Use of Music in Theater

Music has been used in Theater for a long time. There are some productions that do not make use of music at all and the sound effects are created either by characters back-stage or on stage. There is no hard and fast rule as far as music is concerned in theater and is totally dependent on the script of the play. If the script demands it, then its inclusion seems but natural.

Musicals and Opera are two genres of Theater in which music plays a very important role and is the basis of the production. Musicals attract a lot of crowd and are favorite among the general public who love to see the beautiful spectacle and sensational choreography. Music in other productions is used to either highlight an effect, express the emotion of a character. Sometimes it is also used depict the state of mind of a character, communicate a particular feeling to the audience. Music, song and dance helps the audience to be aware of the fact that action on stage is unreal and is crafted. Inclusion of Music has been basically borrowed from Musicals and partly from the classical mode of Drama.