( also musical comedy ) n
an amusing play or film with songs and usually dancing. Musicals started to develop in the early 20th century, combining features of comic opera and the British music-hall tradition. The modern Broadway musical began with Show Boat , and others have included Oklahoma! , My Fair Lady , West Side Story , Hair and Sunset Boulevard . Most later became films. Musicals written originally as films include Singin’ in the Rain and Gigi (1958). US writers of musicals have included Irving Berlin , George and Ira Gershwin , Jerome Kern , Cole Porter , Richard Rodgers , Lorenz Hart , Oscar Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe . The best-known British composer of musicals is Andrew Lloyd Webber , whose work includes Jesus Christ Superstar and Cats .