"The Broadway musical has greatly influenced both American and world culture. Shows such as Oklahoma! and Annie Get Your Gun are as American as apple pie, while the long runs of imports such as Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables have broken records. Actors Ethel Merman, Yul Brynner, and Julie Andrews; composers and lyricists Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Andrew Lloyd Webber; and directors and choreographers George Abbott, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Tommy Tune, and Susan Stroman - to name only a few - have gained national and international recognition by way of the Broadway musical." "Since the late 19th century, the genre has remained one of the most popular in entertainment, and its history is related in detail in this Historical Dictionary of the Broadway Musical. Through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and nearly 1,000 dictionary entries on Broadway shows, playwrights, directors, producers, designers, and actors, this reference provides a wealth of information."--Jacket.