Rock Musicals and Concept Musicals

When checking out popular musicals of the 1970s, I was surprised to see how many different styles there were. They range from rock musicals to nostalgic revivals and new book musicals. I chose to cover rock musicals and concept musicals, especially since these two emerged largely in the 1970's.

Rock musicals were a new idea of the 1970's. Because rock music was so popular in the music scene, producers saw it as new hope for Broadway. If they created a musical that combined the theater and the rock music, they could attract all sorts of viewers. In 1970, The Me That Nobody Knows was born. This was a compilation of poems written by inner-city children and performed by teenagers. It wasn't necessarily rock music, but it was protest music and it worked to pump people up, show the poor conditions in cities, and spread the word that change was necessary!

The first big rock musical was Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971. It started out as a British music recording then eventually hit Broadway. Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, the intent was to show the role that fame had in Jesus Christ's fate. The dialogue was all set to music and this show could even be considered a rock opera. Below is a link showing a song from the musical when it was showing in 1973:



Another hugely popular rock musical was Grease. Released in 1972, the plot was set in the 50's around two seniors in high school as they found romance and friendship. It first opened in Manhattan theaters then became a Broadway show. It was the "most commercially successful 1970's rock musical." Also, until another musical broke the record in the 80's, it was the longest running musical in Broadway history. In 1978 it moved back to theaters and became the highest grossing musical ever in Hollywood! It starred Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta and songs from the movie are still recognizable and popular. Its popularity continues, as Broadway brought it back for over 1,500 shows in 1994. Below is the section from the movie Grease with the song "Summer Nights."

The Wiz (1975) was a remake of The Wizard of Oz as a summary with an all-black cast. The soundtrack ranged from soul to rock music and it was the last hit of the 70's to be deemed a rock musical. I found it really interesting that I was researching this tonight because I literally watched an episode of Scrubs (a TV show that focuses around a hospital and its interns, but it's really funny and one of my favorite shows) where the main character was talking about how he had the role of "The Wiz" in this musical. I had never heard of it before, so I was pretty shocked when I went to research and saw the name listed! It's still known today, as producers even include it in popular television shows.

Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease, and The Wiz were just three of the hits-- there were also many flops in rock musicals. Still, it was an idea introduced and adopted in the 1970's. To read more about rock musicals, click here.













Concept musicals were not built with a traditional plot. An exact definition is a "presentational rather than strictly narrative work that employs out-of-story elements to comment upon and at times takes part in the action, utilizing avant-garde techniques to defy unities of time, place, and action." These musicals go through a stage in life and then comment on anything about that stage. This concept was resented by some. For example, one producer (Harold Prince) made musicals which were deemed 'concept musicals' although he defined them as integrated shows, so he felt his audience was limited by the label 'concept musical.' This genre actually refined Broadway and motivated a "soul-searching" redefinition of the genre, musical.

One hit for concept musicals was Company which came out in 1970. The plot was a single man in New York trying to find love. It focuses around his married friends and a bunch of single women who want to be with him. He's not really sure where he fits in. It shows the concept of loneliness as he turns 35 and has the string of internal questioning-- is protecting himself from ever possibly getting hurt worth risking NEVER finding love? Many can relate to this battle of internal wills, and since he is single and older it was especially relateable to some people who sometimes feel like they just missed out on the time to find love.

Another hit, which didn't really become a hit until decades later, is Chicago. The plot is two flappers in the 1920s who are trying to become famous. Their method is marital homicide. This musical focuses brutally on media-based celebrity (doing anything for money) and social hypocrisy. It never really found its crowd in the 70's, but Broadway brought it back in 1996 and to the big screens in 2002 and it now extremely well-known.

To read more about concept musicals (and where the definition above yields from), visit here.

Below is a video of the song "He Had it Coming" from the musical Chicago. In this song the women sing about their murder of their husbands.



Rock musicals and concept musicals are just two genres of musicals which emerged in the 1970s. Undoubtably there is a plethora of other musicals which are still highly popular today, including No, No Nanette and Annie but these were not rock musicals or concept musicals. The 1970's actually produced a large number of musicals and advances in Broadway.



Jesus Christ Superstar URL
Grease picture URL
Chicago picture URL