How long have musicals been performed?

How long have musicals been performed?

As early as the fifth century BC. The Greeks incorporated song and dance and music into their comedies and tragedies. So if you think about it that way, its been around that long. When we think of the musical today, people normally think that the start of the American musical theatre tradition started with Oklahoma and Rodgers and Hammerstein. That was really the first musical that where the songs actually told the story, in a way. It furthered the plot. Whereas before that, it had sort of been the story, the play interspersed with moments of music.