Show tune

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

A show tune is a popular song originally written as part of the score of a "show" (or stage musical), especially if the piece in question has become a "standard", more or less detatched in most people's minds from the original context. Particular musicals that have yielded "show tunes" include the following (although the list is of course far from comprehensive):

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
Stephen Schwartz's Pippin, Godspell, and Wicked

Though show tunes vary in style, they do tend to share common characteristics — since they are frequently written for actors with limited vocal abilities they tend to be accessible in their "singability", and as they usually fit the context of a story being told in the original musical, they are useful in enhancing and heightening choice moments.

Until the late forties show tunes actually dominated popular music - most of the hits of such songwriters as Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin came from their shows.