The Musical Theater: The Origins Of American Musical Theatre

American Musical Theater is something most Americans enjoy today, musicals such as West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Jersey Boys, Wicked and Into the Woods. These are all some examples that have made it big in today’s society. These musicals didn’t appear out of nowhere though and neither did American Musical Theater, nor was the theater the same when it started as it is today. The American Musical Theater has evolved from its simple beginnings into it’s own genre in today's society through the help of diverse composers, writers and actors, along with cultural contributions.
THE ORIGINS OF AMERICAN THEATER
The origins of American Musical Theater came from the European style called Operetta. An Operetta was a musical genre much like the opera except
People, often composers and writers, helped shape the theater into what it is today. One of the most notable “helpers” of the theater was Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Lorenz Hart (1895-1943). The duo wrote some of the most loved musicals of the Twentieth Century, such as Babes in Arms (1937). Unfortunately in 1943, Lorenz Hart passed away, but this didn’t stop Richard Rodgers from continuing on his path of theater. Teaming up with Oscar Hammerstein the Second, the new and improved work partners created even more beloved musicals, including Oklahoma! (1943) and The Sound of Music (1959). Most of the musicals produced by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein (the Second) were based on higher and more sophisticated literature. Oklahoma! was based on Lynn Rigg’s Green Grow the Lilacs, and The Sound of Music was based upon the memoir of Baroness Maria von Trapp.
Stephen Sondheim was another influential writer of the American Musical Theater, mostly in the1970’s to 1980’s era. Sondheim too brought sophistication to the table of musical’s. Some of Stephen Sondheim’s works included Sweeney Todd which was debuted in 1979 along with Into the Woods (1988). A unique characteristic of Stephen Sondheim was that he used complex musical language that shows a classical
No dates are certain on when the theater officially came to be. The beginnings of the American Musical Theater presented itself prominently first with the Provincetown Players. The group consited of writers, aritist and ameutre theater enthusists. The Provincetown Players originated in Provincetown, Massachusetts and performed two seasons in the town, then moving on, they performed six seasons in New York City, this happened around the time of 1915 to 1923. One of the group's first performances was actually Eugene O’ Neill’s first one-act play Bound East for Cardiff. The Provincetown Players was one of the first “big” groups to demonstrate musical theater in