A Broadway musical is a type of musical theater that is performed in New York City’s theater district. Musical theater is a form of theater that incorporates music, singing, dancing, and the spoken word. Broadway musicals are regarded as the pinnacle of musical theater.
The Broadway theater district consists of 40 large theaters with seating for 500 or more people. Between 40th and 54th Streets in Manhattan, and across Sixth Avenue to Eighth Avenue, are these theaters. Times Square is located in the theater district, and the nearby Lincoln Center hosts Broadway musicals.
During the 1800s, Broadway was New York City’s main street, making it an ideal location for investors to build theaters and other entertainment venues. Burlesque shows performed in Broadway theaters were the forerunners of the style that would later be known as Broadway musicals. The Black Crook, a show that combined all of the elements of music, song, dance, and speech in 1866, is regarded as the first Broadway musical. The manager of Niblo’s Garden, where The Black Crook was first performed, is credited with being the “father” of Broadway musicals.
Gilbert and Sullivan found success with H.M.S. Pinafore and other comic operas in the late nineteenth century. In 1907, Flo Ziegfield introduced the Ziegfield Follies to Broadway. For many years, Broadway theater buffs were entertained by the Follies.
Broadway musicals had evolved into the style that is still popular today by the early 1900s. The music and lyrics for these plays were written by well-known composers. Many of the Broadway productions’ songs went on to become hits.
In the twentieth century, the prolific composing duo Rodgers and Hammerstein became well-known. The majority of the lyrics for the Broadway productions that they created were written by Hammerstein, and the musical scores were written by Rodgers. Oklahoma was the first show on which they collaborated, and it became an instant hit. Carousel, The King and I, South Pacific, and The Sound of Music were among the popular productions they later created.
Irving Berlin is regarded as one of America’s greatest composers. He turned his talents to Broadway musicals, writing the successful Broadway productions White Christmas and Annie Get Your Gun after writing hit songs such as There’s No Business Like Show Business and God Bless America. “Irving Berlin has no place in American music — he is American music,” said one of his contemporaries, Jerome Kern.