What is a musical?

What is a musical?

A musical is a form of theater that incorporates the spoken word in addition to songs, music and dance, in varying degrees. You can have a musical that doesn't have dance for instance. You can have a musical that doesn't have spoken word. It's very closely related to the operatic tradition. Operas are always sung throughout and, at the same time, musicals can be sung through, like Les Miserables for instance. But usually, in general terms, it incorporates all of those elements.