Show tune

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This article is about a song written for musical theater. For the 2003 musical revue, see Showtune (musical).

A show tune is a song designed and written for a musical theater production, such as the songs from:

• Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, The Sound of Music
• Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, Gigi, Camelot
• Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Jerry Herman's Milk and Honey, Hello Dolly!, Mame, Dear World, Mack & Mabel, La Cage aux Folles
• Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd
• John Kander and Fred Ebb's Cabaret, Chicago
• Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera

Though show tunes vary in style, they do tend to share common characteristics — they tend to be accessible in their "singability," and they fit the context of the larger story being told in the musical, enhancing and heightening choice moments.

[edit] See also

• Musical theater
• The Jerry Herman musical revues Showtune, Jerry's Girls
• The Stephen Sondheim musical revues Side by Side by Sondheim, Putting It Together