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The Beggar's Opera Essay

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The Beggars Opera by John Gay was written in 1728 as a response to the political state in London. Gay moved to London with no expectation of writing a satirical musical. Coming from no money, no title, and no useful contacts he tried to find his own destiny. He took a job as an apprentice to a silk merchant in an attempt to build his status. After realizing that he did not want to pursue a career in silk, he moved on to working in a theater. He was then offered a jobs working for different nobilities in London, gaining substantial connections with various members of the arts community. Through his time with the upper crust of London, he noticed a flaw in society. His view on the upper class along with his connections, his love for music, and his ability to write poetry led to the writing of The Beggar’s Opera. By definition a musical has five essential elements: music and lyrics, a book/libretto, choreography, staging, and a physical production. If this is the true standard of a musical, then I believe The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay is the first musical. First, various composers wrote the music for The Beggar’s Opera because it was really just a collection of songs that have been previously written with new lyrics. The show contains sixty-nine songs, of those songs forty-one of them …show more content…

The Beggar’s Opera broke many boundaries during its time including running for sixty-two performances. This was a huge step for musical theater. Not only was the show a huge success but also the show caused many spin offs such as, The Threepenny Opera. Not only was The Beggar’s Opera the first show written to satisfy all the categories of creating a musical, but it exceeded it’s requirements and went on to change theater all

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