title: Gospel of John

text: John 21:22 references a disciple whom Jesus loved and John 21:24–25 says: "This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true; but there are also many other things that Jesus did; if all of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself would not contain the books that would be written." Early Christian tradition, first found in Irenaeus ( AD), identified this disciple with John the Apostle, together with the Gnostics, such as Ptolemy who in his letter to Flora quotes the Gospel and attributes it to an Apostle without giving names and Basilides who quotes John 1:9 and considers it a gospel, but most scholars have abandoned this hypothesis or hold it only tenuously – for example, the gospel is written in good Greek and displays sophisticated theology, and is therefore unlikely to have been the work of a simple fisherman. These verses imply rather that the core of the gospel relies on the testimony (perhaps written) of the "disciple who is testifying", as collected, preserved and reshaped by a community of followers (the "we" of the passage), and that a single follower (the "I") rearranged this material and perhaps added the final chapter and other passages to produce the final gospel. Most scholars estimate the final form of the text to be around AD 90–110. Given its complex history there may have been more than one place of composition, and while the author was familiar with Jewish customs and traditions, his frequent clarification of these implies that he wrote for a mixed Jewish/Gentile or Jewish context outside Palestine.


title: Gospel of John

text: The author may have drawn on a "signs source" (a collection of miracles) for chapters 1-12, a "passion source" for the story of Jesus's arrest and crucifixion, and a "sayings source" for the discourses, but these hypotheses are much debated. He seems to have known some version of Mark and Luke, as he shares with them some items of vocabulary and clusters of incidents arranged in the same order, but key terms from those gospels are absent or nearly so, implying that if he did know them he felt free to write independently. The Hebrew scriptures were an important source, with 14 direct quotations (versus 27 in Mark, 54 in Matthew, 24 in Luke), and their influence is vastly increased when allusions and echoes are included, but the majority of John's direct quotations do not agree exactly with any known version of the Jewish scriptures. Recent arguments by Richard Bauckham and others that the Gospel of John preserves eyewitness testimony have not won general acceptance.


title: Gospel of John

text: For much of the 20th century, scholars interpreted the Gospel of John within the paradigm of a hypothetical "Johannine community", meaning that the gospel sprang from a late-1st-century Christian community excommunicated from the Jewish synagogue (probably meaning the Jewish community) on account of its belief in Jesus as the promised Jewish messiah. This interpretation, which saw the community as essentially sectarian and standing outside the mainstream of early Christianity, has been increasingly challenged in the first decades of the 21st century, and there is currently considerable debate over the social, religious and historical context of the gospel. Nevertheless, the Johannine literature as a whole (made up of the gospel, the three Johannine epistles, and Revelation), points to a community holding itself distinct from the Jewish culture from which it arose while cultivating an intense devotion to Jesus as the definitive revelation of a God with whom they were in close contact through the Paraclete.


title: Gospel of John

text: The majority of scholars see four sections in the Gospel of John: a prologue (1:1–18); an account of the ministry, often called the "Book of Signs" (1:19–12:50); the account of Jesus' final night with his disciples and the passion and resurrection, sometimes called the Book of Glory (13:1–20:31); and a conclusion (20:30–31); to these is added an epilogue which most scholars believe did not form part of the original text (Chapter 21). Disagreement does exist; some scholars such as Richard Bauckham argue that John 21 was part of the original work, for example.


title: Gospel of John

text: The structure is highly schematic: there are seven "signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the resurrection of Jesus), and seven "I am" sayings and discourses, culminating in Thomas's proclamation of the risen Jesus as "my Lord and my God" (the same title, , claimed by the Emperor Domitian, an indication of the date of composition).


title: Gospel of John

text: Scholars agree that while John clearly regards Jesus as divine, he just as clearly subordinates him to the one God. According to James Dunn, this Christology view in John, does not describe a subordinationist relation, but rather the authority and validity of the Son's "revelation" of the Father, the continuity between the Father and the Son. Dunn sees this view as intended to serve the Logos Christology, while others (e.g., Andrew Loke) see it as connected to the incarnation theme in John. The idea of the Trinity developed only slowly through the merger of Hebrew monotheism and the idea of the messiah, Greek ideas of the relationship between God, the world, and the mediating Saviour, and the Egyptian concept of the three-part divinity. However, while the developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament, the New Testament possesses a triadic understanding of God and contains a number of Trinitarian formulas. John's "high Christology" depicts Jesus as divine and pre-existent, defends him against Jewish claims that he was "making himself equal to God", and talks openly about his divine role and echoing Yahweh's "I Am that I Am" with seven "I Am" declarations of his own.


title: Gospel of John

text: In the prologue, the gospel identifies Jesus as the Logos or Word. In Ancient Greek philosophy, the term meant the principle of cosmic reason. In this sense, it was similar to the Hebrew concept of Wisdom, God's companion and intimate helper in creation. The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo merged these two themes when he described the Logos as God's creator of and mediator with the material world. According to Stephen Harris, the gospel adapted Philo's description of the Logos, applying it to Jesus, the incarnation of the Logos.


title: Gospel of John

text: Another possibility is that the title is based on the concept of the divine Word found in the Targums (Aramaic translation/interpretations recited in the synagogue after the reading of the Hebrew Scriptures). In the Targums (which all post-date the first century but which give evidence of preserving early material), the concept of the divine Word was used in a manner similar to Philo, namely, for God's interaction with the world (starting from creation) and especially with his people, e.g. Israel, was saved from Egypt by action of "the Word of the ," both Philo and the Targums envision the Word as being manifested between the cherubim and the Holy of Holies, etc.


title: Gospel of John

text: The portrayal of Jesus' death in John is unique among the four Gospels. It does not appear to rely on the kinds of atonement theology indicative of vicarious sacrifice but rather presents the death of Jesus as his glorification and return to the Father. Likewise, the three "passion predictions" of the Synoptic Gospels are replaced instead in John with three instances of Jesus explaining how he will be exalted or "lifted up". The verb for "lifted up" (, ) reflects the double entendre at work in John's theology of the cross, for Jesus is both physically elevated from the earth at the crucifixion but also, at the same time, exalted and glorified.


title: Gospel of John

text: Scholars disagree both on whether and how frequently John refers to sacraments, but current scholarly opinion is that there are very few such possible references, and that if they exist they are limited to baptism and the Eucharist. In fact, there is no institution of the Eucharist in John's account of the Last Supper (it is replaced with Jesus washing the feet of his disciples), and no New Testament text that unambiguously links baptism with rebirth.


title: Gospel of John

text: In comparison to the synoptic gospels, the fourth gospel is markedly individualistic, in the sense that it places emphasis more on the individual's relation to Jesus than on the corporate nature of the Church. This is largely accomplished through the consistently singular grammatical structure of various aphoristic sayings of Jesus throughout the gospel. Emphasis on believers coming into a new group upon their conversion is conspicuously absent from John, and there is a theme of "personal coinherence", that is, the intimate personal relationship between the believer and Jesus in which the believer "abides" in Jesus and Jesus in the believer. The individualistic tendencies of John could potentially give rise to a realized eschatology achieved on the level of the individual believer; this realized eschatology is not, however, to replace "orthodox", futurist eschatological expectations, but is to be "only [their] correlative."


title: Gospel of John

text: John's account of John the Baptist is different from that of the synoptic gospels. In this gospel, John is not called "the Baptist." The Baptist's ministry overlaps with that of Jesus; his baptism of Jesus is not explicitly mentioned, but his witness to Jesus is unambiguous. The evangelist almost certainly knew the story of John's baptism of Jesus and he makes a vital theological use of it. He subordinates the Baptist to Jesus, perhaps in response to members of the Baptist's sect who regarded the Jesus movement as an offshoot of their movement.


title: Gospel of John

text: In the Gospel of John, Jesus and his disciples go to Judea early in Jesus' ministry before John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed by Herod. He leads a ministry of baptism larger than John's own. The Jesus Seminar rated this account as black, containing no historically accurate information. According to the biblical historians at the Jesus Seminar, John likely had a larger presence in the public mind than Jesus.


title: Gospel of John

text: In the first half of the 20th century, many scholars, primarily including Rudolph Bultmann, forcefully argued that the Gospel of John has elements in common with Gnosticism. Christian Gnosticism did not fully develop until the mid-2nd century, and so 2nd-century Proto-Orthodox Christians concentrated much effort in examining and refuting it. To say the Gospel of John contained elements of Gnosticism is to assume that Gnosticism had developed to a level that required the author to respond to it. Bultmann, for example, argued that the opening theme of the Gospel of John, the pre-existing Logos, along with John's duality of light versus darkness in the Gospel were originally Gnostic themes that John adopted. Other scholars (e.g., Raymond E. Brown) have argued that the pre-existing Logos theme arises from the more ancient Jewish writings in the eighth chapter of the Book of Proverbs, and was fully developed as a theme in Hellenistic Judaism by Philo Judaeus. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran verified the Jewish nature of these concepts. April DeConick has suggested reading John 8:56 in support of a Gnostic theology, however recent scholarship has cast doubt on her reading.


title: Gospel of John

text: Gnostics read John but interpreted it differently from the way non-Gnostics did. Gnosticism taught that salvation came from "gnosis", secret knowledge, and Gnostics did not see Jesus as a savior but a revealer of knowledge. The gospel teaches that salvation can only be achieved through revealed wisdom, specifically belief in (literally belief ) Jesus. John's picture of a supernatural savior who promised to return to take those who believed in him to a heavenly dwelling could be fitted into Gnostic view. It has been suggested that similarities between the Gospel of John and Gnosticism may spring from common roots in Jewish Apocalyptic literature.


