This chapter talks about the megamusical in the 1990′s. I think a good thesis for this chapter is the first sentence of the first paragraph, which is the following: “The 1990′s saw the premieres of megamusicals by those who had helped to create the form in the 1970′s and 1980′s, and also by a new generation of composers, lyricists, directors, and producers who had been influenced by the earlier megamusicals.”
This is a good thesis because it explains that this chapter is going to talk about specifc changes and innovations that occurred regarding the style of the musicals. While this chapter talks about specific musicals, it also generalizes when talking about Broadway in the 1990′s. For example, first Sternfeld talks about Miss Saigon. She argues that Miss Saigon has all the features of a megamusical. She also talks about composers such as Andrew Loyd Webber and Frank Wildhorn, who created these new megamusicals. Sternfeld ends with discussed how Disney and Ragtime came to Broadway. These new megamusicals had plots that were more realistic and there was more dialogue that in megamusicals in the past. There was also a new team of composers, lyricists, directors and producers. These are the ways in which musical theater advanced into the 21st century.
