The Representation of Minorities in American Musical Theater since the 1950s

This paper is a discussion about the representation of minorities, more precisely African Americans and Puerto Ricans, in American musical theatre since the 1950s. The discussion gives an introduction to representation of these groups in the American popular media, and then discusses and reviews five musicals which present different stages of inclusion of minorities on Broadway stage. Five musicals discussed are: Hello, Dolly! and its 1957 version with an all-black cast; Hamilton in which cast consisting of people of color portray white historical figures; West Side Story and In the Heights with their different portrayals of Puerto Rico immigrants; and Grease as an example of quintessentially American musical and its evolution in portraying minorities since its premiere in 1972. To discuss different portrayals of minorities in these musicals, this paper relies on scholarly papers, critics’ reviews of Broadway stage productions, reviews of the film version of the musicals, documentaries about the musicals, and other forms of popular media discussing topics relevant for this paper