title: Gospel of John

text: The Gospel of John is significantly different from the synoptic gospels in the selection of its material, its theological emphasis, its chronology, and literary style, with some of its discrepancies amounting to contradictions. The following are some examples of their differences in just one area, that of the material they include in their narratives:


title: Gospel of John

text: In the Synoptics, the ministry of Jesus takes a single year, but in John it takes three, as evidenced by references to three Passovers. Events are not all in the same order: the date of the crucifixion is different, as is the time of Jesus' anointing in Bethany and the cleansing of the Temple, which occurs in the beginning of Jesus' ministry rather than near its end.


title: Gospel of John

text: Many incidents from John, such as the wedding in Cana, the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well, and the raising of Lazarus, are not paralleled in the synoptics, and most scholars believe the author drew these from an independent source called the "signs gospel", the speeches of Jesus from a second "discourse" source, and the prologue from an early hymn. The gospel makes extensive use of the Jewish scriptures: John quotes from them directly, references important figures from them, and uses narratives from them as the basis for several of the discourses. The author was also familiar with non-Jewish sources: the Logos of the prologue (the Word that is with God from the beginning of creation), for example, was derived from both the Jewish concept of Lady Wisdom and from the Greek philosophers, John 6 alludes not only to the exodus but also to Greco-Roman mystery cults, and John 4 alludes to Samaritan messianic beliefs.


title: Gospel of John

text: John lacks scenes from the Synoptics such as Jesus' baptism, the calling of the Twelve, exorcisms, parables, and the Transfiguration. Conversely, it includes scenes not found in the Synoptics, including Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana, the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, and multiple visits to Jerusalem.


title: Gospel of John

text: In the fourth gospel, Jesus' mother Mary is mentioned in three passages, but not named. John does assert that Jesus was known as the "son of Joseph" in . For John, Jesus' town of origin is irrelevant, for he comes from beyond this world, from God the Father.


title: Gospel of John

text: While John makes no direct mention of Jesus' baptism, he does quote John the Baptist's description of the descent of the Holy Spirit as a dove, as happens at Jesus' baptism in the Synoptics. Major synoptic speeches of Jesus are absent, including the Sermon on the Mount and the Olivet Discourse, and the exorcisms of demons are never mentioned as in the Synoptics. John never lists all of the Twelve Disciples and names at least one disciple, Nathanael, whose name is not found in the Synoptics. Thomas is given a personality beyond a mere name, described as "Doubting Thomas".


title: Gospel of John

text: Jesus is identified with the Word ("Logos"), and the Word is identified with ("god" in Greek); no such identification is made in the Synoptics. In Mark, Jesus urges his disciples to keep his divinity secret, but in John he is very open in discussing it, even referring to himself as "I AM", the title God gives himself in Exodus at his self-revelation to Moses. In the Synoptics, the chief theme is the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven (the latter specifically in Matthew), while John's theme is Jesus as the source of eternal life and the Kingdom is only mentioned twice. In contrast to the synoptic expectation of the Kingdom (using the term , meaning "coming"), John presents a more individualistic, realized eschatology.


title: Gospel of John

text: In the Synoptics, quotations from Jesus are usually in the form of short, pithy sayings; in John, longer quotations are often given. The vocabulary is also different, and filled with theological import: in John, Jesus does not work "miracles", but "signs" which unveil his divine identity. Most scholars consider John not to contain any parables. Rather it contains metaphorical stories or allegories, such as those of the Good Shepherd and of the True Vine, in which each individual element corresponds to a specific person, group, or thing. Other scholars consider stories like the childbearing woman or the dying grain to be parables.


title: Gospel of John

text: According to the Synoptics, the arrest of Jesus was a reaction to the cleansing of the temple, while according to John it was triggered by the raising of Lazarus. The Pharisees, portrayed as more uniformly legalistic and opposed to Jesus in the synoptic gospels, are instead portrayed as sharply divided; they debate frequently in John's accounts. Some, such as Nicodemus, even go so far as to be at least partially sympathetic to Jesus. This is believed to be a more accurate historical depiction of the Pharisees, who made debate one of the tenets of their system of belief.


title: Gospel of John

text: In place of the communal emphasis of the Pauline literature, John stresses the personal relationship of the individual to God.


title: Gospel of John

text: The Gospel of John and the three Johannine epistles exhibit strong resemblances in theology and style; the Book of Revelation has also been traditionally linked with these, but differs from the gospel and letters in style and even theology. The letters were written later than the gospel, and while the gospel reflects the break between the Johannine Christians and the Jewish synagogue, in the letters the Johannine community itself is disintegrating ("They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out..." - 1 John 2:19). This secession was over Christology, the "knowledge of Christ", or more accurately the understanding of Christ's nature, for the ones who "went out" hesitated to identify Jesus with Christ, minimising the significance of the earthly ministry and denying the salvific importance of Jesus's death on the cross. The epistles argue against this view, stressing the eternal existence of the Son of God, the salvific nature of his life and death, and the other elements of the gospel's "high" Christology.


title: Gospel of John

text: Jesus' teachings in the Synoptics greatly differ from those in the fourth gospel. Since the 19th century, scholars have almost unanimously accepted that the Johannine discourses are less likely to be historical than the synoptic parables, and were likely written for theological purposes. Nevertheless, scholars generally agree that the fourth gospel is not without historical value. Some potential points of value include early provenance for some Johannine material, topographical references for Jerusalem and Judea, Jesus' crucifixion occurring prior to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Jesus' arrest in the garden occurring after the accompanying deliberation of Jewish authorities.


title: Gospel of John

text: The gospel has been depicted in live narrations and dramatized in productions, skits, plays, and Passion Plays, as well as in film. The most recent such portrayal is the 2014 film "The Gospel of John", directed by David Batty and narrated by David Harewood and Brian Cox, with Selva Rasalingam as Jesus. The 2003 film "The Gospel of John" was directed by Philip Saville and narrated by Christopher Plummer, with Henry Ian Cusick as Jesus.


title: Gospel of John

text: Parts of the gospel have been set to music. One such setting is Steve Warner's power anthem "Come and See", written for the 20th anniversary of the Alliance for Catholic Education and including lyrical fragments taken from the Book of Signs. Additionally, some composers have made settings of the Passion as portrayed in the gospel, most notably "St John Passion" composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, although some verses are borrowed from Matthew.


title: 2 Chainz

text: Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (or Tity Boi), is an American rapper. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he initially gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, alongside his longtime friend and fellow rapper Earl "Dolla Boy" Conyers. The duo was signed to fellow Georgia-based rapper Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace label, and are best known for their debut single "Duffle Bag Boy" (featuring Lil Wayne).


title: 2 Chainz

text: In February 2012, Epps signed a solo record deal with Def Jam Recordings, an imprint of Universal Music Group. The following August, he released his debut studio album "Based on a T.R.U. Story" on August 14, 2012, to commercial success despite mixed reviews. The album spawned three successful singles: "No Lie" (featuring Drake), "Birthday Song" (featuring Kanye West), and "I'm Different", all of which charted in the top 50 of the "Billboard" Hot 100 and were certified Gold or higher by the RIAA, along with the album being certified Gold. His second studio album "" was released on September 11, 2013; supported by the lead single "Feds Watching" (featuring Pharrell Williams). Epps began working with TV network Viceland on a show called "Most Expensivest", which debuted on November 15, 2017, and aired for three seasons.


title: 2 Chainz

text: 2 Chainz was born Tauheed Epps in College Park, Georgia. He attended North Clayton High School, where he played basketball and graduated second in his class. While in high school, he dealt marijuana and was arrested for felony cocaine possession when he was 15 years old.


title: 2 Chainz

text: He later attended Alabama State University on a scholarship, and played on its basketball team from 1995 to 1997.


title: 2 Chainz

text: When asked by "Rolling Stone" about longstanding rumors that he had graduated from Alabama State with a 4.0 GPA, which had been widely reported on many sources including Wikipedia, 2 Chainz said: "Don't believe anything on Wack-ipedia. There's a lot of false stuff on there, to the point that every time I try to fix one thing, something else comes out." In fact, he transferred to Virginia State University due to circumstances he was reluctant to speak about. "I got into some trouble, went somewhere else, and came back. But I graduated, and that's that. That was then," he said.


title: 2 Chainz

text: Epps formed the hip hop duo Playaz Circle (the word "Playaz" being a bacronym for "Preparing Legal Assets for Years from A to Z") in College Park, Georgia in 1997, with his high school friend Earl Conyers (known as Dolla Boy), while Epps adopted "Tity Boi" as his moniker. Following the release of an independent album titled "United We Stand, United We Fall" (2002), the duo was introduced to fellow Atlanta rapper Ludacris when he moved into their College Park apartment complex while he was acting as a DJ. After taking interest in Playaz Circle, Ludacris began to record several songs with the group, playing some of them on his radio station.


title: 2 Chainz

text: Ludacris soon became one of the highest-selling rappers in the Southern United States. After hearing of their situation, Ludacris requested of Epps that the duo join his newly formed record label Disturbing Tha Peace, a subsidiary of Def Jam Recordings. Epps agreed to sign, although Conyers did not officially join the label until his mother regained her health a year after the initial signing.


title: 2 Chainz

text: The duo's debut album "Supply & Demand", was released on October 30, 2007. The lead single and the duo's debut single, "Duffle Bag Boy", became an urban hit single. The song features Lil Wayne, and was performed by the duo at the BET Hip Hop Awards. The duo released its second studio album "", on September 29, 2009. In January 2010, Playaz Circle filmed a music video for the single "Big Dawg" featuring Lil Wayne and Birdman at Studio Space Atlanta. Shortly afterwards, Epps left Disturbing tha Peace, a move he claimed was taken in order to advance his career. Although Ludacris was initially reluctant to allow Epps to leave the label (as he felt Epps could still prove financially successful), he eventually accepted the decision.


