The Oldest Broadway Show Ever

[esparza 333]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 2:17pm

does anyone know was show was the first broadway show ever.

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 5:58pm

The Beggar's Opera in 1750. I don't know if it was technically Broadway yet, but it was in New York at least.

[outdamnwench]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 6:34pm

PBS did a bid eight-and-a-half million episode special on the complete history of Broadway and it's on DVD. You should check it out if you're interested in that kind of stuff.

I found it a little slow in the beginning, but it's certainly informative.

[TomMonster]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 6:41pm

Great documentary, you should see it!

Broadway didn't just "start". It evolved from light opera, music hall revues and vaudeville, etc.

SHOWBOAT is by some considered the first as far as the music also telling the story. Then OKLAHOMA really brought it into the modern form. Of course, this is all debatable.

It's still evolving...

Updated On: 1/19/08 at 06:41 PM

[A Director]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:54am

Long ago, in a land far far away, there was a theatrical event called a PLAY. It could be a comedy or a drama and sometimes a bit of both. In this play there were actors who did not use mics because no one sang. Season after season, many plays were presented on Broadway. But, that was many years ago.

I realize this Message Board is a hang out from musical comedy fans, mavens and queens, but if you are going to be thought of as a knowledgeable theatre person, you must read and see theatrical events in which NO ONE SINGS!

If ALL the musicals ever written were burned, there STILL WOULD BE THEATRE!

From the beginning, theatres in New York City were built near the street called Broadway. The first theatre district in the city was around Union Square.

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 4:41am

Updated On: 5/8/09 at 04:41 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 10:30am

"The Beggar's Opera" was the first "show" to run in New York, at the Nassau Street Theatre (The New Theatre), in 1750.

"The Black Crook" is considered first in the "musical theatre" genre. And it ran in NY, in 1866.

But as TomMonster says, it didn't just "start." It evolved from other formats.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:27pm

best12bars is correct. The first real "musical" was 'THE BLACK CROOK" which originated because of a curious coincidence. A ballet company and a theatrical company were both stranded in New York when their impresarios "took French leave" with the box office funds. The company members decided to work together and voila!

Well, that's the legend. I suppose the story is either far simpler or far more complex, but that's the legend.

Another very early musical was "A TRIP TO CHINATOWN" which ran for ages in New York, providing the color and pageantry of a local many had never ventured into.

Anyone interested in the history of Broadway should venture to their local library, where the books by Martin Gottfried and Stanley Greene are required reading.

UPDATE:

Here's a link to the exact origin of the Black Crook:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0793577500/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-9284216-3603654#reader-link

choose "excerpt"

Updated On: 1/20/08 at 12:27 PM