A sung-through or through-sung
stage musical,
musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...
,
opera, or other work of
performance art is one in which songs entirely or almost entirely replace any spoken
dialogue. Conversations, speeches, and musings are communicated musically, for example through a combination of
recitative
Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines ...
,
aria
In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
, and
arioso. Early versions of this include the Italian genre of
opera buffa, a light-hearted form of opera that gained prominence in the 1750s.
A through-sung opera or other form of narrative work with continuous music may also be described as
through-composed.
List of fully sung-through musicals
*''
Art Thief Musical!''
*''
Bare: A Pop Opera''
*''
Bumblescratch''
*''
Cats''
*''
Une chambre en ville''
*''
Cricket''
*''
Les Dix Commandements''
*''
Epic: The Musical''
*''Evening-1910''
*''
Evita''
*''
Falsettos''
*''
The Human Comedy''
*''
Jesus Christ Superstar''
*''
Johanna''
*''
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''
*''
Katy! the Musical''
*''
Keating!''
*''
King David''
*''
Marry Me a Little''
*''
Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem''
*''
Les Misérables''
*''
Miss Saigon
''Miss Saigon'' is a sung-through musical theatre, stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madama Butterfly'', and similarly tells th ...
''
*''
Murder Ballad''
*''
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812''
*''
Notre-Dame de Paris''
*''
Ordinary Days''
*''
Quadrophenia''
*''
Repo! The Genetic Opera''
*''
Song and Dance''
*''
Songs for a New World''
*''
Starlight Express''
*''
Starmania''
*''
Tell Me on a Sunday''
*''
The Ten Commandments: The Musical''
*''
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg''
List of sung-through musicals with occasional spoken lines
* ''
Ain't Misbehavin'''
* ''
American Idiot''
* ''
Annette''
* ''
Aspects of Love''
* ''
Caroline or Change''
* ''
Dance of the Vampires''
* ''
Elisabeth''
* ''
The Golden Apple''
* ''
Hadestown''
* ''
Hamilton: An American Musical''
* ''
In Trousers''
* ''
Jekyll & Hyde''
* ''
Jerry Springer: The Opera''
* ''
John & Jen''
* ''
The Last 5 Years''
* ''
Love Never Dies''
* ''
Martin Guerre''
* ''
The Most Happy Fella''
* ''
A New Brain''
* ''
Next to Normal''
* ''
Once on This Island''
* ''
Passing Strange''
* ''
The Phantom of the Opera''
* ''
Pink Floyd—The Wall ''
* ''
The Pirate Queen''
* ''
Ragtime''
* ''
Razia's Shadow''
* ''
Rent''
* ''
Seussical''
* ''
Side Show''
* ''
Soon''
* ''
The Stingiest Man in Town''
* ''
Suffs''
* ''
Sunset Boulevard (musical)''
* ''
Superhero''
* ''
The Who's Tommy''
* ''
The Woman in White''
List of sung-through musicals depending on the production
* ''
Chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
''
** Originally starting off as a
concept album, the musical has a reputation for being re-written during every new production that is staged around the world. Some productions are completely sung-through, some have scattered lines, and some (notably the original Broadway production) are staged as book musicals.
* ''
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris''
[ Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (film)#Soundtrack]
References
{{Reflist