title: 2 Chainz

text: Epp's has sometimes faced criticism of sexism for his original pseudonym "Tity Boi", although he has repeatedly denied such accusations. In early 2011, he decided to change his stage name to "2 Chainz," as he perceived it to be more "family friendly." Following the name change, Epps released a mixtape titled "T.R.U. REALigion", which became his first mixtape to appear on the music charts, peaking at number 58 on the US "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Since the success of the mixtape, Epps has made numerous guest appearances on tracks by prominent recording artists such as Kanye West ("Mercy") and Nicki Minaj ("Beez in the Trap").


title: 2 Chainz

text: On March 24, 2012, Epps announced his debut studio album, whose title he had changed to "Based on a T.R.U. Story" from its original title of "T.R.U. to My REALigion," which was set for an August 14, 2012, release date. The album's lead single, "No Lie," featured Canadian rapper Drake, and was released on May 8, 2012. On May 11, it was under speculation that Epps had signed with Kanye West's GOOD Music label, after West tweeted: "2 Chainz is charging 100k for a verse now cause he's G.O.O.D!!!!!" However, Epps later denied those rumors, saying: "He just said I'm good, like I'm ill. But we was talking and I think I was jeopardizing my brand sometimes by doing the homeboy special. So I think he felt like we should just put that out there that we ain't doing no more of that." On May 30, 2012, Ciara revealed 2 Chainz was featured on "Sweat," the intended first single from her fifth studio album, "One Woman Army."


title: 2 Chainz

text: "Based on a T.R.U. Story" debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 147,000 copies in its first week.<ref name="Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 8/19/2012"></ref> The album was met with mixed reviews, earning a score of 55 on metacritic. As of September 23, 2012, the album sold 288,000 copies in the United States.<ref name="Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 9/23/2012"></ref> That September, Epps performed at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards, alongside longtime friend Lil Wayne. After the release of his debut, "Based on a T.R.U. Story," Epps made momentous strides. He facilitated his first solo worldwide tour, selling out most of its dates; he was nominated for over 13 BET Hip Hop Awards, bringing home four such trophies; he earned "The Source" Magazine's "Man of the Year" award; he released a collaborative endeavor with ADIDAS, and later Beats By Dre; and he was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album.


title: 2 Chainz

text: In late 2012, Epps stated that once he completed the "B.O.A.T.S." concert tour, he would reenter the studio. In November 2012, he revealed he was three songs deep into his second studio album. The album's estimated release date was April 2013. The rapper made a guest appearance on NBC's "" in an episode that aired May 8, 2013. He also appeared as himself in the second season (episode 16, titled "...And Just Plane Magic") of the CBS sitcom "2 Broke Girls," where he traveled on the same private planes as the two main characters. On May 23, 2013, he announced that his second studio album "" would be released on September 10, 2013. On June 2, 2013, Epps premiered the first single from the album, titled "Feds Watching," at the Hot 97's Summer Jam. The song featured Pharrell Williams, and it was recorded on 2013 Grammy Awards night. On June 15, Epps announced the title of his second album would be "B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time." The album was released on Def Jam Recordings on September 10, 2013.


title: 2 Chainz

text: "B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time" featured guest appearances from Pharrell Williams, Fergie, Drake, Lil Wayne, Pusha T, Mase, Chrisette Michele, Iamsu!, T-Pain, Dolla Boy, Rich Homie Quan, and Lloyd. The album's production was handled by Diplo, Mike WiLL Made It, Drumma Boy, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Mannie Fresh, Wonder Arillo, Da Honorable C-Note and DJ Toomp. It was supported by the single "Used 2," along with the promotional singles "Where U Been?" and "Netflix." The album was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. It also fared decently commercially, debuting at number three on the US "Billboard" 200, and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling 63,000 copies in its first week.


title: 2 Chainz

text: On October 23, 2013, Epps revealed that he had begun working on his third studio album immediately following the release of "B.O.A.T.S. II". He also stated he had the first single from his third album ready for release and that he still wanted to get Jay-Z featured on the album. In November 2015, 2 Chainz revealed that he was releasing a joint album with Lil Wayne, titled "ColleGrove." On May 5, 2014, Epps released a brand new EP titled "FreeBase" for free digital download. It included seven songs and included features from Lil Boosie, A$AP Rocky, Rick Ross, and more. The EP earned over 200,000 downloads. In January 2014 Epps released a promotional single titled "I'm a Dog."


title: 2 Chainz

text: On January 27, 2016, Epps released an EP titled "Felt Like Cappin". It was released via online streaming sites and iTunes. The EP was promoted by the single "Back On That Bullshit" featuring Lil Wayne.


title: 2 Chainz

text: Epps began 2016 with the March release of a 12-record collaborative album with rapper Lil Wayne titled "ColleGrove", which was intended to be the debut album between 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne. However, Wayne's ongoing lawsuit with Cash Money Records prevented Wayne from being a primary artist on the album. Epps appears as the primary artist on the album with eight tracks featuring Lil Wayne. The album features prominent producers such as Honorable C.N.O.T.E., Mike Will Made It, Zaytoven, TM88, Metro Boomin, London on da Track, and more. "ColleGrove" received decent reviews from critics and fans.


title: 2 Chainz

text: Epps continued his work in 2016 with the August 5 release of mixtape "Daniel Son: Necklace Don", a 9-track mixtape that Epps released independently. The mixtape originally featured Drake and YFN Lucci on it, but Epps chose to move the song "Big Amount ft. Drake" to the 2017 studio album "Pretty Girls Like Trap Music" because of its mass appeal on the mixtape and star power performance. "Daniel Son: Necklace Don" received a 3-out-of-5-star review from "XXL" magazine.


title: 2 Chainz

text: 2016 was wrapped up by Epps's third mixtape, titled "Hibachi for Lunch", which was released October 28. The 7-track mixtape originally featured Quavo, Gucci Mane, Ty Dolla Sign, and Future. However, the song "Good Drank ft. Quavo and Gucci Mane" was moved to "Pretty Girls Like Trap Music". Notable production was done by Mike Will Made It, K Swisha, and Buddah Bless.


title: 2 Chainz

text: In 2017, Epps released his fourth studio album titled "Pretty Girls Like Trap Music" on June 16 on Def Jam Recordings. The album featured Travis Scott, Nicki Minaj, Swae Lee, Migos, Jhene Aiko, Pharrell Williams, and more. Album production was done by Mike Will Made It, Buddah Bless, Mike Dean, Murda Beatz, and more. The album was supported by three official singles: "Good Drank", "It's a Vibe," and "4 AM". The album was also supported by a nationwide concert tour, as well as several pop-up shops in the US. 2 Chainz alluded to the album showing "growth and maturation." He stated the content would maintain its edginess while also elevating trap music to a point where everyone could appreciate it. "Pretty Girls Like Trap Music" received widespread critical acclaim, with most critics citing the album as his best album yet.


title: 2 Chainz

text: On November 15, 2017, the first episode of "Most Expensivest" aired on the TV network Viceland. The show focused on 2 Chainz visiting different locations offering the "most expensivest" goods and services. Each show covers a particular theme, with shows ranging from personal health to extravagant indulgences. The show offered a unique insight into products and services that have been created with the explicit intent on being exclusive and expensive. 2 Chainz offered a unique and often humorous insight into the products, especially the ones that he personally found to be either amazing or ridiculous. The show was renewed for a 20-episode third season, which aired in early 2019.


title: 2 Chainz

text: "The Play Don't Care Who Makes" was the fourth EP released by Epps on February 8, 2018, by Def Jam Recordings. The EP was composed of four songs, one of which featured appearances from YG and Offset on the song "PROUD". Production was done by Minus, June James, Nonstop, Streetrunner, and more.


title: 2 Chainz

text: On February 19, 2018, Epps announced his new album "Rap or Go to the League", which was set to be released during 2018. However, the album was released on March 1, 2019. On March 26, 2020, 2 Chainz confirmed that "ColleGrove 2", a sequel of 2016's "ColleGrove", would be released later in 2020.


title: 2 Chainz

text: In August 2020, following his "Verzuz" battle with Rick Ross, 2 Chainz announced that his upcoming sixth album would be titled "So Help Me God!" The album was initially scheduled for release on September 25, 2020. However, in the week of its planned release, it was delayed because of sample clearances. 2 Chainz said, "It should be another couple weeks". It was then announced for release on November 13, 2020, and was preceded by the release of the single "Quarantine Thick", which featured Mulatto.


title: 2 Chainz

text: On September 24, 2020, 2 Chainz played against Big Boi and his family on the season premiere of the reality game show "Celebrity Family Feud".


title: 2 Chainz

text: On August 3, 2021, 2 Chainz announced that his seventh album would be his last trap album, titled "Dope Don't Sell Itself".


title: 2 Chainz

text: Epps has two daughters, Heaven, born on July 26, 2008; and Harmony, born on October 20, 2012. On October 14, 2015, 2 Chainz welcomed his third child, a baby boy named Halo. On August 18, 2018, Epps married his longtime girlfriend and mother of his three children: Kesha Ward.


title: 2 Chainz

text: At the age of 15, Epps was convicted of felony cocaine possession. On February 14, 2013, he was arrested in Maryland en route to a concert at UMES for marijuana possession. He was then cited and released.


title: 2 Chainz

text: On June 11, 2013, Epps was arrested while on board a departing flight at LAX airport for possession of a controlled substance after TSA agents found that his checked bag contained marijuana and promethazine. He was booked and charged with felony narcotics possession. Later that day he posted $10,000 bond and was released. He was due back in court on June 21, 2013.


title: 2 Chainz

text: Two days previous, he was reportedly robbed at gunpoint outside a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco.


title: 2 Chainz

text: Just before midnight on August 21, 2013, Epps' tour bus was pulled over in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, because the passenger side taillights were out. The arresting officer reported that he smelled marijuana and saw smoke through the open door of the bus after he had stopped and pulled over the bus. The driver of the bus shut the door and told officers he was not authorized to allow them on the bus. The officer said the marijuana smell gave him probable cause to search, but the driver refused to open the door. After many attempts to enter, the bus was towed with the men still aboard to the police training center in Oklahoma City. Officers obtained a search warrant and the 10 men, including Epps, got off the bus. Police discovered two semi-automatic pistols and a 12-gauge pump shotgun, along with some prescription painkillers and marijuana residue, on the tour bus according to papers filed at Oklahoma County district Court.


title: 2 Chainz

text: In October 2016, Epps opened a line of hoodies called CEO Millionaires or Create Every Opportunity Millionaires. He also has his own line of sweaters called "Dabbing Sweaters."


title: 2 Chainz

text: On May 10, 2019, the Atlanta Hawks announced that 2 Chainz had acquired a minority ownership stake in the team's NBA G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks.


title: 2 Chainz

text: On January 6, 2015, 2 Chainz announced that he was starting his own independent record label "The Real University" (also known as "T.R.U."; or "The Real U"). The announcement also revealed that frequent collaborators Cap.1 & Skooly were signed. Additionally, they signed former Young Money artist Short Dawg, who is now known as Fresh. They also revealed they would be releasing their debut mixtape "TRU Jack City" on January 27, 2015. On October 4, 2019, 2 Chainz announced that T.R.U. had signed a partnership deal with Atlantic Records.


title: Musical theatre

text: Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.


title: Musical theatre

text: Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the musical theatre works of American creators like George M. Cohan at the turn of the 20th century. The Princess Theatre musicals (1915–1918) were artistic steps forward beyond revues and other frothy entertainments of the early 20th century and led to such groundbreaking works as "Show Boat" (1927), "Of Thee I Sing" (1931) and "Oklahoma!" (1943). Some of the most famous musicals through the decades that followed include


title: Musical theatre

text: "My Fair Lady" (1956), "The Fantasticks" (1960), "Hair" (1967), "A Chorus Line" (1975), "Les Misérables" (1985), "The Phantom of the Opera" (1986), "Rent" (1996), "The Producers" (2001), "Wicked" (2003) and "Hamilton" (2015).


title: Musical theatre

text: Musicals are performed around the world. They may be presented in large venues, such as big-budget Broadway or West End productions in New York City or London. Alternatively, musicals may be staged in smaller venues, such as fringe theatre, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, regional theatre, or community theatre productions, or on tour. Musicals are often presented by amateur and school groups in churches, schools and other performance spaces. In addition to the United States and Britain, there are vibrant musical theatre scenes in continental Europe, Asia, Australasia, Canada and Latin America.


title: Musical theatre

text: Since the 20th century, the "book musical" has been defined as a musical play where songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story with serious dramatic goals and which is able to evoke genuine emotions other than laughter. The three main components of a book musical are its "music", "lyrics" and "book". The book or script of a musical refers to the story, character development and dramatic structure, including the spoken dialogue and stage directions, but it can also refer to the dialogue and lyrics together, which are sometimes referred to as the "libretto" (Italian for "little book"). The music and lyrics together form the "score" of a musical and include songs, incidental music and musical scenes, which are "theatrical sequence[s] set to music, often combining song with spoken dialogue." The interpretation of a musical is the responsibility of its creative team, which includes a director, a musical director, usually a choreographer and sometimes an orchestrator. A musical's production is also creatively characterized by technical aspects, such as set design, costumes, stage properties (props), lighting and sound. The creative team, designs and interpretations generally change from the original production to succeeding productions. Some production elements, however, may be retained from the original production, for example, Bob Fosse's choreography in "Chicago".


title: Musical theatre

text: There is no fixed length for a musical. While it can range from a short one-act entertainment to several acts and several hours in length (or even a multi-evening presentation), most musicals range from one and a half to three hours. Musicals are usually presented in two acts, with one short intermission, and the first act is frequently longer than the second. The first act generally introduces nearly all of the characters and most of the music and often ends with the introduction of a dramatic conflict or plot complication while the second act may introduce a few new songs but usually contains reprises of important musical themes and resolves the conflict or complication. A book musical is usually built around four to six main theme tunes that are reprised later in the show, although it sometimes consists of a series of songs not directly musically related. Spoken dialogue is generally interspersed between musical numbers, although "sung dialogue" or recitative may be used, especially in so-called "sung-through" musicals such as "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Falsettos", "Les Misérables", "Evita" and "Hamilton". Several shorter musicals on Broadway and in the West End in the 21st century have been presented in one act.


title: Musical theatre

text: Moments of greatest dramatic intensity in a book musical are often performed in song. Proverbially, "when the emotion becomes too strong for speech, you sing; when it becomes too strong for song, you dance." In a book musical, a song is ideally crafted to suit the character (or characters) and their situation within the story; although there have been times in the history of the musical (e.g. from the 1890s to the 1920s) when this integration between music and story has been tenuous. As "The New York Times" critic Ben Brantley described the ideal of song in theatre when reviewing the 2008 revival of "Gypsy": "There is no separation at all between song and character, which is what happens in those uncommon moments when musicals reach upward to achieve their ideal reasons to be." Typically, many fewer words are sung in a five-minute song than are spoken in a five-minute block of dialogue. Therefore, there is less time to develop drama in a musical than in a straight play of equivalent length, since a musical usually devotes more time to music than to dialogue. Within the compressed nature of a musical, the writers must develop the characters and the plot.


title: Musical theatre

text: The material presented in a musical may be original, or it may be adapted from novels ("Wicked" and "Man of La Mancha"), plays ("Hello, Dolly!" and "Carousel"), classic legends ("Camelot"), historical events ("Evita") or films ("The Producers" and "Billy Elliot"). On the other hand, many successful musical theatre works have been adapted for musical films, such as "West Side Story", "My Fair Lady", "The Sound of Music", "Oliver!" and "Chicago".


title: Musical theatre

text: Musical theatre is closely related to the theatrical form of opera, but the two are usually distinguished by weighing a number of factors. First, musicals generally have a greater focus on spoken dialogue. Some musicals, however, are entirely accompanied and sung-through, while some operas, such as "Die Zauberflöte", and most operettas, have some unaccompanied dialogue. Second, musicals usually include more dancing as an essential part of the storytelling, particularly by the principal performers as well as the chorus. Third, musicals often use various genres of popular music or at least popular singing and musical styles.


title: Musical theatre

text: Finally, musicals usually avoid certain operatic conventions. In particular, a musical is almost always performed in the language of its audience. Musicals produced on Broadway or in the West End, for instance, are invariably sung in English, even if they were originally written in another language. While an opera singer is primarily a singer and only secondarily an actor (and rarely needs to dance), a musical theatre performer is often an actor first but must also be a singer and dancer. Someone who is equally accomplished at all three is referred to as a "triple threat". Composers of music for musicals often consider the vocal demands of roles with musical theatre performers in mind. Today, large theatres that stage musicals generally use microphones and amplification of the actors' singing voices in a way that would generally be disapproved of in an operatic context.


title: Musical theatre

text: Some works (e.g. by George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim) have been made into both "musical theatre" and "operatic" productions. Similarly, some older operettas or light operas (such as "The Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan) have been produced in modern adaptations that treat them as musicals. For some works, production styles are almost as important as the work's musical or dramatic content in defining into which art form the piece falls. Sondheim said, "I really think that when something plays Broadway it's a musical, and when it plays in an opera house it's opera. That's it. It's the terrain, the countryside, the expectations of the audience that make it one thing or another." There remains an overlap in form between lighter operatic forms and more musically complex or ambitious musicals. In practice, it is often difficult to distinguish among the various kinds of musical theatre, including "musical play", "musical comedy", "operetta" and "light opera".


title: Musical theatre

text: Like opera, the singing in musical theatre is generally accompanied by an instrumental ensemble called a pit orchestra, located in a lowered area in front of the stage. While opera typically uses a conventional symphony orchestra, musicals are generally orchestrated for ensembles ranging from 27 players down to only a few players. Rock musicals usually employ a small group of mostly rock instruments, and some musicals may call for only a piano or two instruments. The music in musicals uses a range of "styles and influences including operetta, classical techniques, folk music, jazz [and] local or historical styles [that] are appropriate to the setting." Musicals may begin with an overture played by the orchestra that "weav[es] together excerpts of the score's famous melodies."


title: Musical theatre

text: There are various Eastern traditions of theatre that include music, such as Chinese opera, Taiwanese opera, Japanese Noh and Indian musical theatre, including Sanskrit drama, Indian classical dance, Parsi theatre and Yakshagana. India has, since the 20th century, produced numerous musical films, referred to as "Bollywood" musicals, and in Japan a series of 2.5D musicals based on popular anime and manga comics has developed in recent decades.


title: Musical theatre

text: Shorter or simplified "junior" versions of many musicals are available for schools and youth groups, and very short works created or adapted for performance by children are sometimes called minimusicals.


title: Musical theatre

text: The antecedents of musical theatre in Europe can be traced back to the theatre of ancient Greece, where music and dance were included in stage comedies and tragedies during the 5th century BCE. The music from the ancient forms is lost, however, and they had little influence on later development of musical theatre. In the 12th and 13th centuries, religious dramas taught the liturgy. Groups of actors would use outdoor Pageant wagons (stages on wheels) to tell each part of the story. Poetic forms sometimes alternated with the prose dialogues, and liturgical chants gave way to new melodies.


title: Musical theatre

text: The European Renaissance saw older forms evolve into two antecedents of musical theatre: commedia dell'arte, where raucous clowns improvised familiar stories, and later, opera buffa. In England, Elizabethan and Jacobean plays frequently included music, and short musical plays began to be included in an evenings' dramatic entertainments. Court masques developed during the Tudor period that involved music, dancing, singing and acting, often with expensive costumes and a complex stage design. These developed into sung plays that are recognizable as English operas, the first usually being thought of as "The Siege of Rhodes" (1656). In France, meanwhile, Molière turned several of his farcical comedies into musical entertainments with songs (music provided by Jean-Baptiste Lully) and dance in the late 17th century. These influenced a brief period of English opera by composers such as John Blow and Henry Purcell.


title: Musical theatre

text: From the 18th century, the most popular forms of musical theatre in Britain were ballad operas, like John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera", that included lyrics written to the tunes of popular songs of the day (often spoofing opera), and later pantomime, which developed from commedia dell'arte, and comic opera with mostly romantic plot lines, like Michael Balfe's "The Bohemian Girl" (1845). Meanwhile, on the continent, singspiel, comédie en vaudeville, opéra comique, zarzuela and other forms of light musical entertainment were emerging. "The Beggar's Opera" was the first recorded long-running play of any kind, running for 62 successive performances in 1728. It would take almost a century afterwards before any play broke 100 performances, but the record soon reached 150 in the late 1820s. Other musical theatre forms developed in England by the 19th century, such as music hall, melodrama and burletta, which were popularized partly because most London theatres were licensed only as music halls and not allowed to present plays without music.


title: Musical theatre

text: Colonial America did not have a significant theatre presence until 1752, when London entrepreneur William Hallam sent a company of actors to the colonies managed by his brother Lewis. In New York in the summer of 1753, they performed ballad-operas, such as "The Beggar's Opera", and ballad-farces. By the 1840s, P. T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan. Other early musical theatre in America consisted of British forms, such as burletta and pantomime, but what a piece was called did not necessarily define what it was. The 1852 Broadway extravaganza "The Magic Deer" advertised itself as "A Serio Comico Tragico Operatical Historical Extravaganzical Burletical Tale of Enchantment." Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown from around 1850, and did not arrive in the Times Square area until the 1920s and 1930s. New York runs lagged far behind those in London, but Laura Keene's "musical burletta" "Seven Sisters" (1860) shattered previous New York musical theatre record, with a run of 253 performances.


title: Musical theatre

text: Around 1850, the French composer Hervé was experimenting with a form of comic musical theatre he called opérette. The best known composers of operetta were Jacques Offenbach from the 1850s to the 1870s and Johann Strauss II in the 1870s and 1880s. Offenbach's fertile melodies, combined with his librettists' witty satire, formed a model for the musical theatre that followed. Adaptations of the French operettas (played in mostly bad, risqué translations), musical burlesques, music hall, pantomime and burletta dominated the London musical stage into the 1870s.


title: Musical theatre

text: In America, mid-19th century musical theatre entertainments included crude variety revue, which eventually developed into vaudeville, minstrel shows, which soon crossed the Atlantic to Britain, and Victorian burlesque, first popularized in the US by British troupes. A hugely successful musical that premiered in New York in 1866, "The Black Crook", was an original musical theatre piece that conformed to many of the modern definitions of a musical, including dance and original music that helped to tell the story. The spectacular production, famous for its skimpy costumes, ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, "The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post" was the first show to call itself a "musical comedy." Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 ("The Mulligan Guard Picnic") and 1885. These musical comedies featured characters and situations taken from the everyday life of New York's lower classes and represented a significant step forward towards a more legitimate theatrical form. They starred high quality singers (Lillian Russell, Vivienne Segal and Fay Templeton) instead of the ladies of questionable repute who had starred in earlier musical forms.


title: Musical theatre

text: As transportation improved, poverty in London and New York diminished, and street lighting made for safer travel at night, the number of patrons for the growing number of theatres increased enormously. Plays ran longer, leading to better profits and improved production values, and men began to bring their families to the theatre. The first musical theatre piece to exceed 500 consecutive performances was the French operetta "The Chimes of Normandy" in 1878. English comic opera adopted many of the successful ideas of European operetta, none more successfully than the series of more than a dozen long-running Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas, including "H.M.S. Pinafore" (1878) and "The Mikado" (1885). These were sensations on both sides of the Atlantic and in Australia and helped to raise the standard for what was considered a successful show. These shows were designed for family audiences, a marked contrast from the risqué burlesques, bawdy music hall shows and French operettas that sometimes drew a crowd seeking less wholesome entertainment. Only a few 19th-century musical pieces exceeded the run of "The Mikado", such as "Dorothy", which opened in 1886 and set a new record with a run of 931 performances. Gilbert and Sullivan's influence on later musical theatre was profound, creating examples of how to "integrate" musicals so that the lyrics and dialogue advanced a coherent story. Their works were admired and copied by early authors and composers of musicals in Britain and America.


title: Musical theatre

text: "A Trip to Chinatown" (1891) was Broadway's long-run champion (until "Irene" in 1919), running for 657 performances, but New York runs continued to be relatively short, with a few exceptions, compared with London runs, until the 1920s. Gilbert and Sullivan were widely pirated and also were imitated in New York by productions such as Reginald De Koven's "Robin Hood" (1891) and John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan" (1896). "A Trip to Coontown" (1898) was the first musical comedy entirely produced and performed by African Americans on Broadway (largely inspired by the routines of the minstrel shows), followed by ragtime-tinged shows. Hundreds of musical comedies were staged on Broadway in the 1890s and early 20th century, composed of songs written in New York's Tin Pan Alley, including those by George M. Cohan, who worked to create an American style distinct from the Gilbert and Sullivan works. The most successful New York shows were often followed by extensive national tours.


title: Musical theatre

text: Meanwhile, musicals took over the London stage in the Gay Nineties, led by producer George Edwardes, who perceived that audiences wanted a new alternative to the Savoy-style comic operas and their intellectual, political, absurdist satire. He experimented with a modern-dress, family-friendly musical theatre style, with breezy, popular songs, snappy, romantic banter, and stylish spectacle at the Gaiety and his other theatres. These drew on the traditions of comic opera and used elements of burlesque and of the Harrigan and Hart pieces. He replaced the bawdy women of burlesque with his "respectable" corps of Gaiety Girls to complete the musical and visual fun. The success of the first of these, "In Town" (1892) and "A Gaiety Girl" (1893) set the style for the next three decades. The plots were generally light, romantic "poor maiden loves aristocrat and wins him against all odds" shows, with music by Ivan Caryll, Sidney Jones and Lionel Monckton. These shows were immediately widely copied in America, and Edwardian musical comedy swept away the earlier musical forms of comic opera and operetta. "The Geisha" (1896) was one of the most successful in the 1890s, running for more than two years and achieving great international success.


title: Musical theatre

text: "The Belle of New York" (1898) became the first American musical to run for over a year in London. The British musical comedy "Florodora" (1899) was a popular success on both sides of the Atlantic, as was "A Chinese Honeymoon" (1901), which ran for a record-setting 1,074 performances in London and 376 in New York. After the turn of the 20th century, Seymour Hicks joined forces with Edwardes and American producer Charles Frohman to create another decade of popular shows. Other enduring Edwardian musical comedy hits included "The Arcadians" (1909) and "The Quaker Girl" (1910).


title: Musical theatre

text: 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 composed new operettas that were popular in English until World War I. In America, Victor Herbert produced a string of enduring operettas including "The Fortune Teller" (1898), "Babes in Toyland" (1903), "Mlle. Modiste" (1905), "The Red Mill" (1906) and "Naughty Marietta" (1910).


title: Musical theatre

text: 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 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. Historian Gerald Bordman wrote:


title: Musical theatre

text: 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" ran for 670 performances, a Broadway record that held until 1938. 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. Revues like "The Bing Boys Are Here" in Britain, and those of Florenz Ziegfeld and his imitators in America, were also extraordinarily popular.


title: Musical theatre

text: 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"; "Lady, Be Good"; "No, No, Nanette"; "Oh, Kay!"; and "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 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" and "Someone to Watch Over Me". Many shows were revues, 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. These spectacles also raised production values, and mounting a musical generally became more expensive. "Shuffle Along" (1921), an all-African American show was a hit on Broadway. 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.


title: Musical theatre

text: 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 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." In France, "comédie musicale" was written between in the early decades of the century for such stars as Yvonne Printemps.


title: Musical theatre

text: Progressing far beyond the comparatively frivolous musicals and sentimental operettas of the decade, Broadway's "Show Boat" (1927), represented an even more complete integration of book and score than the Princess Theatre musicals, with dramatic themes told through the music, dialogue, setting and movement. This was accomplished by combining the lyricism of Kern's music with the skillful libretto of Oscar Hammerstein II. One historian wrote, "Here we come to a completely new genre – the musical play as distinguished from musical comedy. Now ... everything else was subservient to that play. Now ... came complete integration of song, humor and production numbers into a single and inextricable artistic entity."


title: Musical theatre

text: As the Great Depression set in during the post-Broadway national tour of "Show Boat", the public turned back to mostly light, escapist song-and-dance entertainment. Audiences on both sides of the Atlantic had little money to spend on entertainment, and only a few stage shows anywhere exceeded a run of 500 performances during the decade. The revue "The Band Wagon" (1931) starred dancing partners Fred Astaire and his sister Adele, while Porter's "Anything Goes" (1934) confirmed Ethel Merman's position as the First Lady of musical theatre, a title she maintained for many years. Coward and Novello continued to deliver old fashioned, sentimental musicals, such as "The Dancing Years", while Rodgers and Hart returned from Hollywood to create a series of successful Broadway shows, including "On Your Toes" (1936, with Ray Bolger, the first Broadway musical to make dramatic use of classical dance), "Babes in Arms" (1937) and "The Boys from Syracuse" (1938). Porter added "Du Barry Was a Lady" (1939). The longest-running piece of musical theatre of the 1930s was "Hellzapoppin" (1938), a revue with audience participation, which played for 1,404 performances, setting a new Broadway record.


