Editing Musical theatre (section)

==== 1950s ====
{{Further|Musical film}}
[[File:Richard Burton and Julie Andrews Camelot.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Julie Andrews]] with [[Richard Burton]] in ''Camelot'' (1960)]]
The 1950s were crucial to the development of the American musical.<ref>Marks, Peter. [https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/27/reviews/980927.27markst.html "Opening Nights"], ''The New York Times'', September 27, 1998, accessed July 14, 2019</ref> [[Damon Runyon]]'s eclectic characters were at the core of [[Frank Loesser]]'s and [[Abe Burrows]]' ''[[Guys and Dolls]]'', (1950, 1,200 performances); and the [[California Gold Rush|Gold Rush]] was the setting for [[Alan Jay Lerner]] and [[Frederick Loewe]]'s ''[[Paint Your Wagon (musical)|Paint Your Wagon]]'' (1951). The relatively brief seven-month run of that show did not discourage [[Lerner and Loewe]] from collaborating again, this time on ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' (1956), an adaptation of [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]'' starring [[Rex Harrison]] and [[Julie Andrews]], which at 2,717 performances held the long-run record for many years. Popular Hollywood films were made of all of these musicals. Two hits by British creators in this decade were ''[[The Boy Friend (musical)|The Boy Friend]]'' (1954), which ran for 2,078 performances in London and marked Andrews' American debut, and ''[[Salad Days (musical)|Salad Days]]'' (1954), which broke the British long-run record with a run of 2,283 performances.<ref name=h1598/><ref name=Salad/>

Another record was set by ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'', which ran for 2,707 performances, becoming the longest-running off-Broadway musical until ''[[The Fantasticks]]''. The production also broke ground by showing that musicals could be profitable off-Broadway in a small-scale, small orchestra format. This was confirmed in 1959 when a revival of [[Jerome Kern]] and [[P. G. Wodehouse]]'s ''[[Leave It to Jane]]'' ran for more than two years. The 1959–1960 [[off-Broadway]] season included a dozen musicals and revues including ''[[Little Mary Sunshine]]'', ''The Fantasticks'' and ''[[Ernest in Love]]'', a musical adaptation of [[Oscar Wilde]]'s 1895 hit ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]''.<ref>Suskin, Steven. [https://archive.today/20120719051547/http://web.playbill.com/news/article/81129-ON_THE_RECORD_Ernest_In_Love_Marco_Polo_Puppets_and_Maury_Yeston "On the Record: ''Ernest In Love'', ''Marco Polo'', Puppets and Maury Yeston"], ''Playbill'', August 10, 2003, accessed May 26, 2009</ref>

[[File:Leonard Bernstein 1971.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Leonard Bernstein]], 1971]]
''[[West Side Story]]'' (1957) transported ''Romeo and Juliet'' to modern day New York City and converted the feuding Montague and Capulet families into opposing ethnic gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The book was adapted by [[Arthur Laurents]], with music by [[Leonard Bernstein]] and lyrics by newcomer [[Stephen Sondheim]]. It was praised by critics for its innovations in music and choreography<ref>{{cite news | author = Kerr, Walter | url = http://www.westsidestory.com/archives_herald2.php | title = {{-'}}West Side Story{{'-}} | work = New York Herald Tribune | date = September 27, 1957 | access-date = August 19, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110926222813/http://www.westsidestory.com/archives_herald2.php | archive-date = September 26, 2011 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071013132852/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,809976,00.html "Theater: New Musical in Manhattan (''West Side Story'')"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', October 7, 1957</ref> but was less commercially successful than the same year's ''[[The Music Man]]'', written and composed by [[Meredith Willson]], which won the [[Tony Award for Best Musical]] that year.<ref>{{cite news | title = Conversations with Sondheim | first = Frank | last = Rich | url = http://partners.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000312mag-sondheim.html?scp=1&sq=conversations%20with%20sondheim&st=cse | work = [[The New York Times]] Magazine | date = March 12, 2000 | access-date = May 26, 2009 }}</ref> ''West Side Story'' would get a [[West Side Story (1961 film)|film adaptation]] in 1961, which proved successful both critically and commercially.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/02/19/west_side_story_tops_best_movie_musical_/ |title=West Side Story Tops Best Movie Musical |date=19 February 2007 |publisher=Starpulse.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222014926/http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/02/19/west_side_story_tops_best_movie_musical_| archive-date=22 February 2007 |access-date=4 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Pirie|first=David|author-link=David Pirie|date=1981|title=Anatomy of the Movies|publisher=[[Macmillan Inc.]]|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/anatomyofmovies00piri/page/254 254] |isbn=0-02-597540-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/anatomyofmovies00piri/page/254}}</ref> Laurents and Sondheim teamed up again for ''[[Gypsy (musical)|Gypsy]]'' (1959), with [[Jule Styne]] providing the music for a story about [[Rose Thompson Hovick]], the mother of the titular stripper [[Gypsy Rose Lee]]. 

