The_Broadway_Musical_In_The_1940s

The Broadway Musical In The 1940s The 1940s was the decade that the musical changed from being, a play with music and dancing to a play that had a story about something, while still maintaining the vitality of the old musical. In this decade there were many hits. The following are some examples of them: Pal Joey, Lady in the Dark, On the Town, Annie Get Your Gun, Finian’s Rainbow, Brigadoon, Kiss Me, Kate, and South Pacific. These plays were all about something real and they all were great successes in their own ways. “Pal Joey was a pure musical comedy peopled with the high and low life of Chicago’s North Side.” (Better Foot Forward Mordden 184) Pal Joey (1940) was not known for its incredible story but for its characters’ personalities. Its characters were real people not the usual characters that you find in musicals. The leading man Joey was a smalltime performer at a nightclub and the leading lady Vera was an older seductress who picked him up. The play was written by John O’Hara with help from George Abbot and Robert Alton. The story opens up with letters written from pal Joey to play, show, musical, about, one, joey, two, plays, because, story, love, life, written, south, real, rainbow, pacific, new, man, made, kate, great, created, shows, pal, music, men, lady, kiss, john, hit, good, finnians, decade, beautiful