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Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.

Not to be confused with Music theatre.

Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the light opera works of Jacques Offenbach in France, Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and the works of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by Edwardian musical comedies, which emerged in Britain, and the musical theatre works of American creators like George M. Cohan at the turn of the 20th century. The Princess Theatre musicals (1915–1918) were artistic steps forward beyond the revues and other frothy entertainments of the early 20th century and led to such groundbreaking works as Show Boat (1927), Of Thee I Sing (1931) and Oklahoma! (1943). Some of the most famous musicals through the decades that followed include My Fair Lady (1956), The Fantasticks (1960), Hair (1967), A Chorus Line (1975), Les Misérables (1985), The Phantom of the Opera (1986), Rent (1996), Wicked (2003) and Hamilton (2015).


Musicals are performed around the world. They may be presented in large venues, such as big-budget Broadway or West End productions in New York City or London. Alternatively, musicals may be staged in smaller venues, such as off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, regional theatre, fringe theatre, or community theatre productions, or on tour. Musicals are often presented by amateur and school groups in churches, schools and other performance spaces. In addition to the United States and Britain, there are vibrant musical theatre scenes in continental Europe, Asia, Australasia, Canada and Latin America.

Cast recording

Lists of musicals

List of musicals filmed live on stage

Long-running musical theatre productions

Music theatre

Parsi theatre

2.5D musical

Allain, Paul; Harvie, Jen (2014). The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance. . ISBN 978-0-4156-3631-5.

Routledge

Allen, Robert C. (c. 1991). . University of North Carolina. ISBN 978-0-8078-1960-9.

Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture

Buelow, George J. (2004). A History of Baroque Music. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.  978-0-253-34365-9.

ISBN

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Carter, Tim

Cohen, Robert; Sherman, Donovan (2020). (Twelfth ed.). New York City: McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 978-1-260-05738-6. OCLC 1073038874.

Theatre: Brief

Everett, William A.; , eds. (2002). The Cambridge Companion to the Musical. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79189-2.

Laird, Paul R.

; Andrew Lamb (1988). Gänzl's Book of the Musical Theatre. London: The Bodley Head. OCLC 966051934.

Gänzl, Kurt

Gokulsing, K. Moti; Dissanayake, Wimal (2004) [1998]. Indian popular cinema : a narrative of cultural change (Revised and updated ed.). Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham. p. 161.  978-1-85856-329-9.

ISBN

Herbert, Ian, ed. (1972). Who's Who in the Theatre (fifteenth ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons.  978-0-273-31528-5.

ISBN

, ed. (1978). Anthology of Medieval Music. Norton introduction to music history. New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-09080-2.

Hoppin, Richard H.

Horn, Barbara Lee (1991). . New York: Greenwood Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-313-27564-7.

The Age of Hair: Evolution and Impact of Broadway's First Rock Musical

Jha, Subhash K. (2005). . Roli Books. ISBN 81-7436-378-5.

The Essential Guide to Bollywood

Jones, John B. (2003). . Hanover: University Press of New England. ISBN 978-0-87451-904-4.

Our Musicals, Ourselves

Lord, Suzanne (2003). Brinkman, David (ed.). . Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-31713-2.

Music from the Age of Shakespeare : A Cultural History

(2002) [1962]. "American musical theatre: an introduction". The Complete Book of Light Opera (1st ed.). London: Putnam. pp. 753–756.

Lubbock, Mark

(1987). Spread a little happiness: the first hundred years of the British musical. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-01398-4.

Morley, Sheridan

Parker, John, ed. (1925). Who's Who in the Theatre (fifth ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons.  10013159.

OCLC

, ed. (2001). The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera. Oxford Illustrated Histories (illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 541. ISBN 978-0-19-285445-2.

Parker, Roger

Rubin, Don; , eds. (2000). The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: The Americas. New York City: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-05929-1.

Solórzano, Carlos

(1998) [1623]. Orgel, Stephen (ed.). The Tempest. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-19-283414-0.

Shakespeare, William

Wilmeth, Don B.; Miller, Tice L., eds. (1996). (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-56444-1.

Cambridge Guide to American Theatre

Wollman, E. L. (2006). The Theater Will Rock: a History of the Rock Musical: From Hair to Hedwig. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.  0-472-11576-6.

ISBN

Bauch, Marc. . Marburg, Germany: Tectum Verlag, 2003. ISBN 3-8288-8458-X

The American Musical

; Vlastnik, Frank (2004-10-01). Broadway Musicals : The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. ISBN 1-57912-390-2.

Bloom, Ken

(1978). American Musical Theatre: a Chronicle. New York: Oxford University Press. viii, 749 p.ISBN 0-19-502356-0

Bordman, Gerald

Botto, Louis; Mitchell, Brian Stokes (2002). . New York; Milwaukee, WI: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books/Playbill. ISBN 978-1-55783-566-6.

At This Theatre: 100 Years of Broadway Shows, Stories and Stars

Bryant, Jye (2018). Writing & Staging A New Musical: A Handbook. . ISBN 9781730897412.

Kindle Direct Publishing

(1991). The Musical, from the Inside Out. Chicago, Illinois: I.R. Dee. 336 p. ISBN 0-929587-79-0

Citron, Stephen

Ewen, David (1961). The Story of American Musical Theater. First ed. Philadelphia: Chilton. v, 208 p.

. The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre (3 Volumes). New York: Schirmer Books, 2001.

Gänzl, Kurt

Kantor, Michael; (2004). Broadway: The American Musical. New York: Bulfinch Press. ISBN 0-8212-2905-2.

Maslon, Laurence

(1999). Beautiful Mornin': The Broadway Musical in the 1940s. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512851-6.

Mordden, Ethan

Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater (W. W. Norton, 2010) 826 pages; comprehensive history since the mid-19th century.

. Operetta: A Theatrical History. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1983

Traubner, Richard

Internet Broadway Database – Cast and production lists, song lists and award lists

– synopses, cast lists, song lists, etc.

Guidetomusicaltheatre.com

The Broadway Musical Home

(V&A museum website) (archived 12 April 2011)

History of musicals

Castalbumdb – Musical Cast Album Database

(StageAgent.com)

Synopses and character descriptions of most major musicals