"Written in conjunction with a two-semester course taught with Estelle Spector at Columbia College Chicago ..."--P. [v]

Overture : Beginning the the middle, 1943 -- Oklahoma! -- pt. 1. Ancestors and antecedents, 1791-1900 -- Opera and French and Viennese operetta -- The minstrel show, variety/vaudeville, and The Black Crook -- Gilbert and Sullivan -- American burlesque and the 1890s -- pt. 2. Early American musical comedies, operettas, and revues, 1901-1924 -- George M. Cohan, Victor Herbert, and Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. -- From Babes in Toyland to "Alexander's Ragtime Band" -- From The Firefly to Yip-yip-yaphank -- From The Scandals of 1919 to the Cotton Club -- From Lady, Be Good! to Rose-Marie -- pt. 3. The golden age of the Broadway song, 1925-1939 -- From The Garrick Gaieties to Strike Up the Band -- Show Boat -- From The New Moon to The Little Show -- The Gershwins and Irving Berlin in the 1930s -- Kern, Rodgers and Hart, and Cole Porter in the 1930s -- The rise of big bands and swing -- pt. 4. The transitional years, 1940-1945 -- From Pal Joey to Lady in the Dark -- From This Is the Army to Carousel -- pt. 5. The golden age of the Broadway musical, 1946-1964 -- From Annie Get Your Gun to Brigadoon -- From Kiss Me, Kate to South Pacific -- From Guys and Dolls to Peter Pan -- From Damn Yankees to My Fair Lady -- From West Side Story to The Sound of Music -- From Bye Bye Birdie to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum -- From She Loves Me to Fiddler on the Roof -- pt. 6. Fade out--fade in, 1965-1969 -- From Kelly to Cabaret -- From Hair to 1776 -- pt. 7. The splintering of the form, 1970-2007 -- From Company to Jesus Christ Superstar -- From Grease to A Chorus Line -- From Pacific Overtures to Evita -- From 42nd Street to Cats -- From La Cage aux Folles to City of Angels -- From Assassins to Ragtime -- Exit music