And now it's time for Who Smarted? Hey, Smarty Pants, give me just one second.
I'm right in the middle of something. Excuse me, is this the line to get rush tickets for Wickedly Smart?
Um, why, yes. Are you sure? The sign over there says Smarty Cats?
No, no, Smarty Cats is playing two blocks away, and across the street is the Smarty King.
Okay, because I'm really excited to see Wickedly Smart.
It's the hottest new musical on Broadway.
It's been sold out every night since it opened.
It sure has. Of course, Smarty Cats is one of the longest-running musicals on Broadway and has been beloved for well over a decade.
Right. I'll say, you sure know a lot about all these shows.
Um, Barry. The name's Barry. Of course, everyone calls me Broadway Barry, seeing as I know pretty much everything there is to know about musicals.
Oh, well, in that case, I'm doubly excited.
I'll get to see Broadway's hottest new musical and get to talk to an expert on musicals.
Wow, you're a pretty trusting guy. Well, trust is in my name.
After all, I am the trusty narrator. Congratulations.
So, was there something you wanted to ask me?
Well, for starters, how exactly do Rush tickets for a Broadway musical work?
That's easy. All the theaters set aside a certain number of tickets that folks can buy the day of the performance.
Hence the term rush tickets. Gotcha. But get this.
Not only are these tickets offered at a discounted price, sometimes they're really good seats too.
And in some cases, like with a hot new show like Wickedly Smart, which is definitely playing here and has been sold out for months, rush tickets are the only way to get tickets.
Hmm. Are you sure this is the line for wickedly smart?
There doesn't seem to be a lot of people here.
And isn't that a sign for smarty cats? I think someone just stuck a poster on the wall.
Besides, don't you want to learn more about Broadway and musicals?
I sure do, Broadway Barry. I want to learn things like what makes a musical a musical?
What was the first ever musical? And how does a musical make it to Broadway?
No problem. I know all that stuff. They don't call me Broadway Barry for nothing.
Did you know I've seen Smarty Cats 412 times?
Meow. That's great. Anyway, it's time to get the show on the road as we take a musical whiff of science and history on... Who's Smarted?
Who's Smarted? Who's Smarted? Who's smart?
Is it you? Is it me? Is it science? Or history?
Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smarted.
Who Smarted is sponsored by BetterHelp. Trusty narrator here.
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Okay, Broadway Barry, when it comes to musicals, where do we begin?
Let's start with the basics. How would you define a musical?
Great question. What do you think, smarty pants?
How would you define a musical? Is it just like a play, only with music?
Yeah, there's a bit more to it than that.
Unlike a play, which generally has little to no music or dancing, a musical combines acting, singing, and dancing.
Oh, it's just too thrilling. Oh, I have to agree with you there, Barry.
Musicals can be pretty exciting to watch.
But it's not just that there are plays with music plus dancing.
Another important factor is that the singing, dancing, and acting must all communicate the emotion of the story while also driving the plot forward.
I see. Uh, can you give me an example? Sure, let's take the musical Les Miserables.
It's only one of my favorites. It's about a group of people in France in the 1800s engaging in revolution.
There's a big, important song about how they're all fed up, and it goes like this.
Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men?
It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again.
Wow. Bravo, Barry. Maybe you should be on Broadway instead of just waiting online.
But also, I see what you mean. They're talking about their struggle in the story through the song.
Exactly. And telling the story through song and dance happens to be throughout the whole musical.
So, Barry, when was the first ever musical created?
Smarty Pants, care to take a guess? Was it A, in 1866, B, in 1927, or C, in 1943?
Barry, what's the answer? The answer is a kind of all three.
Huh? How could there have been three first musicals?
Maybe I shouldn't have trusted this random guy online in front of me.
Hang on, hang on. The reason why there's three potential answers is simple.
It's because people didn't totally agree on what makes a musical a musical.
Remember how I said that the singing, dancing, and acting have to be combined together and communicate the emotion of the story and drive the plot forward?
Well, yeah, you just said it a minute ago.
