History of Musical Theatre PPT, Quiz, and Poster Project!

Quick 2 week History of Musical Theatre Unit!

This includes:

1. 21 beautifully laid out slides that take you and your students from the start of musical theatre with the Greek and Romans, all the way to musicals in the 2000s.
2. A worksheet for students to take notes on for the slides.
3. 15 question quiz on the History of Musical Theater based on the notes they take. Answer key included.
4. A week long Poster Project where students research a musical theatre genre/time period and create a poster.

Topics discussed in the PPT:

1. What is musical theater?
2. How is it different than Opera?
3. Where did it come from?
4. How has it evolved across time?
5. What counts as "On-Broadway"?
6. How has theater been connected to and affected by historic events?
7. What were the most popular shows in each time period?
   
   For example, the Gilbert and Sullivan slide also has links showing how the music evolved over time ("I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" has different modern versions clips from Animaniacs, Minions, the elements song, etc. to help students understand how even very old musicals can still be relevant to their lives today).
   
8. Who are the famous composers?
9. Fun Broadway facts

Most slides include several links to youtube videos where students can hear the musicals for themselves. This will take approximately 3 hours, so about 3 class periods. If you're short on time, you can shorten the assignment by not playing all the clips. Need to fill more time? There are tons of clips for the students to enjoy.

The Project:

Students will select one (out of 8 options) musical theatre genre/time period (ex. Golden Age, Rock Musical, Disney Musical) to research. They fill out a packet where they research:

1. What's happening in the world/culturally during the time period
2. Research 5 musicals and watch at least 3 clips
3. Research the major composers/actors/directors of the time period
4. Come up with a list of common characteristics
5. Identify strengths and weaknesses of the genre

**Important Note: Youtube videos are included in this resource, you and/or your students must have access to technology to view certain parts. We always try to select grade appropriate clips, but each state, district, and classroom have different expectations, so please review all content before showing to students. Links to content on Youtube are always subject to change based on Youtube’s policies, the content creator, etc.; if you find any links that are not working, please reach out and let us know so we can fix them.