By Michael Laster

Before the modern American musical existed in its mature form, Broadway was dominated by light opera, known as operettas, written largely by European composers, such as Gilbert and Sullivan, Victor Herbert and Franz Lehar. Another early influence in American musicals were revues, which functioned as vaudevillian variety shows that included dance numbers, comedy sketches, or other forms of entertainment without a central plot. American musicals were also defined by the growing influence of African American music, such as the ragtime rhythms of Scott Joplin at the turn of the century, and the use of bluesy melodies, popularized by composer and cornetist W.C. Handy during the start of WW I. The great migration of Black Americans northward and the sharp increase of Jewish immigrants from Europe made New York City the perfect focal point for this blooming American art form.

Jerome Kern was born in 1885 in New York City to Jewish immigrants from Germany and Bohemia. His mother was a piano teacher who gave Kern a head start before getting formal training at the New York College of Music and private lessons in Germany. He started his career writing songs for Broadway and the London stage. In May of 1915, Kern was due to sail from New York to London on board the Lusitania, but having overslept after staying up late playing poker, Kern missed the boat, narrowly escaping the tragic fate of nearly twelve hundred passengers killed by the German torpedo that sunk the ship. Popular songs from his career include Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, A Fine Romance, and All the Things You Are. Films that feature his songs include Till the Clouds Roll By, a biographical film about his life, Roberta, You Were Never Lovelier, and Swing Time, featuring songs like A Fine Romance, and The Way You Look Tonight, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields.

Kern achieved lasting fame as a Broadway composer with his musical Show Boat (1927), which introduced classics like Ol’ Man River and Make Believe. The story, which tackled themes of racism, marital discord, and alcoholism, was groundbreaking in an era when musical comedy was primarily focused on lighthearted escapism. The show was also a major launching point for Kern’s friend, lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, who would go on to collaborate on other Broadway masterpieces with Richard Rodgers. In the film, Julie LaVerne’s character is played Eva Gardner, but her singing voice was overdubbed by singer Annette Warren. But thanks to the internet, here is the original undubbed clip of Gardner singing Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man.

Irving Berlin was born Israel Beilin in Tyumen, Russia in 1888. He and his family immigrated to New York when he was just five. After they settled in New York City, Berlin’s father passed away when Irving was only 13 years old. He left home to earn a living as a singing waiter and performing popular songs in the street for spare change. He first started as a lyricist on Tin Pan Alley, but would soon go on to also write the music of his first hit song, Alexander’s Ragtime Band in 1911. His most successful Broadway musical was in 1946. In his career, Berlin composed over 1,500 songs, including standards like God Bless America, Blue Skies, Cheek To Cheek, Steppin’ Out with My Baby, and Puttin’ on the Ritz. In Hollywood, his songs were featured in films like Blue Skies, Top Hat, Easter Parade, There’s No Business Like Show Business, and the 1942 film Holiday Inn, which includes the classic, White Christmas.

George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershwine in Brooklyn, New York to Eastern European parents. His Paternal Grandfather’s name was Yakov Gershowitz. He left school at the age of 15 to work as a song plugger on New York City’s Tin Pan Alley. His first major hit was the song Swanee, with lyrics by Irving Caesar, which was soon to be popularized by Al Jolson. In the early 20’s Buddy DeSylva was his main lyricist, but then switched to working extensively with his brother Ira Gershwin on numerous Broadway musicals. Gershwin’s complete Broadway shows haven’t stood the test of time like many of the others on this list, mainly due to his untimely death at 38, and the fact that his musicals were dwarfed by the success of his symphonic music and his masterful opera Porgy and Bess. However, dozens of memorable songs from his musicals have endured – for example, 1924’s Lady Be Good features the title number and Fascinatin’ Rhythm. Oh, Kay! from 1926 includes the classic Someone To Watch Over Me, Strike Up The Band from 1930 includes The Man I Love, and Girl Crazy from the same year includes favorites like I Got Rhythm and Embraceable You. He and Ira also wrote the songs for the Fred Astaire and Gingers Rodgers film Shall We Dance, such as They Can’t Take That Away From Me and Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off. Both his symphonic and songwriting legacy are honored in the 1951 film An American In Paris, starring Gene Kelly and Oscar Levant.

