History Main / TheMusical

* ''OnceOnThisIsland''

A musical is any presentation in which a major part of the exposition and/or action comes through the medium of song (and often, but not necessarily, [[SummonBackupDancers dance as well]]). This sounds simple, but it has so many permutations that it is a loaded term for most people. For example, if you were to say that the only real difference between an opera and a musical is in what theaters they're showing it in, expect vehement protests -- and yet, trying to come up with definitions that will perfectly separate one from the other is just about impossible. It doesn't help that musicals evolved directly out of opera--specifically the comic genre of "light" opera or operetta--and that many late-19th and early-20th century plays-with-singing could easily be classified as either. A prime example is the works of GilbertAndSullivan: at the time they were called operas (they didn't call the company and theatre G&S wrote for the D'Oyly Carte ''Opera'' Company playing at the Savoy ''Opera'' for nothing), but today they are often considered to be the earliest notable examples of musicals.

There's also a new trend of the JukeboxMusical; adapting a musical play or film from the existing catalog of a musical artist, when the songs therein might not have anything to do with each other. ''MammaMia'' adapted from Music/{{ABBA}}, ''MovinOut'' adapted from Music/BillyJoel, and ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse'' adapted from Music/TheBeatles are just a few examples. ''MoulinRouge'', which didn't stick to one artist but repurposed a few decades of pop music, was the likely trend-setter here. Of course, this technique [[OlderThanTheyThink goes back a ways]]--''Film/SinginInTheRain'' reused older songs--and prolific composers would often take songs from their less-successful shows and reuse them in new productions. For example, GilbertAndSullivan took the song, "Climbing Over Rocky Mountain" from their nigh-forgotten first collaboration, ''Thespis'', and recycled it in ''ThePiratesOfPenzance'' with minor changes in the lyrics.

* ''Theatre/Passion''

* PassingStrange

* ''ManOfLaMancha''

* ''[[{{Peanuts}} You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown]]'', which in turn was adapted as a special in the animated series.

* ''ZannaDont''

* ''TheWiz''

* In addition to the well known [[Film/TheWizardOfOz 1939 musical film]] and its {{screen to stage adaptation}}s, there was a Broadway musical of L. Frank Baum's ''TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' that predated the film by three decades.

* ''NextToNormal''

* ''BloodyBloodyAndrewJackson''

* ''TheKingAndI''

* ''WereTheWorldMine''

* ''AllShookUp''

* ''FiniansRainbow''

* ''Flower Drum Song''

* ''[[TheFlamingLips Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots]]'' (with selections from other albums)

* ''TenaciousD: The Pick of Destiny''

* ''I Can Get It For You Wholesale''

* ''Main/{{Elisabeth}}''

* ''WeWillRockYou'' (based on the music of Music/{{Queen}})

* ''JerseyBoys'': (The story of Frankie Valley and The Four Seasons)

* ''Keating!'' a musical based on the life and times of Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating.

* ''PhantomOfTheOpera'', the show that toppled ''{{Cats}}'' as longest-running show.
** ''LoveNeverDies''

* ''{{Once}}''