Editing Musical theatre (section)

=== Social themes ===
After ''Show Boat'' and ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'', and as the struggle in America and elsewhere for minorities' [[civil rights]] progressed, Hammerstein, [[Harold Arlen]], [[Yip Harburg]] and others were emboldened to write more musicals and operas that aimed to normalize societal toleration of minorities and urged racial harmony. Early Golden Age works that focused on racial tolerance included ''[[Finian's Rainbow]]'' and ''[[South Pacific (musical)|South Pacific]]''. Towards the end of the Golden Age, several shows tackled Jewish subjects and issues, such as ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'', ''[[Milk and Honey (musical)|Milk and Honey]]'', ''[[Blitz!]]'' and later ''[[Rags (musical)|Rags]]''. The original concept that became ''[[West Side Story]]'' was set in the [[Lower East Side]] during Easter-Passover celebrations; the rival gangs were to be Jewish and [[Italian-American|Italian]] [[Catholic Church|Catholic]]. The creative team later decided that the Polish (white) vs. [[Puerto Rican people|Puerto Rican]] conflict was fresher.<ref>{{cite news | title = The Growth of an Idea | first = Arthur | last = Laurents | author-link = Arthur Laurents | url = http://www.leonardbernstein.com/studio/element.asp?FeatID=8&AssetID=18 | work = New York Herald Tribune | publisher = Primate, LLC | date = August 4, 1957 | access-date = May 26, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071212040338/http://www.leonardbernstein.com/studio/element.asp?FeatID=8&AssetID=18 | archive-date = December 12, 2007 }}</ref>

Tolerance as an important theme in musicals has continued in recent decades. The final expression of ''West Side Story'' left a message of racial tolerance. By the end of the 1960s, musicals became racially integrated, with black and white cast members even covering each other's roles, as they did in ''Hair''.<ref>Horn 1991, p. 134.</ref> Homosexuality has also been explored in musicals, starting with ''Hair'', and even more overtly in ''[[La Cage aux Folles (musical)|La Cage aux Folles]]'', ''[[Falsettos]]'', ''[[Rent (musical)|Rent]]'', ''[[Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)|Hedwig and the Angry Inch]]'' and other shows in recent decades. ''[[Parade (musical)|Parade]]'' is a sensitive exploration of both [[anti-Semitism]] and historical American racism, and ''[[Ragtime (musical)|Ragtime]]'' similarly explores the experience of immigrants and minorities in America.