ABSTRACT
Over the preceding centuries, many musical stage works had contained political undertones. The British government had come under fire in The Beggar's Opera, while one of Mozart's operas was based on a play that had been banned in many countries for its inflammatory views. Even the lighthearted Gilbert and Sullivan operettas often lampooned British politics. Nevertheless, musical comedies and operettas in the early twentieth century had avoided controversial topics. As the century progressed, however, composers and lyricists began to address more serious social issues—sometimes with disastrous results for the success of their endeavors. In 1949, Kurt Weill persuaded the Playwrights' Company to support Lost in the Stars, a "musical tragedy" about apartheid in South Africa and the sorrow of a father whose son is to be executed for a crime. The Federal Theatre Project productions were one outlet, while the Theatre Guild had sponsored some of America's most influential playwrights.
