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An Analysis of Musicals by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and an Original Musical, Fly Like an Eagle

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An Analysis of Musicals by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and an Original Musical, Fly Like an Eagle Stephen F. Austin State University SFA ScholarWorks Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2019 An Analysis of Musicals by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and an Original Musical, Fly Like an Eagle Donna Howard Stephen F Austin State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds Part of the Composition Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Repository Citation Howard, Donna, "An Analysis of Musicals by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and an Original Musical, Fly Like an Eagle" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 233. https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/233 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. An Analysis of Musicals by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and an Original Musical, Fly Like an Eagle Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This thesis is available at SFA ScholarWorks: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/233 An Analysis of Musicals by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and an Original Musical, Fly Like an Eagle By Donna Howard, Bachelor of Musical Arts Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Stephen F. Austin State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Music STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY May, 2019 An Analysis of Musicals by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and an Original Musical, Fly Like an Eagle By DONNA HOWARD, Bachelor of Musical Arts APPROVED: ____________________________________ Dr. Stephen Lias, Thesis Director ____________________________________ Dr. Kristin Lyman, Committee Member ____________________________________ Dr. Tod Fish, Committee Member ____________________________________ Dr. Angela Bacarisse, Committee Member __________________________________ Pauline M. Sampson, Ph. D. Dean of Research and Graduate Studies ABSTRACT Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty have written musicals together for several decades. This thesis contains an in-depth discussion and stylistic analysis of several songs each from Once on This Island, Ragtime, and Seussical – three Ahrens & Flaherty shows chosen specifically because of their variety in style and subject matter. This analysis includes, among other things, the lyrics and lyric setting, textures, harmonic settings, accompaniment styles, rhythms, and harmonic progressions. The central portion of this document contains the music for nine songs of an original musical titled Fly Like an Eagle. This script is written by Daris Howard and is loosely based on the story of Jim Thorpe. This musical shows some of the styles found in the Ahrens and Flaherty musicals, and will also demonstrate effective use of lyrics, harmonic progressions, and dramatic situations, as Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty have done. i Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................. i Table of Contents ................................................................................................. ii List of Musical Examples ..................................................................................... iv List of Images ...................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 Lynn Ahrens .............................................................................................. 5 Stephen Flaherty ....................................................................................... 8 Becoming a Team .................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2 - Analysis of Representative Musicals by Ahrens and Flaherty .......... 14 Once on This Island ................................................................................. 16 Ragtime .................................................................................................... 18 Seussical .................................................................................................. 21 Beginnings of a Musical ........................................................................... 23 Introduction of Characters ........................................................................ 27 Musical Setting ......................................................................................... 32 Embedded Motives .................................................................................. 45 Text Setting Rhythms ............................................................................... 52 Modulations .............................................................................................. 58 Rising and Falling Bass Lines .................................................................. 72 Chapter 3 – Description and Analysis of Songs from Fly Like an Eagle ............. 78 Brief Synopsis of Fly Like an Eagle .......................................................... 79 Remember Me ......................................................................................... 81 Goin' To the Lympics................................................................................ 82 Have You Ever ......................................................................................... 83 Athletic Theme ......................................................................................... 85 Oh, Great Spirit ........................................................................................ 86 Piggy Tails and Braids ............................................................................. 88 Will You Listen? ....................................................................................... 90 Fly Like an Eagle ...................................................................................... 94 We Are Brothers (and Sisters) ................................................................. 95 Chapter 4 – Scores for Selected Songs from Fly Like an Eagle ......................... 99 Remember Me ....................................................................................... 100 Goin' to the Olympics ............................................................................. 106 Have You Ever ....................................................................................... 111 Athletic Fanfare ...................................................................................... 120 Oh, Great Spirit ...................................................................................... 121 Piggy Tails and Braids ........................................................................... 122 Will You Really Listen? .......................................................................... 127 ii Fly Like an Eagle .................................................................................... 131 We Are Brother (And Sisters) ................................................................. 135 Bibliography ...................................................................................................... 142 Appendix – Script for Fly Like an Eagle ............................................................ 145 Vita.................................................................................................................... 200 List of Musical Examples Musical Example 1 - "Ragtime" – Motive ............................................................ 24 Musical Example 2 - "Prayer to the Gods" – Motive............................................ 25 Musical Example 3 - "Oh, the Thinks You Can Think" – Motive .......................... 26 Musical Example 4 - "Oh, the Thinks You Can Think" - Horton's Introduction .... 29 Musical Example 5 - "Prologue/We Dance" - Introduction of the Gods ............... 30 Musical Example 6 - "Ragtime" - Opening - Coalhouse Introduction .................. 31 Musical Example 7A - Calypso Rhythm 1 ........................................................... 33 Musical Example 7B - Samba Rhythm 1............................................................. 33 Musical Example 7C - Samba Rhythm 2 ............................................................ 34 Musical Example 8 - "Once on This Island" – Prologue ...................................... 34 Musical Example 9 - "Rain" - Samba Rhythm ..................................................... 35 Musical Example 10 - "Waiting for Life" - Melodic Syncopation .......................... 36 Musical Example11 - "The Human Heart" – Syncopation ................................... 37 Musical Example 12 - "Wheels of a Dream"- Rolling Wheels ............................. 38 Musical Example 13 - "Journey On" – Ocean ..................................................... 39 Musical Example 14 - "Here on Who" - Aural Picture of Whoville ....................... 42 Musical Example 15 -"Here on Who" - Irregular Rhythms .................................. 43 Musical Example 16 - "How to Raise a Child" - Off Balance Rhythm.................. 44 Musical Example 17 - “Prologue / We Dance" – Motive ...................................... 45 Musical Example 18 - "Waiting for Life" - Embedded Motive .............................. 46 Musical Example 19 - "One Small Girl" – Motive
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