Early Musicals
Historians believe that musical theater began in ancient Greece about 2,500 years ago. The ancient Greeks staged comedies and tragedies that included music and dance in open-air amphitheaters.
By the 1700s, opera, or the use of singers and orchestras to tell a story, became popular in Great Britain, France, and Germany. Operas could be funny, romantic, or tragic.
The first musical theater performance to come to America took place in 1735, before the United States was even technically a country. Modern musical theater began in the mid- to late-1800s.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein were a successful American musical writing team. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s, initiating what is considered the "golden age" of musical theatre. Five are award winning Broadway shows: Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, the King and I and The Sound of Music.
One of the more recent musicals was first a movie:
The Greatest Showman!
Click on the Tab below to sing along with A Million Years. This song was performed by Fourth Graders last year at the Volunteer Breakfast.
Historians believe that musical theater began in ancient Greece about 2,500 years ago. The ancient Greeks staged comedies and tragedies that included music and dance in open-air amphitheaters.
By the 1700s, opera, or the use of singers and orchestras to tell a story, became popular in Great Britain, France, and Germany. Operas could be funny, romantic, or tragic.
The first musical theater performance to come to America took place in 1735, before the United States was even technically a country. Modern musical theater began in the mid- to late-1800s.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein were a successful American musical writing team. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s, initiating what is considered the "golden age" of musical theatre. Five are award winning Broadway shows: Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, the King and I and The Sound of Music.
One of the more recent musicals was first a movie:
The Greatest Showman!
Click on the Tab below to sing along with A Million Years. This song was performed by Fourth Graders last year at the Volunteer Breakfast.
Andrew Lloyd Webber is a British Born Composer who has written many successful musicals. Click on the tab to see Mr. Webber perform a song from Phantom of the Opera in his own home.