Sample Solution

Another point of interest to be discussed, in regard to the effect the war had on women’s role in the musical theatre world, would be that it opened up many opportunities for women of colour at the time which was important in this time leading up to the civil rights era. It was said in Post-WWII African-American Musicals by Laurence Maslon: ‘the number of black performers in plays and musicals on Broadway in 1946 was more than five times the number before World War II began.’ To paraphrase another quote from this source, the increased opportunities was a reflection of the social changes during and after the 2nd world war (Maslon, 2018, para.3).

This could be because so many black people, including women, joined the army in world war 2 and helped in the war effort. It was said that they ‘made valuable contributions to the war effort, and earned high praises and commendations for their struggles and sacrifices’, (Historyplace.com, 2018, n/a), effectively changing many people’s attitudes, and changing the face of musical theatre in the 40s.

This can be seen in the multiple shows that came out at the time consisting of an all black cast or an integrated cast, such as the shows Carmen Jones (1943) which was ‘a spectacular hit’. This show lead the way for ‘new prominence to black performers, sometimes in all-black shows,’ (Maslon, 2018, para.3). This is exemplified by musicals such as The Wiz (1974), it ‘opted for racial pride… creating socially significant art’ (Wolf, 2011, n/a). This quote tells us the importance of black people being giving a platform during this time.

An important point to be considered is how the representation of relationships changed in musical theatre before and after 1943. To briefly refer back to my previous point on ‘Cind