal elite by dramatizing their strange idiosyncrasies in a comedic way.

The newfound importance of aesthetics in musical comedies goes far beyond those clearly inspired by Wilde. Take for example the Broadway production of Something Rotten! In this show, brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom attempt to get ahead of Shakespeare by writing the world's first musical. The play includes large Renaissance style costumes and a gorgeous set that ultimately make the production enjoyable. The script, once again, does not clearly take a stance on any societal issues, instead pushing a weak "To thine own self be true" mantra at the audience to pass for a moral at the end of the play. In a review by the New York Times, critic Ben Brantley states, "Clad in what are surely very heavy Elizabethan costumes, and performing what is essentially the same determined showstopper again and again, the ensemble members in this Broadway-does-the-Renaissance frolic remain as wired as Adderall-popping sophomores during exam week," (Brantley 1). He later goes on to state, "All those traits, I should add, have also been evidence in two of the most successful Broadway musicals of recent years: "The Book of Mormon" and Mel Brooks's "The Producers,"" (Brantley 1). Clearly, the empty, haphazard scripts of contemporary musical comedies have proven themselves successful enough amongst audiences to continue being produced. This is what has ultimately led to the dependence on aesthetics in contemporary theatre, as source material is pushed to the side to make way for spectacle and visual enjoyment of a piece.

As theatre continues to grow and change as an art form, it is impossible to say that any one technique is here to stay. However, the Art for Art's Sake movement pioneered by Oscar Wilde in the late 19th century has certainly paved the way for a parade of musical comedies that are dependent on aestheticism to sell tickets. While in the world of farce and satire, aestheticism can be a great asset, when musical theatre as a whole is forced to live by the same standards of one particular type of production, audiences are left with an unfulfilling monotony on Broadway that does not serve a purpose even as an art form.

Works Cited

"Aesthetic Movement." Tate. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2016.

"Art for Art's Sake." The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web.

Bell-Villada, Gene H. Art for Art's Aake & Literary Life: How Politics and Markets Helped

Shape the Ideology & Culture of Aestheticism, 1790-1990. Lincoln: U of Nebraska, 1996. Print.

Brantley, Ben. "Review: ‘Something Rotten!,’ an Over-the-Top Take on Shakespeare." Editorial.

The New York Times n.d.: n. pag. Web.

Burdette, Carolyn. "Aestheticism and Decadence." British Library. N.p., n.d. Web.

Morley, Sheridan. Oscar Wilde. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976. Print.

"Realism." NOVA Introduction to Theatre. N.p., n.d. Web.

Roden, Frederick S. Palgrave Advances in Oscar Wilde Studies. Houndmills, Basingstoke,

Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Print.

Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. New York: Dover Publications, 1990. Print.

Laura Clinton