Although directors and choreographers have had a major influence on musical theatre style since at least the 19th century,<ref>[[W. S. Gilbert]] and his choreographer [[John D'Auban]] helped transformed Victorian musical theatre production styles. See Vorder Bruegge, Andrew (Associate Professor, Department Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance, Winthrop University). [http://faculty.winthrop.edu/vorderbruegg/winthropweb/vitaindex/gilbert.html "W. S. Gilbert: Antiquarian Authenticity and Artistic Autocracy"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510212618/http://faculty.winthrop.edu/vorderbruegg/winthropweb/vitaindex/gilbert.html |date=2011-05-10}}. Victorian Interdisciplinary Studies Association of the Western United States annual conference, October 2002. Retrieved 26 March 2008; and "Mr. D'Auban's 'Startrap' Jumps". ''The Times'', 17 April 1922, p. 17</ref> George Abbott and his collaborators and successors took a central role in integrating movement and dance fully into musical theatre productions in the Golden Age.<ref name=KenrickDance>Kenrick, John. [http://www.musicals101.com/dancestage3.htm "Dance in Stage Musicals – Part III"], Musicals101.com, 2003, accessed August 14, 2012</ref> Abbott introduced ballet as a story-telling device in ''On Your Toes'' in 1936, which was followed by [[Agnes de Mille]]'s ballet and choreography in ''Oklahoma!''.<ref>Block, Geoffrey (ed.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=QLxEdG6HJ9sC&q=carousel+rodgers ''The Richard Rodgers Reader'']. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-19-531343-7}}, pp. 194–195</ref> After Abbott collaborated with Jerome Robbins in ''On the Town'' and other shows, Robbins combined the roles of director and choreographer, emphasizing the story-telling power of dance in ''West Side Story'', ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]'' (1962) and ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'' (1964). [[Bob Fosse]] choreographed for Abbott in ''[[The Pajama Game]]'' (1956) and ''[[Damn Yankees]]'' (1957), injecting playful sexuality into those hits. He was later the director-choreographer for ''Sweet Charity'' (1968), ''Pippin'' (1972) and ''Chicago'' (1975). Other notable director-choreographers have included [[Gower Champion]], [[Tommy Tune]], [[Michael Bennett (theater)|Michael Bennett]], [[Gillian Lynne]] and [[Susan Stroman]]. Prominent directors have included [[Hal Prince]], who also got his start with Abbott,<ref name=KenrickDance/> and [[Trevor Nunn]].<ref>Dickson, Andrew. [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/nov/18/trevor-nunn-life-in-theatre "A life in theatre: Trevor Nunn"], ''The Guardian'', 18 November 2011, accessed August 15, 2012</ref>

During the Golden Age, automotive companies and other large corporations began to hire Broadway talent to write [[industrial musical|corporate musicals]], private shows only seen by their employees or customers.<ref>{{NewMusicBox|id=john-kander-passing-through-curtains|title=Passing Through Curtains|composer-link = John Kander | composer = John Kander|author=[[Frank J. Oteri]]|conducted=April 7, 2010|published=May 1, 2010}}</ref><ref>Ward, Jonathan. [http://www.furious.com/perfect/industrialmusicals.html "Recruit, Train and Motivate: The History of the Industrial Musical"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040803175455/http://www.furious.com/perfect/industrialmusicals.html |date=2004-08-03 }}, March 2002, ''Perfect Sound Forever''</ref> The 1950s ended with [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]]'s last hit, ''The Sound of Music'', which also became another hit for Mary Martin. It ran for 1,443 performances and shared the Tony Award for Best Musical. Together with its extremely successful [[The Sound of Music (film)|1965 film version]], it has become one of the most popular musicals in history.