Kurt Weill was born in 1900 in Germany to a religious Jewish family, his father being a cantor. He started composing at 13, and started taking private composition lessons two years later. Weil studied with the Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni at The Academy of Arts, Berlin. He met the singer and actress Lotte Lenya in the summer of 1924, who he would go on to marry two years later. Weill would compose several works with the playwright and lyricist Bertold Brecht, many blurring the lines between musical and opera, including The Threepenny Opera, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and The Seven Deadly Sins. Having fled from Nazi Germany to Paris in 1933, he moved to New York City two years later. Weill studied the music of popular American Broadway composers and soon found success with his own musicals, collaborating with playwright Paul Green on the musical Johnny Johnson, and Lady in the Dark, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. He also collaborated with lyricist and playwright Maxwell Anderson on Knickerbocker Holiday and Lost In The Stars, and with Langston Hughes for the opera, Street Scene. His influence lives on through The Threepenny Opera from 1928, one of his collaborations with Bertolt Brecht, which included the song Mack the Knife. Even though Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong would perform happy-go-lucky covers of the song, it is actually a darkly ironic opening number to the show about a murderous knife-wielding criminal, possibly inspired by Jack the Ripper. This musical’s biting critique of society, war, and capitalism was completely unprecedented at the time, and was motivated by Bertold Brecht’s dedication to socialist causes.

Frederick Loewe was born in 1901 to Viennese parents Berlin, Germany. He began composing songs at age seven. At 13, he was the youngest piano soloist ever to appear with the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1924, his father, an operetta singer, received an offer to appear in New York City, and Loewe traveled there with him, hoping to write for Broadway. After working various odd jobs, it wasn’t until 1942 that he met Alan Jay Lerner, their first collaboration being the musical Life of the Party. They went on to create musicals such as Brigadoon in 1947 and Camelot in 1960. However, My Fair Lady was their biggest success, featuring songs like I Could Have Danced All Night, Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, and On the Street Where You Live.

Richard Rodgers was born in 1902 in Queens, New York, and was one of the most successful composers in musical theater history. Taking piano lessons from the age of six, he went on to study at the Institute of Musical Art, now the Juilliard School. A year or so earlier, while studying at Columbia, he met lyricist Lorenz Hart, and in 1925, they wrote their first major hit, Manhattan, from their musical The Garrick Gaieties. They’d follow this nine years later with the standard Blue Moon in 1934, and in 1940 with the classic Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered) from the musical Pal Joey. They collaborated on dozens of other Broadway shows, and songs for musical films, including the 1948 biographical Words and Music, starring Tom Drake as Rodgers and Mickey Rooney as Hart, and Babes In Arms in 1939, which include My Funny Valentine and The Lady Is A Tramp.

Due to Hart’s increasing unreliability from depression and alcoholism, Rodgers teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein, focusing exclusively on Broadway musicals, rather than standalone hits, or songs for films. Together they’d become one of the greatest songwriting teams for musical theater in history, producing enduring masterpieces such as Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, which includes the timeless song Climb Every Mountain. Rodgers was the first composer to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award.

Jule Styne was born in London to Jewish Ukrainian immigrants on December 31st, 1905. At the age of eight, he moved with his family to Chicago, where he began taking piano lessons. Before he was 10 years old, he proved to be a prodigy, performing with several symphony orchestras. He began his career in Hollywood, writing hits like Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! with lyricist Sammy Cahn Styne. He later shifted to Broadway, collaborating with Stephen Sondheim on Gypsy in 1959, which included the songs Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Rose’s Turn, and Small World. Styne also wrote the music for Funny Girl with lyricist Bob Merrill, which include songs like People, and Don’t Rain on My Parade. Films that include songs by Styne are Romance on the High Seas, and My Dream Is Yours, both featuring Jack Carson and Doris Day. Styne also contributed several songs to the 1954 production of Peter Pan. Most of the songs were written by Moose Charlap and lyricist Carolyn Leigh, though Styne worked with Adolph Green and Betty Comden for the lyrics to his contributions.

