Musical

Although there were European antecedents to the Musical, its chief country of origin was the United States where a fusion of operatic elements, vaudeville and popular song took place. Its centre was New York, where the hub of the music publishing industry resided (known colloquially as Tin Pan Alley) and Broadway (where these musical revues were staged) would become synonymous with the Musical. Through the early to mid-20th century America possessed a succession of great songwriters like the Gershwins and Rodgers and Hart (later Hammerstein) who ensured the dominance of the Musical over any other musical stage form. Songs from the shows became successful in their own right and Tin Pan Alley flourished. In the 1960s Broadway lost ground to the emergent rock and pop genres, but they still managed to retain healthy audiences however. Important musicals are still being composed, although like contemporary opera they face stiff competition from revivals of their illustrious past.

Key works: Bernstein: West Side Story, Kander & Ebb: Chicago, Lloyd-Webber: Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Rodgers & Hammerstein: Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Rodgers & Hart: Pal Joey, Sondheim: A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd