Jukebox musical


A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known popular music songs, rather than original music. Many jukebox musicals confine themselves to songs performed by one singer or band, or songs written by one songwriter. In such cases, the plot is often a biography of the artist in question. In other jukebox musicals, the plot is purely fictional. For musicals about a musician or musical act, some of the songs can be diegetic, meaning that they are performed within the world of the play or film. Works in which all of the music is diegetic, however, such as a biographical film about a singer who is at times shown performing their songs, are generally not considered jukebox musicals.
Revues that lack a plot are also usually not described as jukebox musicals, although plotless shows that include a dance element sometimes are.
Artists whose life and songs have served as the basis for a jukebox musical include Peter Allen, Susan Boyle, Shlomo Carlebach, Johnny Cash, Cher, Patsy Cline, Bobby Darin, Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Buddy Holly, Michael Jackson, Janis Joplin, Carole King, The Kinks, Fela Kuti, John Lennon, Udo Lindenberg, Johnny O'Keefe, Dusty Springfield, Donna Summer, The Temptations, Tina Turner, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and Hank Williams. Others who have gotten similar treatment include songwriter/producers Bert Berns, Berry Gordy and Ellie Greenwich, record producer Florence Greenberg, and composer/songwriter Norbert Glanzberg.
For jukebox musicals with a fictional plot, one common approach is to center the plot around one or more singers or musicians, thus letting some of the songs be performed as songs within the show. Examples of such musicals include Boogie Nights, Mamma Mia!, Hoy no me puedo levantar, Bésame mucho, el musical, Rock of Ages, Daddy Cool, Never Forget, Viva Forever!, All Out of Love and Jukebox Hero.
Some shows and films combine original and previously-released songs; it may be a matter of opinion whether these qualify as jukebox musicals. For example, the stage musicals 42nd Street, Five Guys Named Moe, Crazy for You and Xanadu are all adaptations of earlier source material that added to the original score other well-known songs written by the original songwriters. Films that combine old and original songs include Singin' in the Rain, Idlewild and Trolls.

History

In Europe in the 17th and 18th century, many comic operas were produced that parodied popular songs of the time by performing them with modified lyrics. Comédie en vaudevilles and ballad operas are two genres that made heavy use of well-known melodies. The Beggar's Opera, the first ballad opera and the most famous, has been called "the original jukebox musical".
Films considered early examples of jukebox musicals include An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, Rock, Rock, Rock and Rock Around the Clock.
The songwriting team of Robert Wright and George Forrest pioneered the concept of musicals whose songs are derived from one composer's instrumental works, with newly-written lyrics. Some of these musicals also told the life story of that composer. Musicals and operettas that they produced in this fashion include Song of Norway, , a 1949 reworking of the 1934 musical The Great Waltz, Kismet and Anya.
The origin of the phrase "jukebox musical" in its current meaning is unclear. The word "jukebox" dates to around 1939. The first documented use of "jukebox musical" in print may have been in a 1962 description of the musical Do Re Mi, but that was a musical about a man who sells jukeboxes. In a 1964 review of the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night, critic Andrew Sarris described that film as "the Citizen Kane of jukebox musicals", but he too may have had a meaning in mind other than the contemporary one, since most of that film's songs were original.
Although jukebox musicals had achieved success for years, a surge in popularity was led by the success of Mamma Mia!, built around the music of ABBA.

List of stage jukebox musicals

1970s

YearTitleBased on the music of
1976Bubbling Brown SugarDuke Ellington, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, et al.
1977ElvisElvis Presley
1978Ain't Misbehavin'Fats Waller

1980s

YearTitleBased on the music of
198042nd StreetAl Dubin, Johnny Mercer, and Harry Warren
1983AbbacadabraABBA
1984Leader of the PackEllie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector
1986Big DealPopular songs from the 1920s and 30s
1987Hank Williams
1988Always... Patsy ClinePatsy Cline
1989Buddy – The Buddy Holly StoryBuddy Holly, including many early rock "standards"
1989Return to the Forbidden Planet1960s rock and roll

1990s

YearTitleBased on the music of
1997Boogie Nightsthe 70s
1998Saturday Night FeverBee Gees and others
1999Disco Inferno1970s disco
1999Mamma Mia!ABBA
1999The Marvelous Wonderettesfemale vocal harmony groups of the 1950s and 1960s

2000s

2010s

2020s

List of jukebox musical films

In a different category are films or stage musicals based around a concept album, in which the story being told is not original but rather a fleshed-out version of the narrative already contained in the album. Examples include: