Broadway Theatre Research Paper

Broadway Musicals

Through out the years Broadway has produced many wonderful musicals. Many of these musicals are based on comedy, or carry a highly comical tone. However, Broadway is probably most well-known for its more thought evoking, solemn musicals. Topics for these musicals rang anywhere from the obscurity of cats dancing in a junk yard, to the barricades of nineteenth century France. Here are some of the most influential and best known musicals: Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Misérables.

Cats it's a musical solely based off of the works of T.S. Eliot. It takes place in a rubbish pile somewhere, in some unknown city. The peculiar thing about this rubbish pile is that it becomes alive with cats shortly after dark. Each cat has its own name, its own story and own personalty which is displayed throughout the play. Later the philosophy of the cats is told, and it is reveled that there is some unknown deity in the sky who once a year grants an extra life to a chosen cat.

The main character is Jean Valjean, a man who has been imprisoned for the last nineteen years. Once he is released he meets a priest, who openly welcomes him into his home, giving him bread, wine, and a warm place to sleep. Valjean, reverting to his criminal root wakes in the middle of the night, and steals silver from the priest and runs away into the night. After being captured by the police and taken back to the priest to face judgement, the priest allows him to take the silver and go free. Being convicted by the kindness of the priest Valjean seeks foreignness God and converts to Christianity. Throughout the rest of his Valjean becomes the mayor of a town, and he even raises a child all while running from the law. It is a very long musical, with a very complex and deep plot that stays with the hearts of