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The Beggar's Opera
By the 1700s, two forms of musical theater were popular in Britain, France, and Germany: ballad operas, such as John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728), that included lyrics written to the tunes of popular songs of the day (often spoofing opera) and comic operas, with original scores and mostly romantic plot lines. -
Merchant of Venice and The Anatomist
New York did not have a significant theater presence until 1752, when William Hallam sent a company of 12 actors to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theater first in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with The Merchant of Venice and The Anatomist. -
The Elves
Broadway's first "long-run" musical record was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857. -
Seven Sisters
New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keene's Seven Sisters (1860) shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. -
The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post
The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a "musical comedy." -
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Musical Theater
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Mulligan Guard Picnic
Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 (The Mulligan Guard Picnic) and 1885. -
H.M.S. Pinafore
Musical theater soon broke the 500-performance mark in London with the long-running successes of Gilbert and Sullivan's family-friendly comic opera hits, beginning with H.M.S. Pinafore in 1878 -
The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado
addition, Gilbert and Sullivan produced 13 of the best-known comic operas between 1871 and 1896, including The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Gilbert, who wrote the words, also created the fanciful topsy-turvy worlds for these operas, where each absurdity is taken to its logical conclusion. -
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The Fortune Teller (1898), Babes in Toyland, and Naughty Marietta (1910).
work included some intimate musical plays with modern settings as well as his string of famous operettas; The Fortune Teller (1898), Babes in Toyland, and Naughty Marietta (1910).