title: Musical theatre

text: Still, a few creative teams began to build on "Show Boat"s innovations. "Of Thee I Sing" (1931), a political satire by the Gershwins, was the first musical awarded the Pulitzer Prize. "As Thousands Cheer" (1933), a revue by Irving Berlin and Moss Hart in which each song or sketch was based on a newspaper headline, marked the first Broadway show in which an African-American, Ethel Waters, starred alongside white actors. Waters' numbers included "Supper Time", a woman's lament for her husband who has been lynched. The Gershwins' "Porgy and Bess" (1935) featured an all African-American cast and blended operatic, folk and jazz idioms. "The Cradle Will Rock" (1937), directed by Orson Welles, was a highly political pro-union piece that, despite the controversy surrounding it, ran for 108 performances. Rodgers and Hart's "I'd Rather Be Right" (1937) was a political satire with George M. Cohan as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Kurt Weill's "Knickerbocker Holiday" depicted New York City's early history while good-naturedly satirizing Roosevelt's good intentions.


title: Musical theatre

text: The motion picture mounted a challenge to the stage. Silent films had presented only limited competition, but by the end of the 1920s, films like "The Jazz Singer" could be presented with synchronized sound. "Talkie" films at low prices effectively killed off vaudeville by the early 1930s. Despite the economic woes of the 1930s and the competition from film, the musical survived. In fact, it continued to evolve thematically beyond the gags and showgirls musicals of the "Gay Nineties" and "Roaring Twenties" and the sentimental romance of operetta, adding technical expertise and the fast-paced staging and naturalistic dialogue style led by director George Abbott.


title: Musical theatre

text: The 1940s would begin with more hits from Porter, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Weill and Gershwin, some with runs over 500 performances as the economy rebounded, but artistic change was in the air.


title: Musical theatre

text: Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" (1943) completed the revolution begun by "Show Boat", by tightly integrating all the aspects of musical theatre, with a cohesive plot, songs that furthered the action of the story, and featured dream ballets and other dances that advanced the plot and developed the characters, rather than using dance as an excuse to parade scantily clad women across the stage. Rodgers and Hammerstein hired ballet choreographer Agnes de Mille, who used everyday motions to help the characters express their ideas. It defied musical conventions by raising its first act curtain not on a bevy of chorus girls, but rather on a woman churning butter, with an off-stage voice singing the opening lines of "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" unaccompanied. It drew rave reviews, set off a box-office frenzy and received a Pulitzer Prize. Brooks Atkinson wrote in "The New York Times" that the show's opening number changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable." It was the first "blockbuster" Broadway show, running a total of 2,212 performances, and was made into a hit film. It remains one of the most frequently produced of the team's projects. William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird wrote that this was a "show, that, like "Show Boat", became a milestone, so that later historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theatre would begin to identify eras according to their relationship to "Oklahoma!"".


title: Musical theatre

text: "After "Oklahoma!", Rodgers and Hammerstein were the most important contributors to the musical-play form... The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own". The two collaborators created an extraordinary collection of some of musical theatre's best loved and most enduring classics, including "Carousel" (1945), "South Pacific" (1949), "The King and I" (1951) and "The Sound of Music" (1959). Some of these musicals treat more serious subject matter than most earlier shows: the villain in "Oklahoma!" is a suspected murderer and psychopath with a fondness for lewd post cards; "Carousel" deals with spousal abuse, thievery, suicide and the afterlife; "South Pacific" explores miscegenation even more thoroughly than "Show Boat"; and the hero of "The King and I" dies onstage.


title: Musical theatre

text: The show's creativity stimulated Rodgers and Hammerstein's contemporaries and ushered in the "Golden Age" of American musical theatre. Americana was displayed on Broadway during the "Golden Age", as the wartime cycle of shows began to arrive. An example of this is "On the Town" (1944), written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, composed by Leonard Bernstein and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. The story is set during wartime and concerns three sailors who are on a 24-hour shore leave in New York City, during which each falls in love. The show also gives the impression of a country with an uncertain future, as the sailors and their women also have. Irving Berlin used sharpshooter Annie Oakley's career as a basis for his "Annie Get Your Gun" (1946, 1,147 performances); Burton Lane, E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy combined political satire with Irish whimsy for their fantasy "Finian's Rainbow" (1947, 725 performances); and Cole Porter found inspiration in William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" for "Kiss Me, Kate" (1948, 1,077 performances). The American musicals overwhelmed the old-fashioned British Coward/Novello-style shows, one of the last big successes of which was Novello's "Perchance to Dream" (1945, 1,021 performances). The formula for the Golden Age musicals reflected one or more of four widely held perceptions of the "American dream": That stability and worth derives from a love relationship sanctioned and restricted by Protestant ideals of marriage; that a married couple should make a moral home with children away from the city in a suburb or small town; that the woman's function was as homemaker and mother; and that Americans incorporate an independent and pioneering spirit or that their success is self-made.


title: Musical theatre

text: The 1950s were crucial to the development of the American musical. Damon Runyon's eclectic characters were at the core of Frank Loesser's and Abe Burrows' "Guys and Dolls", (1950, 1,200 performances); and the Gold Rush was the setting for Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "Paint Your Wagon" (1951). The relatively brief seven-month run of that show didn't discourage Lerner and Loewe from collaborating again, this time on "My Fair Lady" (1956), an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" starring Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, which at 2,717 performances held the long-run record for many years. Popular Hollywood films were made of all of these musicals. Two hits by British creators in this decade were "The Boy Friend" (1954), which ran for 2,078 performances in London and marked Andrews' American debut, and "Salad Days" (1954), with a run of 2,283 performances.


title: Musical theatre

text: Another record was set by "The Threepenny Opera", which ran for 2,707 performances, becoming the longest-running off-Broadway musical until "The Fantasticks". The production also broke ground by showing that musicals could be profitable off-Broadway in a small-scale, small orchestra format. This was confirmed in 1959 when a revival of Jerome Kern and P. G. Wodehouse's "Leave It to Jane" ran for more than two years. The 1959–1960 off-Broadway season included a dozen musicals and revues including "Little Mary Sunshine", "The Fantasticks" and "Ernest in Love", a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1895 hit "The Importance of Being Earnest".


title: Musical theatre

text: "West Side Story" (1957) transported "Romeo and Juliet" to modern day New York City and converted the feuding Montague and Capulet families into opposing ethnic gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The book was adapted by Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by newcomer Stephen Sondheim. It was embraced by the critics, but failed to be a popular choice for the "blue-haired matinee ladies", who preferred the small town River City, Iowa of Meredith Willson's "The Music Man" (1957) to the alleys of Manhattan's Upper West Side. Apparently Tony Award voters were of a similar mind, since they favored the former over the latter. "West Side Story" had a respectable run of 732 performances (1,040 in the West End), while "The Music Man" ran nearly twice as long, with 1,375 performances. However, the 1961 film of "West Side Story" was extremely successful. Laurents and Sondheim teamed up again for "Gypsy" (1959, 702 performances), with Jule Styne providing the music for a backstage story about the most driven stage mother of all-time, stripper Gypsy Rose Lee's mother Rose. The original production ran for 702 performances, and was given four subsequent revivals, with Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters and Patti LuPone later tackling the role made famous by Ethel Merman.


title: Musical theatre

text: Although directors and choreographers have had a major influence on musical theatre style since at least the 19th century, George Abbott and his collaborators and successors took a central role in integrating movement and dance fully into musical theatre productions in the Golden Age. Abbott introduced ballet as a story-telling device in "On Your Toes" in 1936, which was followed by Agnes de Mille's ballet and choreography in "Oklahoma!". After Abbott collaborated with Jerome Robbins in "On the Town" and other shows, Robbins combined the roles of director and choreographer, emphasizing the story-telling power of dance in "West Side Story", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1962) and "Fiddler on the Roof" (1964). Bob Fosse choreographed for Abbott in "The Pajama Game" (1956) and "Damn Yankees" (1957), injecting playful sexuality into those hits. He was later the director-choreographer for "Sweet Charity" (1968), "Pippin" (1972) and "Chicago" (1975). Other notable director-choreographers have included Gower Champion, Tommy Tune, Michael Bennett, Gillian Lynne and Susan Stroman. Prominent directors have included Hal Prince, who also got his start with Abbott, and Trevor Nunn.


title: Musical theatre

text: During the Golden Age, automotive companies and other large corporations began to hire Broadway talent to write corporate musicals, private shows only seen by their employees or customers. The 1950s ended with Rodgers and Hammerstein's last hit, "The Sound of Music", which also became another hit for Mary Martin. It ran for 1,443 performances and shared the Tony Award for Best Musical. Together with its extremely successful 1965 film version, it has become one of the most popular musicals in history.


title: Musical theatre

text: In 1960, "The Fantasticks" was first produced off-Broadway. This intimate allegorical show would quietly run for over 40 years at the Sullivan Street Theatre in Greenwich Village, becoming by far the longest-running musical in history. Its authors produced other innovative works in the 1960s, such as "Celebration" and "I Do! I Do!", the first two-character Broadway musical. The 1960s would see a number of blockbusters, like "Fiddler on the Roof" (1964; 3,242 performances), "Hello, Dolly!" (1964; 2,844 performances), "Funny Girl" (1964; 1,348 performances) and "Man of La Mancha" (1965; 2,328 performances), and some more risqué pieces like "Cabaret", before ending with the emergence of the rock musical. Two men had considerable impact on musical theatre history beginning in this decade: Stephen Sondheim and Jerry Herman.


