Musicals often demonstrate the cultural aspects of the periods in which they were written

The American musical theatre is one of the few art forms truly native to this country. As such, it represents popular American thought and serves as a barometer of the various attitudes and feelings held throughout the twentieth century. An analysis of the scripts and scores of important works of musical theatre will help in understanding the nature of popular thought during different historical periods. Three musicals have been analyzed in this thesis: Of Thee I Sing, by George and Ira Gershwin, Oklahoma by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and Company by Stephen Sondheim. Each was chosen for two reasons: because it represents one of the most important works within a respective period, and because each period represented a particularly troubling time--the Great Depression, World War II, and the social turmoil of the late 1960's.