 Although the earliest of these shows have the same sound one expects from Gilbert and Sullivan's operas, Edwardes called them "musical comedies", leading some writers to incorrectly credit him with inventing a form that Harrigan & Hart had established on Broadway a decade earlier.Although Edwardes was not the true inventor of musical comedy, he was the first to elevate these works to international popularity.According to musical theatre writer Andrew Lamb, "The British Empire and America began to fall for the appeal of the British musical comedy from the time when "A Gaiety Girl" was taken on a world tour in 1894."