Musical

The art of singing and dancing in a prepared fictional play has been a time-honored tradition ranging to the early days of civilization. In modern times, these song-filled plays are known as musicals. There are two major kinds of musicals:

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• Musical theater: A live theatrical show on stage, where the actors themselves perform for the audience.
• Musical film: A movie containing musical numbers. Some musical films exist primarily as showcases for the songs, while others use the musical interludes to advance the movie's plot. In Western countries the popularity of such films waned towards the end of the 20th century, as a result of which the Academy Awards no longer offer an award for the best musical film.

For other uses of the word, see Music.

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