In this article we are going to present a brief history of musical theater from its beginnings to the present day.

Musicals actually started with the ancient Greeks, who put on plays with songs. While they weren’t called musicals at the time, that’s what they were. The music was rough by today’s standards and the stories weren’t very well done, again by today’s standards, but this was the start of what would become the modern musical.

In the 1700s there were many stage entertainments, though they weren’t called musicals either. The first work in English to have any lasting value was The Beggar’s Opera, performed in 1728. It was a satirical parody of the times. This was typical of the type of entertainment one would find until the 19th century.

Musicals as we know them today began in the 19th century with French and Viennese operettas. The works of Offenbach and Strauss were the first musicals to achieve international popularity.

The contemporary Broadway musical as we know it today took its form from these operettas and was performed in what we call Minstrel Shows. These eventually gave way to a new form of musical known as Vaudeville.

It wasn’t until 1860 with the success of The Black Crook that the American musical really began to take off. During this time we were treated to the great works of Gilbert and Sullivan from 1871 to 1896.

In the early 1900s, composers like George M. Cohan and Victor Herbert gave musicals a new sound and style that remains popular to this day. This style was later updated by composers such as Jerome Kern, Guy Boulton, and PG Wodehouse.

By the 1930s, the American musical had achieved a popularity it had never seen before, with composers like Rogers and Hart and Cole Porter dominating the era.

In the 40s and 50s we were able to enjoy some of the best musicals of what was called the modern era. These musicals included such classics as Oklahoma, Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me Kate, The King and I, My Fair Lady, and the list goes on.

The 1960s saw great musicals like Hello Dolly, Fiddler On The Roof, and Hair, which was the first musical in the United States to feature nude actors.

By the 1970s, musical theater had become quite outlandish with advances in technology and design. The ’70s brought us great shows like A Little Night Music, A Chorus Line, No No Nanette, Sweeney Todd and Evita.

But the hits kept coming and would keep coming, many from Britain. In the 80’s we saw great shows like Cats, Les Miserables and Phantom Of The Opera.

In the 25 years since then, literally hundreds of musicals have taken the stage. Some great, some not so great. But what was once humble beginnings is now one of the leading forms of entertainment, not just in the United States but around the world.