Introduction : setting the stage
Act I : Before Rodgers and Hammerstein. Show boat : in the beginning ; Anything goes : songs ten, book three ; Porgy and Bess : Broadway opera ; On your toes and Pal Joey : dance gets into the act and "sweet water from a foul well" ; The cradle will rock : a labor musical for art's sake ; Lady in the dark and One touch of Venus : the Broadway stranger and his American dreams ; Stage versus screen (1) : before Rodgers and Hammerstein
Act II : the Broadway musical after Oklahoma!. Carousel: the invasion of the integrated musical ; Kiss me, Kate : the taming of Cole Porter ; Guys and dolls and The most happy fella : the greater Loesser ; My fair lady : from Pygmalion to Cinderella ; West side story : the very model of a major musical ; Stage versus screen (2) : after Oklahoma!
Epilogue : the age of Sondheim and Lloyd Webber. Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street and Sunday in the park with George : happily ever after West side story with Sondheim ; The Phantom of the opera : the reigning champion of Broadway.