AUTHOR’S NOTE Don’t listen to anything I say.

INTRO What does Anything Goes, Hello Dolly!, Les Mis and Wicked have in common with anything else that has ever existed? The answer at the bottom of the page (upside down “absolutely nothing”). It’s a strange world, musical theatre; we have all seen one, been in one, fantasized about starring in one, hate one or adore one. None the matter. When it comes down to it, we must come to realize that our proud, intelligent, gun-slinging species has created the most romantic and magical source of entertainment I have ever come to witness. How do other animals entertain themselves? Dogs chase their bums, cats get their nip-fix, dolphins screw, primates throw excrement. Humans deride at our beastly brethren for their means of amusement, yet I have little doubt if you sat a gorilla in the mezzanine to watch a hoard of synchronized singers and dancers telling their story in front of him, he would think “What the hell are these idiots doing? I want my stick back.”

Yet what makes it so real? Where does the allure come from? The high notes or the kick lines? The consistency or the insanity? I have but one theory. One of my favorite words is “romance”. Not, of course, in the way you are probably thinking. I’m thinking in the broadest sense of the word. Not the squishy “I love you, you love me, so-on-and-so-forth mediocrity.” Not the “Oh, Shannon” and, “William, my sweet love.” Give me a break. The romance I’m talking about is the surreality of reality. It’s organic fantasy. A castle in the clouds, a full moon seen from the middle of an enormous forest, or even a homeless man with an amazing talent. If you get it now, you’ll get this: The romance of romance is romantic. Nothing is more fit to this definition of romance than our good pal musical theatre. We have seen existentialism at it’s prime in these entertainments. They are powerful and mighty and all hold a very special place in all of our hearts. What you will see in this book is an explanation (hopefully) to what we see in this. The outer realm: it’s histroy and philosphy, and then it’s inner: the hard work, struggles, and commitments, along with my own personal experiences and opinions I’d like to share that will hopefully help your endeavors and boost your morals.
Let’s open curtain.

STORIES AND FLUTES
It is fairly safe to say that America intvented the modern day muscial. The Black Crook opened in the grand old year of 1886 on Broadway, 16 years before its nickname as the "Great White Way". It was considered so due to its conformation of a "book musical", or a musical play where both song and dance are interspersed throughout a scripted story with comic and dramatic aspirations meant to provoke laughter and genuine emotional reactions respectfully. In 1907 The Ziegfeld Follies opened, a blend of what would soon be our modern day musical and an elaborate upper end vaudeville show. Ironically, some might suggest that it was the musical (along with the rapid success of cinema) that killed the vaudeville star,which declined in popularity toward the end of the 1920's. The Ziegfeld Follies ran for twenty one consecutive years, backing the success of greats like W.C. Fields, Will Rogers, and Eddie Cantor among many others. Meanwhile, Cole Porter wrote several flops from 1916 until his work paid off in 1928.
And then there was Showboat. Based on the best selling-novel by Edna Ferber, with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Mr. Oscar Hammerstein ll, it opened two days after Christmas in 1927. Audience and critics were immediately exuberant, as it ran for 572 performances (about a year and a half).
It was a vast departure in what the people had seen from musical theaterre at the time; unrealstic operettas and light-hearted musical comedies were one thing, but Showboat provoked the soul with honest austerity and dramaticism . Keep in mind, although the popularity of minstrel shows dropped heavily after the civil war ad the Emancipaion Proclimaion, being black in America was (despite the contrary) not much of an easy task. Sympathy for the black man was still in draught.
When Showboat opened it was the first racially integrated musical, and took slavery and interracial marriage on a very serious note. The "N" word was literally the first word in the opening chorus in the original production; yet the overwhelmingly posititve reaction to the show bared hope that perhaps the American people had accepted history as what it meant to be; the past, and it was time to...For lack of a better lyric, keep on rollin'

three types of people athelete performer sceintest emotion, brain, brawn, both manly men back in golden age fred bing danny and nowadays singing and danicng in synce as if it was real world