In the period covering the last years of the nineteenth century to the first two decades of the twentieth century, São Paulo had the music scene as one of its main theatrical genres aimed at a wider audience, which the central objective was to divert him above any other purpose. Although each one of them have their own conventions and working dinamics, in all of them music was an essencial element in the show. The designation "teatro de revista" has become a reference and has served to name a much greater set of modalities including operetta, burleta, magic, vaudeville, zarzuela, fantasy, among others. As an important element in the production and dissemination of music in urban space befor the emergence and consolidation of the eletronic media, the study of musical theather in its various and complex aspects can be essencial to understand the music scene and popular culture in São Paulo city.
Popular music; musical theater; São Paulo