Frank Loesser was born in 1910 in New York City. Although his father Henry was a full-time piano teacher, he never taught his son. In a 1914 letter, Henry wrote that the four-year-old Frank could play by ear “any tune he’s heard and can spend an enormous amount of time at the piano.” After losing his father at the age of 16, and being expelled from high school and college for poor grades, he worked various odd jobs until working as a lyricist in Hollywood. His first major hit he wrote both music and lyrics for was Baby, It’s Cold Outside, which won an Academy Award for its use in the film Neptune’s Daughter. Transitioning to Broadway, he became known for writing both music and lyrics for shows like The Most Happy Fella, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which included the song I Believe in You. However, his most enduring musical was Guys and Dolls, featuring Luck Be a Lady, I’ll Know, More I Cannot Wish You, and Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.

Leonard Bernstein was born in 1918 in Massachusetts, whose career spanned classical music, conducting, music education, film, and Broadway. His first musical was On the Town in 1944, with lyrics and story by Betty Comden and Adolf Green, followed by Peter Pan, which he wrote both music and lyrics for. This 1950 version of Peter Pan was totally separate from Jule Styne’s version with Mary Martin. He collaborated again with Comden and Green for Wonderful Town in 1953, and then with Alan Jay Lerner for the 1976 musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. However, most people probably know Bernstein as the composer of West Side Story, and who can blame them? This retelling of Romeo and Juliet was composed in collaboration with lyricist Stephen Sondheim, before Sondheim went on to become a legendary composer in his own right.

John Kander was born in 1927, in Missouri, and is the oldest living composer on this list, (age 98 as of March of 2025!) He started writing songs in elementary school, and studied music at Oberlin College, going on to graduate studies at Columbia University. He then served as a rehearsal pianist for Gyspy, where choreographer Jerome Robbins suggested that Kander arrange the dance numbers for the show. In 1962, he met lyricist Fred Ebb, creating hit shows like Cabaret in 1966, and Chicago in 1975. Their song New York, New York became a standard, famously popularized by Liza Minnelli and Frank Sinatra, and often played to mark the New Year for the city’s Time Square celebration. Kander and Ebb’s work is celebrated for its blend of vaudeville-style songs, and sharp social commentary. The song Life Is a Cabaret is from their show Chicago. While many love this song for its carefree message, those familiar with the show know that Kander and Ebb are actually giving us a warning – if we’re too distracted by decadence and escapism, we’re doomed to overlook who’s actually grabbing power behind the scenes or right out in the open.

Jerry Bock was born in 1928 in Connecticut, and studied piano as a child. He was best known for his partnership with lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who met each other in 1956. Together, they created the hit musical Fiorello! in 1959, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and She Loves Me in 1963, which one a Tony for its score. However, one year later they would go on to write Fiddler on the Roof in 1964, based on the character Tevye the Milkman, a creation of the author and playwright Sholom Alechim. The show included unforgettable songs like If I Were a Rich Man, Matchmaker, To Life, Tradition, and in the wedding scene, the hauntingly bittersweet song Sunrise, Sunset.

Charles Strouse was born in 1928, in New York City, and studied composition at the Eastman School of Music. His teachers included Arthur Berger, David Diamond, Arron Copland, and Nadia Boulanger. He gained fame with his very first musical Bye Bye Birdie in 1960, with lyricist Lee Adams. It was one the first major musicals to have songs inspired by rock music, seven years before Galt MacDermot’s musical Hair, and eleven years before Grease and Jesus Christ Superstar. Strouse also composed for films and television, including the song Those Were The Days, with lyrics by Adams. His biggest success was the musical Annie from 1977, with lyrics by Martin Charnin, featuring the songs Tomorrow, Maybe, New York City, Little Girls, Easy Street, and It’s the Hard Knock Life.

Lionel Bart was born in 1930 in London to parents who had escaped the pogroms against Jews by Ukrainian Cossacks. He started his career writing for amateur theater and as a songwriter for various British pop artists like Cliff Richard and Tommy Steele before transitioning to professional musical theater. He is best known for writing the music and lyrics to Oliver! in 1960, based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. It included songs like Consider Yourself, You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two, Oom-Pah-Pah, and Food, Glorious Food.

