What is the mission of Musicals101?
Musicals101 promotes awareness of and participation in musical theater, film and television, creating information resources designed to assist students, show business professionals and fans of the genre. Aside from maintaining and expanding our educational website, our goal is to create and promote exhibits, publications, archival projects, and other activities than can bring the legacy of the musical to a widespread audience.

When was Musicals101.com posted on the web?
The first version went online in September 1996.

What inspired the creation of the website?
In 1996, John Kenrick found no comprehensive non-commercial web resources covering musical theatre, television or film. As a former schoolteacher and longtime theatre professional, he set out to fill the void.

What qualifies him as an expert on musicals?
John has extensive experience as an educator and theatrical professional. You can learn more about his qualifications in our author bio.

How has the site grown?
We started with about 40 pages of text – a basic history of musical theatre and film. We have continually added new features, usually in direct response to user requests. As of 2003, the site includes over 450 pages, and is still growing.

What kind of traffic does Musicals101.com get?
By the end of our first year, we averaged about 300 visitors per month. Musicals101.com currently attracts approximately 12,000 visitors per month.

Who uses Musicals101.com?
Our e-mail indicates that our audience encompasses a wise range of age groups, including students, theatre fans, and show business professionals. Retired Ziegfeld chorines, grade school children, actors researching roles, masters candidates researching a thesis – all stop by. Some come to learn, some to reawaken treasured memories. We are happy to assist them all.

What is a musical?
A musical is a stage, film or television production utilizing popular-style songs and possibly dialogue to either tell a story (book musicals) and/or showcase the talents of varied performers (revues). We believe that a great musical is a great musical, no matter what its point of origin. Those created for film or television are just as interesting as those written for the stage.

What makes a musical great?
The best musicals share three qualities:

• Brains - they have intelligence & style
• Heart - they evoke genuine, believable emotion
• Courage - they have the guts to be creative and exciting.

(And you thought MGM's The Wizard of Oz was just a children's flick?)

Do you respond to e-mailed questions?
Absolutely! We try to get back to inquiries within 24-48 hours, depending on the volume of messages. (We sometimes receive dozens a day, so don't be shy.) If you have a question that relates directly to musicals, please contact us.

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