Europe – 18th Century

By the 1700s, two forms of musical theater were common in Britain, France and Germanke John Gay's The Beggars Opera (1728) that borrowed popular songs of the day and rewrote the lyrics comic operas, with original scores and mostly romantic plot lines, like Michael Balfe's The Bohemian Girl (1845).

Which brings us to the question…
Are Musicals Descended From Opera?



Opera has been with us since the late 1500s, but contemporary musical theatre and film are not direct descendants of grand opera. Opera can be called a descendant of classical theatre. When Renaissance writers and composers tried to resurrect the forms of Greek drama, they added music. This eventually led to the birth of grand opera. From its birth in the 1800s, the musical has often spoofed opera, but it traces its roots to other sources. Vaudeville, burlesque, and many other forms are the true ancestors of the modern musical -- not opera.
Romans



3rd Century comedies of Plautus included song and dance routines with full orchestrations To make dance steps more audible in large open air theatres, actors attached metal chips called "sabilla" to their footwear – the first tap shoes Stress on spectacle and special effects, a trend that echoes into our own time
Europe – Middle Ages


Traveling minstrels and roving troupes of performers offered popular songs and slapstick comedy 12th and 13th centuries religious dramas, intended as liturgical teaching tools, used church chants, creating their own form of musical theatre
Musical Theatre
A Brief History
Greeks



Added music to their productions as early as the 5th Century B.C. The Greek Chorus sometimes included music (Aeschylus & Sophocles composed their own music but melodies no longer exist) Solos were not unheard of No direct effect on modern musicals but it shows that show tunes have been around for more than 2500 years
Musical Theatre
What is a Musical?
Musicals have gone by many different names


Comic operas Operettas Burlesque Revues which have their roots in vaudeville, music halls and minstrel shows
The Best Musicals have three essential qualities…


Brains (intelligence and style) Heart (genuine and believable emotion) Courage (The guts to do something creative and exciting)
Europe – Renaissance


Minstrels reached their peak with Commedia Dell’arte in Italy with raucous clown characters improving their way through familiar stories Formal musical theatre was rare in the Renaissance, but Moliere turned several of his plays into comedies with songs when the court of Louis XIV demanded song and dance entertainments in the late 1600s