The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical provides a comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre offering both a historical account of the musical's development from 1728 and a range of in-depth critical analyses of the unique forms and features of British musicals, which explore the aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings of a tradition that initially gave rise to the American musical and later challenged its modern pre-eminence.After a consideration of how John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) created a prototype for eighteenth-century ballad opera, the book focuses on the use of song in early nineteenth century theatre, followed by a sociocultural analysis of the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan; it then examines Edwardian and interwar musical comedies and revues as well as the impact of Rodgers and Hammerstein on the West End, before analysing the new forms of the postwar British musical from The Boy Friend (1953) to Oliver! (1960). One section of the book examines the contributions of key twentieth century figures including Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Joan Littlewood and producer Cameron Macintosh, while a number of essays discuss both mainstream and alternative musicals of the 1960s and 1970s and the influence of the pop industry on the creation of concept recordings such as Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) and Les Mis?rables (1980). There is a consideration of "jukebox" musicals such as Mamma Mia! (1999), while essays on overtly political shows such as Billy Elliot (2005) are complemented by those on experimental musicals like Jerry Springer: the Opera (2003) and London Road (2011) and on the burgeoning of Black and Asian British musicals in both the West End and subsidized venues.The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical demonstrates not only the unique qualities of British musical theatre but also the vitality and variety of British musicals today.

IntroductionI. Britannia Rules: the Early British Musical and SocietyChapter 1. Ballad Opera: Commercial Song in Enlightenment GarbBerta JoncusChapter 2. Between Opera and Musical: Theatre Music in Early Nineteenth-Century LondonChristina FuhrmannChapter 3. Comic Opera: English Society in Gilbert and SullivanCarolyn WilliamsChapter 4. English Musical Comedy, 1890-1924Stephen BanfieldChapter 5. English West End Revue: World War I and afterDavid LintonII. British or American: Artistic DifferencesChapter 6. Musical Comedy in the 1920s and 1930s: Mr. Cinders and Me and My Girl as ClassConscious CarnivalGeorge BurrowsChapter 7. West End Royalty: Ivor Novello and English Operetta, 1917-1951Stewart NichollsChapter 8. The American Invasion: the Impact of Oklahoma! and Annie Get Your GunDominic SymondsChapter 9. "Ordinary People" and British Musicals of the Post-War DecadeJohn SnelsonIII. New Approaches to Form and Subject MatterChapter 10. After Anger: the British Musical of the late 1950sElizabeth WellsChapter 11. "I'm Common and I Like 'Em": Representations of Class in the Period Musical afterOliver!Ben FrancisChapter 12. Towards a British Concept Musical: the Shows of Anthony Newley and Leslie BricusseDavid CottisChapter 13. The Pop Music Industry and the British musicalIan SapiroIV. "The British Are Coming!"Chapter 14. "Everybody's Free to Fail": Subsidized British Revivals of the American CanonSarah BrowneChapter 15. Les Mis?rables: from Epic Novel to Epic MusicalKathryn M. Grossman and Bradley StephensChapter 16. "Humming the Sets": Scenography and the Spectacular Musical from Cats to The Lordof the RingsChristine WhiteChapter 17. Billy Elliot and Its Lineage: the Politics of Class and Sexual Identity in British Musicalssince 1953Robert GordonV. TrailblazersChapter 18. Noel Coward: Sui GenerisDominic McHughChapter 19. Joan Littlewood: Collaboration and VisionBen MacphersonChapter 20. Lionel Bart: British Vernacular Musical TheatreMillie TaylorChapter 21. Tim Rice: the Pop Star ScenarioOlaf JubinChapter 22. Cameron Mackintosh: Control, Collaboration and the Creative ProducerMiranda Lunskaer-NielsenChapter 23. Andrew Lloyd Webber: Haunted by the PhantomDavid ChandlerVI. "The Art of the Possible": Alternative Approaches Musical Theatre AestheticsChapter 24. The Beggar's Legacy: Playing with Music and Drama, 1920-2003Bob Lawson-PeeblesChapter 25. Mamma Mia! and the Aesthetics of the 21st Century Jukebox MusicalGeorge RodosthenousChapter 26. Attracting the Family Market: Shows with Cross-generations AppealRebecca WarnerChapter 27. Genre Counterpoints: Challenges to the Mainstream MusicalDavid RoesnerChapter 28. Some Yesterdays Always Remain: Black British and Anglo-Asian Musical TheatreBen Macpherson