Words and Music: Musical Theater in America

In an odd turn, the Broadway musical - exported by Walt Disney to cartoons in the 1930s - was returned to Broadway by Disney in the 1990s. Heather Nathans, Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland, explains this transition.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

In this piece, Heather Nathans, Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland, is joined by Joe Stein and Sheldon Harnick (writers of "Fiddler on the Roof") and Stephen Schwartz (who wrote "Pippin," Godspell," and "Wicked") to talk about how a musical gets written.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

From The Beggar's Opera to Avenue Q., musicals have commented on social issues for as long as there has been musical theater in America.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

From minstrel shows and Vaudeville to the modern stage, a look at the trends and ideas that shaped American Musical theater.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.