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"The hills are alive with the sound of music." —OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN I I

Key Points

  • American musical theater has roots in European operetta, which was brought to America by emigré composers.
  • Musicals feature romantic plots (some taken from novels), comic moments, appealing melodies, and large ensembles and dance numbers.
  • The great composer/lyricist teams include Rodgers and Hart (Babes in Arms), Rodgers and Hammerstein (The Sound of Music), Lerner and Lowe (My Fair Lady); other well-known composers of musicals are Stephen Sondheim (Into the Woods), Andrew Lloyd Webber (Phantom of the Opera), and Claude-Michel Schonberg (Les Misérables).
  • Leonard Bernstein is remembered today as a conductor and composer of symphonic and choral music, film music, and musical theater works. His West Side Story, set in New York City amid turf wars of rival street gangs, updates the Romeo and Juliet legend.
  • Dance music from Latin America and the Caribbean has enjoyed continued popularity and has influenced many musical genres, including Bernstein's West Side Story (CP 20).

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