Well, a long time ago, there were these things called musical plays, which were really popular.
But the singing, dancing, and acting were all kind of separate.
Like sometimes a show would start with a big dance number, and then there'd be some scenes that were acted out.
Hark! Is there someone at the door? And then maybe a couple of songs.
But it didn't exactly fit together. I see.
So what happened in 1866? In 1866, a show came out in New York City called The Black Crook, which a lot of people considered to be the first musical, because it wasn't just dancers dancing and the singers singing.
For the first time, the actors actually sang and danced, too.
Aha! And the modern musical was born! No, not really.
Some folks don't think that show was anything like today's musicals because it was too silly.
And today's modern musicals often deal with serious subjects.
So, in 1927, a musical called Showboat came out, which dealt with serious topics like racial injustice and featured a song called Old Man River that has since become super famous.
Hello. Aha! And then the modern musical was born?
Mmm, we're getting closer. It wasn't until the 1940s, the golden age of musicals, that one show came out which was considered a game changer.
The first modern musical. Hey, smarty pants, if any of you are big musical fans out there, do you know what big important show came out in 1943?
Was it A, South Pacific, B, Oklahoma, or C, The King and I?
Here's a hint. If you said Oklahoma, you're right.
Aha! So what made Oklahoma the first modern musical, Barry?
Well, it did a few things for the first time ever that many musicals still do today.
For example, when the show first starts, instead of the curtain going up on a big opening dance number as a lot of old shows used to do, it opens up on a simple real-life scene.
In this case, a lady churning butter on a farm.
I see. But it's not the butter. No, it was also the dancing.
The choreography incorporated movements and gestures you'd see in everyday real life.
Oklahoma essentially perfected what makes a musical a musical.
Because the singing, dancing, and acting all communicated the emotion of the story and drove the plot forward.
And the modern musical was born. It sure was.
And the musical genre or category became a huge hit.
Today, New York City's Broadway near Times Square or London's West End are the hubs of the biggest, brightest, and best musicals in the world.
So, Barry, how does a musical make it to Broadway?
Like Wickedly Smart or Smarty Cats? Someone somewhere had to write all the lines and all the songs, but who decided it's good enough to get to Broadway or the West End?
Great question. Pretty much every show that makes it to Broadway starts somewhere else.
It can be in another city or even another country.
It can start in a big theater, but usually it starts in a small theater.
And basically, if it gets really good reviews in these other places and a lot of people are talking about it, it has a chance of making it to Broadway.
Oh, so shows don't just start on Broadway.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. In fact, a lot of shows start as small workshop productions.
Hey, smarty pants, what's a workshop production?
Is it A, a show about Santa's workshop? B, a show with lots of elaborate sets?
Or C, when a brand new show is being developed and the songs, lines, and choreography can still be rewritten or changed?
If you said C, great job. Lots of musicals start as workshop productions before coming to Broadway, and a lot of changes happen to make the musical attractive to investors.
An investor is someone who puts their own money into a show, hoping the show does very well and makes even more money back.
Right, because even though musicals are art, they're also business.
There's also a lot more to musicals than I realized.
For sure. Musicals are big, exciting, complicated things, but they don't have to make it to Broadway to be really good.
There's lots of great musicals off-Broadway, or even off-off-Broadway.
So, Smarty Pants, do you know what off or off-off-Broadway means?
Well, we'll have the answer right after this quick break and a word from our sponsors.
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Now back to Who Smarted. Okay, I think a lot of smarty pants are familiar with Broadway musicals.
But what are off or off-off Broadway shows?
Well, in case anyone doesn't know, Broadway is a famous street in New York City.
And a lot of the theaters where you might see a musical in NYC are located on or around Broadway.
Ah, so Off-Broadway must mean a theater that isn't on Broadway.
And Off-Off is a theater that's even further away from Broadway.
Great guess, trusty. But totally wrong. Wait, what?
Really? Yep, but don't worry. That's what most people think.
Okay, Smarty Pants, let's try again. What defines off-Broadway or off-off-Broadway theaters?
