Kislan explains all the basic principles, materials and techniques that go into the major elements of a musical production - the book, lyrics, score, dance and set design. He traces the musical's evolution through the colorful eras of minstrels, vaudeville, burlesque, revue, and comic opera up to the present day. He discusses the lives, techniques, and contributions of such great 20th-century composers and lyricists as Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Stephen Sondheim.