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[[de:Musical]][[nl:Musical]]

Musical theater is a form of [[theater]] combining [[music]], [[song|songs]], [[dance]] routines, and spoken [[dialogue]].  It is closely related to [[opera]], being distinguished by the use of [[popular music]] of various forms, and the use of non-sung dialogue (though some musicals are entirely sung, and some operas have spoken dialogue, such as ''[[Carmen]]),'' and the avoidance of many operatic conventions.

The sung [[lyrics]] of a musical are referred to as its [[libretto]] (originally an [[opera]] term); the music itself is the [[score]]; and the combination of the spoken [[dialogue]] and the sung [[libretto]] is often referred to as the [[book]] of the musical.

Musical theater has been the basis for a number of successful [[musical movie]]s.  Efforts to adapt musical theater to television have been more problematic. Some successful television adaptations include [[Cinderella]] and [[Peter Pan]]: other efforts, such as the spectacularly unsuccessful series [[Cop Rock]] have been met with less acclaim. 

Some popular televisions series have set one single episode in the style of a musical as a play on their usual format. (Examples include episodes of [[Ally McBeal]],  [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'s episode ''Once More with Feeling'', or  [[Oz]]'s ''Variety''). These have become known primarily as stunts rather than for their intrinsic merit.


=== History ===

* [[Operetta]] ([[Gilbert and Sullivan]] etc.)
* [[Vaudeville]]
* The golden age ([[1940s]]/[[1950s]])
* The [[1980s]] musical boom
* Smaller musicals etc.

=== Famous Composers/Writers ===

*[[Irving Berlin]]
*[[Leonard Bernstein]]
*[[Mel Brooks]]
*[[Marc Connelly]]
*[[Fred Ebb]]
*[[Edna Ferber]]
*[[George Gershwin]]
*[[Ira Gershwin]]
*[[Oscar Hammerstein II]]
*[[Otto Harbach]]
*[[Lorenz Hart]]
*[[Moss Hart]]
*[[John Kander]]
*[[George S. Kaufman]]
*[[Jerome Kern]]
*[[Alan J. Lerner]]
*[[Frank Loesser]]
*[[Frederic Loewe]]
*[[Cole Porter]]
*[[Tim Rice]]
*[[Mary Rodgers]]
*[[Richard Rodgers]]
*[[Stephen Sondheim]]
*[[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]
*[[Meredith Willson]]
*[[P. G. Wodehouse]]

=== Famous performers in musical theater ===

*[[George M. Cohan]]
*[[Michael Crawford]]
*[[Nathan Lane]]
*[[Gertrude Lawrence]]
*[[Mary Martin]]
*[[Ethel Merman]]
*[[Bernadette Peters]]
*[[John Raitt]]
*[[Lea Salonga]]

See also [[Broadway]], [[musical film]].

====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Musical theater" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_theater October 6, 2003