TIMELINE

As theater styles and personalities from around the world and the country come to New York, the theater district is born -- and so is the American musical.

Broadway enters its most prodigious period; songwriters create a new musical mythology of Broadway and send it across the country.

During the Great Depression, Broadway distracts audiences with escapism, while also offering political commentary and social engagement.

Rodgers and Hammerstein pioneer a new form of narrative storytelling that brings a new age of musical classics.

Broadway confronts the seismic changes in American culture by reinventing its own tradition.

Broadway becomes a truly global phenomenon as new innovations respond to economic challenges.