Is it A, they're less fancy than Broadway theaters?
B, they have fewer seats for the audience than Broadway theaters?
Or C, they're probably haunted? If you said B, you're right.
In New York City, a Broadway theater must have over 500 seats, an off-Broadway theater has between 100 and 499 seats, and an off-off-Broadway theater is even smaller, with fewer than 99 seats.
Huh. So it's just the size? Size matters.
And not how near or far away from Broadway the street the theater is.
And as I was saying before, those small theaters can have some super great musicals, trusty.
And some of those musicals might eventually move to a really big Broadway theater if they become extremely popular.
But many times they stay in an off-Broadway theater for years and do really, really well.
Wow. The world of musicals is super cool, Barry.
But I want to know more about the parts of a musical.
For example, if you open up a playbill, which is the little booklet you get telling you about the play or musical...
The first page usually has a person's name next to the words book, music, and lyrics.
What's all that about? And who are those people?
Well, the book of a musical is actually... What?
What do you think, smarty pants? What is the book?
If you said the script, you're right. And by script, I'm talking all the parts spoken by the actors, but not sung.
The book also includes descriptions of what's happening in the scenes.
Gotcha. And then the lyrics are, what, smarty pants?
Did you say the words to the songs? If so, great job.
The lyrics are sometimes written by someone else, but in some cases, the book and lyrics are written by the same person.
Whoa. That is one talented person. Absolutely.
And then, what about the music? The music credit in a playbill refers to the composition of the songs, as in the actual notes.
In the case of the musical Hamilton, for example, the book, music, and lyrics were all written by one guy.
Mr. Lin-Manuel Miranda. Wow. Also, we are almost at the front of the line.
I am so excited to see the hottest new show on Broadway.
New shows are fun, but it's also fun making memories with an old favorite.
Right. Anyway, before I see the show, I do have another question.
Lay it on me. I've heard the terms understudy and swing in connection to musicals.
But what do they mean? Smarty Pants, do you know?
Well, an understudy covers for a lead actor in case they're sick or on vacation.
They must know the lead actor's role inside and out and be able to step in at the last minute.
No pressure. And a swing is an understudy covering for the lead actor who also has a smaller role of their own.
And if the understudy covers the lead, the swing steps in to understudy the understudy.
Wow, and the people on stage really have to do it all.
Sing, act, and dance. And they've got to do all three really well.
Broadway musicals are so famous for folks who can do all three.
There's even a term for it. What do you think it is, smarty pants?
Are they a triple threat? The whole enchilada?
Or simply, marvelous? If you said a triple threat, you're right.
Anyone you see on a Broadway musical is most definitely a triple threat.
Wow. I sure learned a lot. But that's New York.
You never know who you're going to meet online.
Especially the line for the hot new Broadway musical.
Next. One for Wickedly Smart at 2.30, please.
Wickedly Smart. This is the line for Smarty Cats, the longest-running musical on Broadway.
What? Barry, you were wrong. Whoops. They both have smart in the title.
That's okay. Smarty Cats is a legendary show.
Plus, I know a lot more about musicals now.
In fact, make it two tickets. One for me, and one for my new friend.
You don't have to do that. I insist. And please, don't give me a whole song and dance talking me out of it.
I mean, you don't have to buy me a ticket.
I'm in the show. I'm the understudy. See you inside.
Maybe I need to be a little less trusting.
A big shout out to Ms. Wong's class in Toronto, Canada.
Ms. Wong reached out to let us know that her class just loves listening to Who Smarted.
According to Ms. Wong, her students are super curious, great learners, and have been working very hard.
That's terrific. It sounds like you have a great group of students, Ms.
Wong. And you know what? It sounds like your students also have a great teacher.
This episode, Musicals, was written by Broadway Phil Jeremy and voiced by Taya Great White Way Garland, Kim Diva Davis, and Jerry Colbert.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hold Your Applause Han.
Our associate producer is Max Music Man Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Standing Room Only Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam TKTS Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
