The “Golden Age of American musical theatre” is a title applied by theatre scholars and practitioners to an era of American musical theatre that starts with the premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (1945), which is considered a notable work for being the first “integrated musical,” one in which song and dance is used to propel the narrative, as opposed to being a break from which the narrative resumes. The end of the Golden Age is disputed. Some say it the premiere of Fiddler on the Roof  (1964), the first concept musical, a departure from the musical play. Others say it the premiere of West Side Story (1957), a tragedy that is markedly different from the sentimental musical comedy. Corinne J. Naden asserts that the end is On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965), written by librettist-lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. Some forms of musical drama and performance that predated the musical-comedy were operetta, revue, burlesque, minstrel shows, music halls and vaudeville. Instead of lines of show girls or arias that break recitative, Oklahoma! opens with the cowboy, Curly, reveling in the beauty of the landscape and sunrise—a moment of pure poetry, and a sunrise on a new form of storytelling.

THAT WHICH WAS GOLDEN

by Arushi Grover 

Why do we continue to produce Golden Age works? A traditionalist may assert that there is something unique and compelling about the composition of Golden Age musicals. It is difficult to generalize, but Golden Age works are often centered on romance, and they are often quite sentimental in language and musical composition. A scholar or historian may say that they are an important part of theatre history and a foundation for all contemporary theatre, the first integrated musicals to craft the narrative form. But, surely we have contemporary works that are also well-crafted works of narrative, song, and dance? 

I offer nothing revolutionary for why we continue to produce these works. In addition to Golden Age musicals, I am passionate about Shakespeare’s work, and I find that arguments for why we reach for these canonical works over and over again usually fail when they assert that there is something special about a body of work. I believe that most anything would be worthy of consideration if you stare at it long enough, if you reason hard enough. Most every era of musical theatre has created beautiful, compelling work. 

But the Golden Age? That was the era during which musicals were popular culture. While musical theatre is seen as a subset of content consumed today, it was the songs of Golden Age works that played on the radio during this era, and filmic adaptations of them that graced the big screen. Musical theatre had the ability to be intimate, the goings-on between an audience and some actors in an evening in New York, and also that which was communicated in mass-media to a nation. 

And yes, Golden Age works are breathtakingly beautiful, sweeping orchestral scores with universal themes. And yes, understanding Golden Age works are very important to appreciating contemporary musical theatre’s narrative and musical structure. And… another question: Why do we reach for canonical works? I would suggest that there’s something in our relation to time, in how reaching for past works to reinvent them for the present and future connects us to passage of time, and our position in relation to that ever-beating clock. It’s a grounding influence. 

And, look—we’ve stumbled on the answer to another question. The past is a grounding force for an uncertain future. Why do we do Brigadoon?