Stephen Sondheim was born in 1930 in New York City. After his parents divorced when he was 10, he was raised by his emotionally abusive mother, taking her frustration of her failed marriage out on him. He befriended his neighbor James Hammerstein, the son of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, with Oscar eventually acting as his surrogate father and musical mentor. While attending Williams College in Massachusetts, his teacher recommended he should go on to study privately with composer Milton Babbitt, who became a close friend. Sondheim would go on to write lyrics for West Side Story in 1957 and Gypsy in 1959 before composing both music and lyrics for several early works including Saturday Night, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Anyone Can Whistle, but his first major hit was in 1970 with the musical Company.

He would follow this success with many other beloved musicals including Follies, A Little Night Music, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in The Park With George, Into The Woods, and Assassins. However, his masterpiece is often considered the 1979 work Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It is often considered operatic in terms of its psychological and musical complexity, weaving together themes of alienation, vengeance, political corruption, poverty, and cannibalism. Tim Burton directed the film adaptation in 2007, starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Sacha Baron Cohen. In the song My Friends, Sweeney Todd returns back to his home above Mrs Lovett’s pie shop after years in exile, now remembering his previous life as a successful barber. However, his nostalgia of his former years is now inseparable from his burning desire for revenge.

Jerry Herman was born in 1931 in New York City, and developed a love of music and musical theater from a young age, going on to direct many of the musical productions of the Summer camp his parents worked at. At 17, he met Frank Loesser who urged him to continue composing after hearing some of the material the young Herman had written. After graduating from the University of Miami, his first success as composer and lyricist on Broadway was Milk and Honey in 1961, a musical about a group of American widows visiting Israel to find new husbands. His biggest successes on Broadway include Hello, Dolly! in 1964, Mame in 1966, and La Cage aux Folles in 1983, featuring the song I Am What I Am, which went on to become a major anthem of self-affirmation for the gay pride movement, especially in the face of the growing AIDs epidemic. Another major achievement from the musical Hello Dolly! was the title song, with the 1964 recording by Louis Armstrong being the song to break the Beatles’ 3-month streak at #1 on the Billboard charts.

Marvin Hamlisch was born in 1944 in New York City, and was quickly recognized as a child prodigy. At the age of six, he was accepted into the Pre-College Division at Juilliard, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Queens College in 1967. He started writing songs in collaboration with Howard Liebling for various artists in the mid-’60s, including The Traveling Life for Liza Minelli, and Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows, and California Nights for Leslie Gore. Before writing for Broadway, he composed original music for several Hollywood films, including Ordinary People, Sophie’s Choice, and Woody Allen’s Bananas, and Take The Money and Run. However, his first musical in 1975, A Chorus Line has proved to be his most successful, winning 9 Tony Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In addition to scores for films, he wrote the music to many of their songs, like Nobody Does It Better, performed by Carly Simon for The Spy Who Loved Me, and the title song for The Way We Were, written for Barbara Streisand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.

Stephen Schwartz was born in 1948 in New York City, and grew up on Long Island in Nassau County. Like Hamlisch, his talent was recognized at an early age, and was accepted into Juillard’s Pre-College Division to study piano and composition, later earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University.  He wrote his first musical Godspell in 1971, followed by Pippin in 1972, mostly conceived while in college. He is also sought after as a lyricist, working with Leonard Bernstein on the text to his theater piece Mass in 1971, and working with Disney composer Alan Menken on the lyrics for the films Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Enchanted. He also wrote the songs to The Prince Of Egypt, which features a score by film composer Hans Zimmer. However, he is best known for the 2003 hit musical Wicked, featuring songs like Defying Gravity, Popular, and For Good.

Honorable mentions:

Harry Von Tilzer (1872)
Jean Schwartz (1878)
Louis Hirsch (1887)
Harry Ruby/Rubinstein (1895)
Harold Arlen (1905)
Marc Blitzstein (1905)
Richard Adler (1921)
Sherman Brothers (1925/28)
Mitch Leigh (1928)
Burt Bacharach (1928)
Cy Coleman (1929)
Claude-Michel Schönberg (1944)
Alan Menken (1949)
Marc Shaiman (1959)
Jonathan Larson (1960)
Jeanine Tesori (1961)

Edwardian Musical Comedy (Not Jewish):

Sidney Jones (1861–1946)
Ivan Caryll (1861–1921)
Lionel Monckton (1861–1924)
Leslie Stuart (1863–1928)
Howard Talbot (1865–1928)
Paul Rubens (1875–1917)

Operetta:

Oscar Straus (1870)