Musical Theatre and Entertainment

Musical Theatre and Entertainment is the umbrella category under which the record trade, chart compilers and awards bodies group stage and screen musical product: original cast albums, film musical soundtracks, concept recordings and star vehicles built around show repertoire. It is defined less by a single sound than by a contract with the audience, in which score, spectacle and personality carry equal weight, from the pre-stage concept album of *Andrew Lloyd Webber* and *Tim Rice*'s "Jesus Christ Superstar" (1970) to the cast recordings of "Rent", "Wicked" and "The Lion King". Its commercial history runs parallel to that of the musical itself, repeatedly returning stage writing to the pop charts.