Editing Musical theatre (section)

=== Early 20th century ===
[[File:Victor herbert.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Victor Herbert]]]]
Virtually eliminated from the English-speaking stage by competition from the ubiquitous Edwardian musical comedies, operettas returned to London and Broadway in 1907 with ''[[The Merry Widow]]'', and adaptations of continental operettas became direct competitors with musicals. [[Franz Lehár]] and [[Oscar Straus (composer)|Oscar Straus]] composed new operettas that were popular in English until World War I.<ref>Kenrick, John. [http://www.musicals101.com/who22.htm Basil Hood], ''Who's Who in Musicals: Additional Bios XII'', Musicals101.com, 2004, accessed May 7, 2012</ref> In America, [[Victor Herbert]] produced a string of enduring operettas including ''[[The Fortune Teller (operetta)|The Fortune Teller]]'' (1898), ''[[Babes in Toyland (operetta)|Babes in Toyland]]'' (1903), ''[[Mlle. Modiste]]'' (1905), ''[[The Red Mill]]'' (1906) and ''[[Naughty Marietta (operetta)|Naughty Marietta]]'' (1910).

In the 1910s, the team of [[P. G. Wodehouse]], [[Guy Bolton]] and [[Jerome Kern]], following in the footsteps of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]], created the "[[Princess Theatre, New York City|Princess Theatre]] shows" and paved the way for Kern's later work by showing that a musical could combine light, popular entertainment with continuity between its story and songs.<ref name=Jones10/> Historian [[Gerald Bordman]] wrote:
{{blockquote|These shows built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization. ... [Edwardian] musical comedy was often guilty of inserting songs in a hit-or-miss fashion. The Princess Theatre musicals brought about a change in approach. P. G. Wodehouse, the most observant, literate and witty lyricist of his day, and the team of Bolton, Wodehouse and Kern had an influence felt to this day.<ref name=Quarterly>Bordman, Gerald. "Jerome David Kern: Innovator/Traditionalist", ''[[The Musical Quarterly]]'', 1985, Vol. 71, No. 4, pp. 468–473</ref>}}

The theatre-going public needed escapist entertainment during the dark times of [[World War I]], and they flocked to the theatre. The 1919 hit musical ''[[Irene (musical)|Irene]]'' ran for 670 performances, a Broadway record that held until 1938.<ref name=Hellz>Kenrick, John. [http://www.musicals101.com/1930bway3.htm Hellzapoppin – History of The Musical Stage 1930s: Part III – Revues], Musicals101.com, accessed October 8, 2015</ref> The British theatre public supported far longer runs like that of ''[[The Maid of the Mountains]]'' (1,352 performances) and especially ''[[Chu Chin Chow]]''. Its run of 2,238 performances was more than twice as long as any previous musical, setting a record that stood for nearly forty years.<ref name=Salad>[http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_s/salad_days.htm "Salad Days History, Story, Roles and Musical Numbers"] guidetomusicaltheatre.com, accessed March 16, 2012</ref> Even a revival of ''The Beggar's Opera'' held the stage for 1,463 performances.<ref name=h1598>Herbert, p. 1598</ref> Revues like ''[[The Bing Boys Are Here]]'' in Britain, and those of [[Florenz Ziegfeld]] and his imitators in America, were also extraordinarily popular.<ref name=Kenrick/>

[[File:Sallysm.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sheet music from ''[[Sally (musical)|Sally]]'', 1920]]
The musicals of the [[Roaring Twenties]], borrowing from vaudeville, [[music hall]] and other light entertainments, tended to emphasize big dance routines and popular songs at the expense of plot. Typical of the decade were lighthearted productions like ''[[Sally (musical)|Sally]]''; ''[[Lady, Be Good (musical)|Lady, Be Good]]''; ''[[No, No, Nanette]]''; ''[[Oh, Kay!]]''; and ''[[Funny Face (musical)|Funny Face]]''. Despite forgettable stories, these musicals featured stars such as [[Marilyn Miller]] and [[Fred Astaire]] and produced dozens of enduring popular songs by Kern, [[George Gershwin|George]] and [[Ira Gershwin]], [[Irving Berlin]], [[Cole Porter]] and [[Rodgers and Hart]]. Popular music was dominated by musical theatre standards, such as "[[Fascinating Rhythm]]", "[[Tea for Two (song)|Tea for Two]]" and "[[Someone to Watch Over Me (song)|Someone to Watch Over Me]]". Many shows were [[revue]]s, series of sketches and songs with little or no connection between them. The best-known of these were the annual ''[[Ziegfeld Follies]]'', spectacular song-and-dance revues on Broadway featuring extravagant sets, elaborate costumes and beautiful chorus girls.<ref name=KenrickShort/> These spectacles also raised production values, and mounting a musical generally became more expensive.<ref name=Kenrick/> ''[[Shuffle Along]]'' (1921), an all-African American show, was a hit on Broadway.<ref>Krasner, David. ''A Beautiful Pageant: African American Theatre, Drama and Performance in the Harlem Renaissance, 1910–1927'', Palgrave MacMillan, 2002, pp. 263–267</ref> A new generation of composers of operettas also emerged in the 1920s, such as [[Rudolf Friml]] and [[Sigmund Romberg]], to create a series of popular Broadway hits.<ref>[[Anne Midgette|Midgette, Anne]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/29/theater/operetta-review-much-silliness-in-a-gilt-frame.html "Operetta Review: Much Silliness In a Gilt Frame"], ''The New York Times'', March 29, 2003, accessed December 1, 2012</ref>

In London, writer-stars such as [[Ivor Novello]] and [[Noël Coward]] became popular, but the primacy of British musical theatre from the 19th century through 1920 was gradually replaced by American innovation, especially after World War I, as Kern and other [[Tin Pan Alley]] composers began to bring new musical styles such as [[ragtime]] and [[jazz]] to the theatres, and the [[Shubert Brothers]] took control of the Broadway theatres. Musical theatre writer [[Andrew Lamb (writer)|Andrew Lamb]] notes, "The operatic and theatrical styles of nineteenth-century social structures were replaced by a musical style more aptly suited to twentieth-century society and its vernacular idiom. It was from America that the more direct style emerged, and in America that it was able to flourish in a developing society less hidebound by nineteenth-century tradition."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lamb|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Lamb (writer)|date=Spring 1986|title=From Pinafore to Porter: United States-United Kingdom Interactions in Musical Theater, 1879–1929|journal=[[American Music (journal)|American Music]]|volume=4|issue=British-American Musical Interactions|page=47|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Chicago|issn=0734-4392|jstor=3052183|doi=10.2307/3052183}}</ref> In France, ''comédie musicale'' was written between in the early decades of the century for such stars as [[Yvonne Printemps]].<ref>Wagstaff, John and [[Andrew Lamb (writer)|Andrew Lamb]]. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/18492 "Messager, André"]. ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 15 March 2018 {{subscription required}}</ref>