broadwayprincess
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The first ever musicalJust wondering if anybody knows what the first ever musical was?????? 
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PappyCat
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Well, in Greek theatre they had "choruses" who would kinda chant poetry like stuff during transitional scenes in plays.
I just wrote what was probably the worst description of Greek theatre, EVER.
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Sweeney Hyde
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WICKED.
Kidding.
What we call musicals and what those that lived in the early 1900s would have called musicals are quite different. The European operettas played in NYC and entertained and dominated the field for quite some time. However certain composers, Victor Herbert and George M. Cohan, for instance began writting shows with a distinct americana feel to them. These are the "american operettas". Later yet, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II would create a whole new formula for these operettas and call it the "musical play". The first such of these was Oklahoma!. Through time the form has changed and many different elements were added by the likes of shows like Gypsy, Company, Sweeney Todd, HAiR, and the like.
So what did it all start with?
I think that is more of an opinion than an actual fact.
However I have a headache at the moment so some of that info may be a bit wrong...my head isn't exactly on straight right now...if some one else could elaborate/confirm/deny on what I wrote it would be greatly appreciated. oy...
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Matthew
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Showboat would be my guess.
There were a lot of Follies and other shows (black face, minstrels...etc)
Then they progressed into Showboat, I believe.
I don't think it was called a musical, though.
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Salome
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The Black Crook. produced on broadway in 1866 is generally considered to be the first American musical.
however shows like Beggar's opera (considered more of an operetta than what we know as a musical) were produced in England and transported to America as early as 1760s.
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Pannic
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The Gilbert & Sullivan Savoy Operas also somewhat resembled the musical theatre of today (I believe "Trial By Jury" was the first?)
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Salome
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yes but like I sid G&S fits into the same catagory as Beggars Opera. its an Operetta. musical theatre ame out of Operetta.
Black Crook is the first "musical".
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luckystar_30
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And Showboat is the first book musical? Right?
And Cabaret is the first concept musical?
Am I remembering this correctly?
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Salome
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no. Showboat isnt the first book musical. there were plenty of book shows before.
Showbat was the first musical to tackle a dramatic story as oppossed to fluffy silly plots.
Company is considered the first concept musical. Cabaret has some precursors to Company but what Prince started wity little touches in Cabaret,he blended into a fully realized force with Company.
Cabaret is still a plot based musical.
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Dancediva19
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To elaborate on what Salome said about The Black Crook: (this is from a research paper I wrote for school 2 years ago about the history of musical theatre)
| Quote: | | Musical theatre has a multitude of influences that have contributed to form the musical. Opera and operetta along with pantomime, minstrel show, vaudeville, and burlesque have all combined to make the type of performance known as a musical. The first production identified as a musical is The Black Crook. The Black Crook opened September 12, 1866 at Niblo’s Gardens in New York and was a combination of melodrama and ballet. The manager of Niblo’s Gardens, William Wheatley, had a contract with a melodrama called The Black Crook. It had an outrageous script, but Wheatley was burdened with it. Coincidentally, a theater in New York had burned down and as a result, a Parisian ballet troupe was stranded in the city. Wheatley combined the two to create a hit and, incidentally, the American musical. There were many other forms of theater popular at the time, including American variety shows, minstrel shows, vaudeville, burlesque, and extravaganzas. |
And also according to my research, Of Thee I Sing (1932) was the first musical to have its publication in a book form, which was after Show Boat (1927)
If any of this information isn't completely accurate, it's not my fault. This is what I found in my research for my paper.
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dutheatregeek
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Technically it would be the Beggar's Opera. It was written in 1728 by John Gay. It is the earliest "ancestor" of the musical we have today!
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Matthew
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Beggar's Opera was a Ballad Opera not a Musical.
There is a line between Operetta and Ballad Opera and Musical.
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