musical theater
Noun: A genre of theatrical performance or a specific work within that genre that combines spoken dialogue, acting, and plot with songs, singing, and often dance. The story is advanced and characters are developed through a mixture of these elements.
"Musical theater" refers to the art form itself or to a specific production. * The university offers a degree in musical theater. * Her dream is to perform on Broadway in musical theater. * "Hamilton" is a groundbreaking piece of musical theater.
- As the art form: "She has dedicated her life to the study of musical theater."
- As a specific show: "The local community group is putting on a musical theater production of ."
- "Golden Age of musical theater": A period, roughly from the 1940s to the 1960s, known for a particular style of integrated book musicals.
- "musical theater performer/actor/singer": A performer specifically trained in the combined disciplines required for this genre.
- Musical (noun): A common, shorter synonym for a musical theater production. (e.g., "We went to see a musical.")
- Musical comedy: A subgenre of musical theater that emphasizes humor.
- Book musical: A musical theater production where songs and dances are fully integrated into a narrative story with emotional goals.
- Musical
- Musical comedy
- Musical play
The term specifically denotes the theatrical, staged version of this art form. A film adaptation of a stage musical is typically called a "musical film" or "movie musical," though it originates from musical theater. The core concept is the integration of music, lyrics, dialogue, and movement to tell a story on stage.
- a play or film whose action and dialogue is interspersed with singing and dancing