1. History of Musical Theatre
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2. ©Shutterstock/ Igor Bulgarin
Opera
In the late 16th and early 17th centuries the only form of staged entertainment with singing was opera.
Actors on stage would sing for the entire length of the performance, they often wore grand costumes and the stage was lavishly decorated.
©Shutterstock/ Igor Bulgarin
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3. Operetta
By the 1800s some composers started to compose opera-style music which also had spoken parts.
These were sometimes called Comic Operas, or Operettas.
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4. Book Musicals
Soon composers and librettists realised that they could write musicals with actual drama not just comedy, an example is Guys and Dolls.
What makes these book musicals is that their songs are written for the story and all the lyrics are chosen by the lyricist.
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5. Film Musicals
By the 1900s people could synchronise sound with music on films and musicals were created for the big screen.
These were often focused on large spectacular dance routines and less on story. One example is Dames from 1934.
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6. Jukebox Musicals
By the second half of the 20th centaury, bands worked with composers to create jukebox musicals with stories written around their pre-existing songs.
One very famous example is Mamma Mia, which was also turned into a film musical.
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7. Modern Musicals
Musicals now are often written using many different styles of music from hip-hop to rock-metal.
One of the most famous is Hamilton which is about the founding of America and uses a hip-hop style.
© Travis Wise
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