Offering critical interpretations of the lives and works of over 18 lyricists, this book follows over 90 years of American musical theatre. It discusses how unpretentious, chatty lyrics succeeded in capturing American audiences sated with European romanticism and how lyrics came to include character and plot development. There is also coverage of the emergence of the book musical, the musical play and the conceptual musicals of recent years. Songwriters examined include George M.Cohan, Irving Berlin, Oscar Hammerstein II, Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Alan Jay Lerner and Stephen Sondheim.