Mar 18, 2026
Rodgers & Hammerstein ushered in a new style with Oklahoma! in 1943, and soon, the old styles died away, putting up various degrees of resistance as they did so. Irving Berlin and Cole Porter both adopted a more R&H approach with their late 40s musicals, but it wasn't only existing masters who were influenced by the new approach. 1950 brought Guys & Dolls to Broadway, with Frank Loesser making his debut as a Broadway composer. Is it the best musical comedy ever written? It certainly belongs in the conversation, as we discuss in our episode on "Fugue for Tinhorns."
All clips are from a 1951's cast
recording of Guys & Dolls: A Musical Fable of
Broadway and are protected by the Fair Use guidelines of
Section 107 of the Copyright Act for criticism and commentary. All
rights reserved to the copyright owners.
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Recommended
Reading/Viewing:
Ethan Mordden, Anything Goes:
A History of American Musical Theater (Mordden's other volumes
are also excellent resources for more in-depth
discussion)
Broadway: The
American Musical