Abackstage musical is a genre ofmusical with a plot set in a theatrical context that revolves around the production of a play or musicalrevue. The film's narrative trajectory often comes to a halt one or more times to allow a performance. The songs performed in this context are considereddiegetic numbers in that they occur literally in the plot, though they do not necessarily move the story forward.
The backstage musical was typified in the early films by director and choreographerBusby Berkeley, including42nd Street (1933),Footlight Parade (1933),Dames (1934) and theGold Diggers series (1933,1935 and1937),[1][2][3] with examples in later films includingBurlesque (2010) andAStar Is Born (2018).
Stage musicals that themselves have elements of backstage musicals includeShow Boat (1927),Kiss Me, Kate (1948),The Band Wagon (1953),Gypsy (1959),Cabaret (1966),Follies (1971),A Chorus Line (1975),The Phantom of the Opera (1986), andCurtains.[4]
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