ABSTRACT
Audiences are not only entertained by operas and musicals; they also absorb cultural messages contained in the plots. Presented with powerful music, scenery, and special effects, staged musical genres sometimes mask terrible treatment of women as subjects. At the same time, not all staged works are sexist, and there are many moments of empowerment for women as composers, performers, subjects, and audience members. The focus of this chapter is to examine changing characterizations of women and men in opera from 1600–1900, and then to trace feminist themes in post-1950 musicals when new operatic production diminished. The chapter also acknowledges the place of women as audience members. Included in the discussion are operas by Handel, Puccini, and Saariaho, as well as musicals such as The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, and Wicked.