title: Musical theatre

text: The first project for which Sondheim wrote both music and lyrics was "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1962, 964 performances), with a book based on the works of Plautus by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, starring Zero Mostel. Sondheim moved the musical beyond its concentration on the romantic plots typical of earlier eras; his work tended to be darker, exploring the grittier sides of life both present and past. Other early Sondheim works include "Anyone Can Whistle" (1964, which ran only nine performances, despite having stars Lee Remick and Angela Lansbury), and the successful "Company" (1970), "Follies" (1971) and "A Little Night Music" (1973). Later, Sondheim found inspiration in unlikely sources: the opening of Japan to Western trade for "Pacific Overtures" (1976), a legendary murderous barber seeking revenge in the Industrial Age of London for "Sweeney Todd" (1979), the paintings of Georges Seurat for "Sunday in the Park with George" (1984), fairy tales for "Into the Woods" (1987), and a collection of presidential assassins in "Assassins" (1990).


title: Musical theatre

text: While some critics have argued that some of Sondheim's musicals lack commercial appeal, others have praised their lyrical sophistication and musical complexity, as well as the interplay of lyrics and music in his shows. Some of Sondheim's notable innovations include a show presented in reverse ("Merrily We Roll Along") and the above-mentioned "Anyone Can Whistle", in which the first act ends with the cast informing the audience that they are mad.


title: Musical theatre

text: Jerry Herman played a significant role in American musical theatre, beginning with his first Broadway production, "Milk and Honey" (1961, 563 performances), about the founding of the state of Israel, and continuing with the blockbuster hits "Hello, Dolly!" (1964, 2,844 performances), "Mame" (1966, 1,508 performances), and "La Cage aux Folles" (1983, 1,761 performances). Even his less successful shows like "Dear World" (1969) and "Mack and Mabel" (1974) have had memorable scores ("Mack and Mabel" was later reworked into a London hit). Writing both words and music, many of Herman's show tunes have become popular standards, including "Hello, Dolly!", "We Need a Little Christmas", "I Am What I Am", "Mame", "The Best of Times", "Before the Parade Passes By", "Put On Your Sunday Clothes", "It Only Takes a Moment", "Bosom Buddies" and "I Won't Send Roses", recorded by such artists as Louis Armstrong, Eydie Gormé, Barbra Streisand, Petula Clark and Bernadette Peters. Herman's songbook has been the subject of two popular musical revues, "Jerry's Girls" (Broadway, 1985) and "Showtune" (off-Broadway, 2003).


title: Musical theatre

text: The musical started to diverge from the relatively narrow confines of the 1950s. Rock music would be used in several Broadway musicals, beginning with "Hair", which featured not only rock music but also nudity and controversial opinions about the Vietnam War, race relations and other social issues.


title: Musical theatre

text: After "Show Boat" and "Porgy and Bess", and as the struggle in America and elsewhere for minorities' civil rights progressed, Hammerstein, Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg and others were emboldened to write more musicals and operas that aimed to normalize societal toleration of minorities and urged racial harmony. Early Golden Age works that focused on racial tolerance included "Finian's Rainbow" and "South Pacific". Towards the end of the Golden Age, several shows tackled Jewish subjects and issues, such as "Fiddler on the Roof", "Milk and Honey", "Blitz!" and later "Rags". The original concept that became "West Side Story" was set in the Lower East Side during Easter-Passover celebrations; the rival gangs were to be Jewish and Italian Catholic. The creative team later decided that the Polish (white) vs. Puerto Rican conflict was fresher.


title: Musical theatre

text: Tolerance as an important theme in musicals has continued in recent decades. The final expression of "West Side Story" left a message of racial tolerance. By the end of the 1960s, musicals became racially integrated, with black and white cast members even covering each other's roles, as they did in "Hair". Homosexuality has also been explored in musicals, starting with "Hair", and even more overtly in "La Cage aux Folles", "Falsettos", "Rent", "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and other shows in recent decades. "Parade" is a sensitive exploration of both anti-Semitism and historical American racism, and "Ragtime" similarly explores the experience of immigrants and minorities in America.


title: Musical theatre

text: After the success of "Hair", rock musicals flourished in the 1970s, with "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Godspell", "The Rocky Horror Show", "Evita" and "Two Gentlemen of Verona". Some of those began as "concept albums" which were then adapted to the stage, most notably "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Evita". Others had no dialogue or were otherwise reminiscent of opera, with dramatic, emotional themes; these sometimes started as concept albums and were referred to as rock operas. Shows like "Raisin", "Dreamgirls", "Purlie" and "The Wiz" brought a significant African-American influence to Broadway. More varied musical genres and styles were incorporated into musicals both on and especially off-Broadway. At the same time, Stephen Sondheim found success with some of his musicals, as mentioned above.


title: Musical theatre

text: In 1975, the dance musical "A Chorus Line" emerged from recorded group therapy-style sessions Michael Bennett conducted with "gypsies" – those who sing and dance in support of the leading players – from the Broadway community. From hundreds of hours of tapes, James Kirkwood Jr. and Nick Dante fashioned a book about an audition for a musical, incorporating many real-life stories from the sessions; some who attended the sessions eventually played variations of themselves or each other in the show. With music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, "A Chorus Line" first opened at Joseph Papp's Public Theater in lower Manhattan. What initially had been planned as a limited engagement eventually moved to the Shubert Theatre on Broadway for a run of 6,137 performances, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history up to that time. The show swept the Tony Awards and won the Pulitzer Prize, and its hit song, "What I Did for Love", became a standard.


title: Musical theatre

text: Broadway audiences welcomed musicals that varied from the golden age style and substance. John Kander and Fred Ebb explored the rise of Nazism in Germany in "Cabaret", and murder and the media in Prohibition-era "Chicago", which relied on old vaudeville techniques. "Pippin", by Stephen Schwartz, was set in the days of Charlemagne. Federico Fellini's autobiographical film "8½" became Maury Yeston's "Nine". At the end of the decade, "Evita" and "Sweeney Todd" were precursors of the darker, big budget musicals of the 1980s that depended on dramatic stories, sweeping scores and spectacular effects. At the same time, old-fashioned values were still embraced in such hits as "Annie", "42nd Street", "My One and Only", and popular revivals of "No, No, Nanette" and "Irene". Although many film versions of musicals were made in the 1970s, few were critical or box office successes, with the notable exceptions of "Fiddler on the Roof", "Cabaret" and "Grease".


title: Musical theatre

text: The 1980s saw the influence of European "megamusicals" on Broadway, in the West End and elsewhere. These typically feature a pop-influenced score, large casts and spectacular sets and special effects – a falling chandelier (in "The Phantom of the Opera"); a helicopter landing on stage (in "Miss Saigon") – and big budgets. Some were based on novels or other works of literature. The British team of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and producer Cameron Mackintosh started the megamusical phenomenon with their 1981 musical "Cats", based on the poems of T. S. Eliot, which overtook "A Chorus Line" to become the longest-running Broadway show. Lloyd Webber followed up with "Starlight Express" (1984), performed on roller skates; "The Phantom of the Opera" (1986; also with Mackintosh), derived from the novel of the same name; and "Sunset Boulevard" (1993), from the 1950 film of the same name. "Phantom" would surpass "Cats" to become the longest-running show in Broadway history, a record it still holds. The French team of Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil wrote "Les Misérables", based on the novel of the same name, whose 1985 London production was produced by Mackintosh and became, and still is, the longest-running musical in West End and Broadway history. The team produced another hit with "Miss Saigon" (1989), which was inspired by the Puccini opera "Madama Butterfly".


title: Musical theatre

text: The megamusicals' huge budgets redefined expectations for financial success on Broadway and in the West End. In earlier years, it was possible for a show to be considered a hit after a run of several hundred performances, but with multimillion-dollar production costs, a show must run for years simply to turn a profit. Megamusicals were also reproduced in productions around the world, multiplying their profit potential while expanding the global audience for musical theatre.


title: Musical theatre

text: In the 1990s, a new generation of theatrical composers emerged, including Jason Robert Brown and Michael John LaChiusa, who began with productions off-Broadway. The most conspicuous success of these artists was Jonathan Larson's show "Rent" (1996), a rock musical (based on the opera "La bohème") about a struggling community of artists in Manhattan. While the cost of tickets to Broadway and West End musicals was escalating beyond the budget of many theatregoers, "Rent" was marketed to increase the popularity of musicals among a younger audience. It featured a young cast and a heavily rock-influenced score; the musical became a hit. Its young fans, many of them students, calling themselves RENTheads], camped out at the Nederlander Theatre in hopes of winning the lottery for $20 front row tickets, and some saw the show dozens of times. Other shows on Broadway followed "Rent"'s lead by offering heavily discounted day-of-performance or standing-room tickets, although often the discounts are offered only to students.


title: Musical theatre

text: The 1990s also saw the influence of large corporations on the production of musicals. The most important has been Disney Theatrical Productions, which began adapting some of Disney's animated film musicals for the stage, starting with "Beauty and the Beast" (1994), "The Lion King" (1997) and "Aida" (2000), the latter two with music by Elton John. "The Lion King" is the highest-grossing musical in Broadway history. "The Who's Tommy" (1993), a theatrical adaptation of the rock opera "Tommy", achieved a healthy run of 899 performances but was criticized for sanitizing the story and "musical theatre-izing" the rock music.


title: Musical theatre

text: Despite the growing number of large-scale musicals in the 1980s and 1990s, a number of lower-budget, smaller-scale musicals managed to find critical and financial success, such as "Falsettoland" and "Little Shop of Horrors", "" and "Blood Brothers". The topics of these pieces vary widely, and the music ranges from rock to pop, but they often are produced off-Broadway, or for smaller London theatres, and some of these stagings have been regarded as imaginative and innovative.


title: Musical theatre

text: In the new century, familiarity has been embraced by producers and investors anxious to guarantee that they recoup their considerable investments. Some took (usually modest-budget) chances on new and creative material, such as "Urinetown" (2001), "Avenue Q" (2003), "The Light in the Piazza" (2005), "Spring Awakening" (2006), "In the Heights" (2008), "Next to Normal" (2009), "American Idiot" (2010) and "The Book of Mormon" (2011). "Hamilton" (2015), transformed "under-dramatized American history" into an unusual hip-hop inflected hit. In 2011, Sondheim argued that of all forms of "contemporary pop music", rap was "the closest to traditional musical theatre" and was "one pathway to the future."


