‘The musical refers to films that involve the performance of a song and/or dance by the main characters and also include singing and/or dancing as an important element’ (Grant, 2012).

In 1986, Grant wrote an article ‘The Classical Hollywood Musical and the “Problem” of Rock n Roll.’ In this article he describes how the Classical Hollywood studios had been pumping out musicals until around the middle of the 50’s when musicals started flopping extravagantly. Why? Because rock ‘n’ roll was sweeping the American nation, and Hollywood refused to twist along. The Hollywood studios felt that ‘shocking’ rock ‘n’ roll music went against the grain on the musical genre, which was known as a genre that united conservative ideologies (patriarchy, heterosexuality, romance). The studios refused to use rock ‘n’ roll in their musicals, and as a result, the booming younger generation, did not go to see them. As Grant states ‘Hollywood needed to incorporate rock music into it’s films to attract the majority of it’s potential audience’ p. 198. Eventually musicals were made that featured a watered down version of rock ‘n’ roll. They tended to be a mix of new and traditional values. Even so, this was the first stepping stone in the music of a musical being subverted from the classical Hollywood style.And there for, this was the first stepping stone stone towards musicals that did not replicate the conservative ideologies.

The musical is a strong and complex genre. I believe that today you can see clearly the Classical Hollywood bones that shaped the musical genre. Films such as Moulin Rouge (2001) still ring true to the classical style in many ways. Alternatively, there are contemporary films that have looked for ways to subvert the classical style of the musical, for example the Australian musical of the same year, One night the Moon(2001). One night the moon’s style, narrative structure and musical choices re-appropriate the classical musical structure.