So many musicals have co
me and gone since the inception of the art form. However, one question few ask is what the first musical actually was. Well, because I know you’re dying to know, I’ll save you the trouble of googling it and let you know that the show The Black Crook (1866), book by Charles M. Barras with music by George Bickwell and Giuseppe Operti and lyrics by Theodore Kennick, is considered the first musical. I know what you’re thinking: never heard of it. The Black Crook is a faustian tale about young artist Rodolphe who is unknowingly tricked into going on a suicide mission by the manipulative Black Crook, who tells him that Rodolphe can find riches he can use to win over his beloved Amina from the clutches of the evil Count Wolfenstein (Rogers 477). It is a classic example of a melodrama and it opened in New York in 1866.
Even more important than the plot though is the fact that it was a genuine musical. There was a combination of singing and acting, with the music being integrated into the plot and characters. There were even dance numbers. And while other similar forms such as the operetta had already exited, The Black Crook is the one that historians generally consider to be the first musical as we know it today. Not only that, but the show was a big success, going on to run for over a year, a historic run at the time. The success of The Black Crook helped lead to the creation of even more musicals like it. The Black Crook was a historic and influential benchmark in the creation and popularization of the the musical in America and all around the world.
The History of the American Musical 