title: Musical theatre

text: However, most major-market 21st-century productions have taken a safe route, with revivals of familiar fare, such as "Fiddler on the Roof", "A Chorus Line", "South Pacific", "Gypsy", "Hair", "West Side Story" and "Grease", or with adaptations of other proven material, such as literature ("The Scarlet Pimpernel", "Wicked" and "Fun Home"), hoping that the shows would have a built-in audience as a result. This trend is especially persistent with film adaptations, including ("The Producers", "Spamalot", "Hairspray", "Legally Blonde", "The Color Purple", "Xanadu", "Billy Elliot", "Shrek", "Waitress" and "Groundhog Day"). Some critics have argued that the reuse of film plots, especially those from Disney (such as "Mary Poppins" and "The Little Mermaid"), equate the Broadway and West End musical to a tourist attraction, rather than a creative outlet.


title: Musical theatre

text: Today, it is less likely that a sole producer, such as David Merrick or Cameron Mackintosh, backs a production. Corporate sponsors dominate Broadway, and often alliances are formed to stage musicals, which require an investment of $10 million or more. In 2002, the credits for "Thoroughly Modern Millie" listed ten producers, and among those names were entities composed of several individuals. Typically, off-Broadway and regional theatres tend to produce smaller and therefore less expensive musicals, and development of new musicals has increasingly taken place outside of New York and London or in smaller venues. For example, "Spring Awakening", "Fun Home" and "Hamilton" were developed off-Broadway before being launched on Broadway.


title: Musical theatre

text: Several musicals returned to the spectacle format that was so successful in the 1980s, recalling extravaganzas that have been presented at times, throughout theatre history, since the ancient Romans staged mock sea battles. Examples include the musical adaptations of "Lord of the Rings" (2007), "Gone with the Wind" (2008) and "" (2011). These musicals involved songwriters with little theatrical experience, and the expensive productions generally lost money. Conversely, "The Drowsy Chaperone", "Avenue Q", "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee", "Xanadu" and "Fun Home", among others, have been presented in smaller-scale productions, mostly uninterrupted by an intermission, with short running times, and enjoyed financial success. In 2013, "Time" magazine reported that a trend off-Broadway has been "immersive" theatre, citing shows such as "Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812" (2012) and "Here Lies Love" (2013) in which the staging takes place around and within the audience. The shows set a joint record, each receiving 11 nominations for Lucille Lortel Awards, and feature contemporary scores.


title: Musical theatre

text: In 2013, Cyndi Lauper was the "first female composer to win the [Tony for] Best Score without a male collaborator" for writing the music and lyrics for "Kinky Boots". In 2015, for the first time, an all-female writing team, Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, won the Tony Award for Best Original Score (and Best Book for Kron) for "Fun Home", although work by male songwriters continues to be produced more often.


title: Musical theatre

text: Another trend has been to create a minimal plot to fit a collection of songs that have already been hits. Following the earlier success of "Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story", these have included "Movin' Out" (2002, based on the tunes of Billy Joel), "Jersey Boys" (2006, The Four Seasons), "Rock of Ages" (2009, featuring classic rock of the 1980s) and many others. This style is often referred to as the "jukebox musical". Similar but more plot-driven musicals have been built around the canon of a particular pop group including "Mamma Mia!" (1999, based on the songs of ABBA), "Our House" (2002, based on the songs of Madness) and "We Will Rock You" (2002, based on the songs of Queen).


title: Musical theatre

text: Live-action film musicals were nearly dead in the 1980s and early 1990s, with exceptions of "Victor/Victoria", "Little Shop of Horrors" and the 1996 film of "Evita". In the new century, Baz Luhrmann began a revival of the film musical with "Moulin Rouge!" (2001). This was followed by "Chicago" (2002); "Phantom of the Opera" (2004); "Rent" (2005); "Dreamgirls" (2006); "Hairspray", "Enchanted" and "" (all in 2007); "Mamma Mia!" (2008); "Nine" (2009); "Les Misérables" and "Pitch Perfect" (both in 2012), "Into The Woods", "The Last Five Years" (2014), "La La Land" (2016), "The Greatest Showman" (2017), "A Star Is Born" and "Mary Poppins Returns" (both 2018), "Rocketman" (2019) and "In the Heights" and Steven Spielberg's version of "West Side Story" (both in 2021), among others. Dr. Seuss's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" (2000) and "The Cat in the Hat" (2003), turned children's books into live-action film musicals. After the immense success of Disney and other houses with animated film musicals beginning with "The Little Mermaid" in 1989 and running throughout the 1990s (including some more adult-themed films, like "" (1999)), fewer animated film musicals were released in the first decade of the 21st century. The genre made a comeback beginning in 2010 with "Tangled" (2010), "Rio" (2011) and "Frozen" (2013). In Asia, India continues to produce numerous "Bollywood" film musicals, and Japan produces "Anime" and "Manga" film musicals.


title: Musical theatre

text: Made for TV musical films were popular in the 1990s, such as "Gypsy" (1993), "Cinderella" (1997) and "Annie" (1999). Several made for TV musicals in the first decade of the 21st century were adaptations of the stage version, such as "South Pacific" (2001), "The Music Man" (2003) and "Once Upon a Mattress" (2005), and a televised version of the stage musical "Legally Blonde" in 2007. Additionally, several musicals were filmed on stage and broadcast on Public Television, for example "Contact" in 2002 and "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Oklahoma!" in 2003. The made-for-TV musical "High School Musical" (2006), and its several sequels, enjoyed particular success and were adapted for stage musicals and other media.


title: Musical theatre

text: In 2013, NBC began a series of live television broadcasts of musicals with "The Sound of Music Live!" Although the production received mixed reviews, it was a ratings success. Further broadcasts have included "Peter Pan Live!" (NBC 2014), "The Wiz Live!" (NBC 2015), a UK broadcast, "The Sound of Music Live" (ITV 2015) "" (Fox 2016), "Hairspray Live!" (NBC, 2016), "A Christmas Story Live!" (Fox, 2017), and "" (Fox 2019).


title: Musical theatre

text: Some television shows have set episodes as a musical. Examples include episodes of "Ally McBeal", "" ("The Bitter Suite" and "Lyre, Lyre, Heart's On Fire"), "Psych" (""), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ("Once More, with Feeling"), "That's So Raven", "Daria", "Dexter's Laboratory", "The Powerpuff Girls", "The Flash", "Once Upon a Time", "Oz", "Scrubs" (one episode was written by the creators of "Avenue Q"), "" () and "That '70s Show" (the 100th episode, "That '70s Musical"). Others have included scenes where characters suddenly begin singing and dancing in a musical-theatre style during an episode, such as in several episodes of "The Simpsons", "30 Rock", "Hannah Montana", "South Park", "Bob's Burgers" and "Family Guy". Television series that have extensively used the musical format have included "Cop Rock", "Flight of the Conchords", "Glee", "Smash" and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend".


title: Musical theatre

text: There have also been musicals made for the internet, including "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," about a low-rent super-villain played by Neil Patrick Harris. It was written during the WGA writer's strike. Since 2006, reality TV shows have been used to help market musical revivals by holding a talent competition to cast (usually female) leads. Examples of these are "How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?", "," "Any Dream Will Do," "," "I'd Do Anything" and "Over the Rainbow." In 2021, "Schmigadoon!" was a parody of, and homage to, Golden Age musicals of the 1940s and 1950s.


title: Musical theatre

text: The COVID-19 pandemic caused the closure of theatres and theatre festivals around the world in early 2020, including all Broadway and West End theatres. Many performing arts institutions attempted to adapt, or reduce their losses, by offering new (or expanded) digital services. In particular this resulted in the online streaming of previously recorded performances of many companies, as well as bespoke crowdsourcing projects. For example, The Sydney Theatre Company commissioned actors to film themselves at home discussing, then performing, a monologue from one of the characters they had previously played on stage. The casts of musicals, such as "Hamilton" and "Mamma Mia!" united on Zoom calls to entertain individuals and the public. Some performances were streamed live, or presented outdoors or in other "socially distanced" ways, sometimes allowing audience members to interact with the cast. Radio theatre festivals were broadcast. Virtual, and even crowd-sourced musicals were created, such as "Ratatouille the Musical". Filmed versions of major musicals, like "Hamilton", were released on streaming platforms. Andrew Lloyd Webber released recordings of his musicals on YouTube.


title: Musical theatre

text: Due to the closures and loss of ticket sales, many theatre companies were placed in financial peril. Some governments offered emergency aid to the arts. Some musical theatre markets began to reopen in fits and starts by early 2021, with West End theatres postponing their reopening from June to July, and Broadway starting in September. Throughout 2021, however, spikes in the pandemic have caused some closures even after markets reopened.


title: Musical theatre

text: The U.S. and Britain were the most active sources of book musicals from the 19th century through much of the 20th century (although Europe produced various forms of popular light opera and operetta, for example Spanish Zarzuela, during that period and even earlier). However, the light musical stage in other countries has become more active in recent decades.


title: Musical theatre

text: Musicals from other English-speaking countries (notably Australia and Canada) often do well locally and occasionally even reach Broadway or the West End (e.g., "The Boy from Oz" and "The Drowsy Chaperone"). South Africa has an active musical theatre scene, with revues like "African Footprint" and "Umoja" and book musicals, such as "Kat and the Kings" and "Sarafina!" touring internationally. Locally, musicals like "Vere", "Love and Green Onions", "Over the Rainbow: the all-new all-gay... extravaganza" and "Bangbroek Mountain" and "In Briefs – a queer little Musical" have been produced successfully.