The Black Crook

If you asked an average person if they've ever heard of The Black Crook, they probably wouldn't know what your talking about. Makes sense, the production hasn't been put on since the 1916. However most americans who are well educated in theatre history would recognize it as the very first musical. It is a musical in the sense that the actors would sing and dance, while the songs were strung throughout the play to pull it together as a whole.
This play's origin lies in Opera, which was the popular entertainment of the late 1800's. In opera it was common that the singers were separate from the ballet dancers; they would do their own thing and let the other do theirs. But it was William Wheatley who came up with the idea of creating a musical spectacle unlike any other.  he thought that if they put a bunch of scantily clad women on stage, made them dance, act, and sing, and threw in a plot to make sense of it all, that it would attract more people to  see the performance. Enlisting the help of a ballet troupe and acting troupe hired by Henry C. Jarrett and Harry Palmer, The Black Crook was born. It opened in 1866 at Niblo's Garden, and as Wheatley predicted it was a huge success. The show ran a total of 474 performances; the longest run of it's time.

A Kiralfy Poster for The Black Crook Source

After reading about The Black Crook and about the new form of theatre it helped bring into the world, only one question came to my mind. If this musical is so important in the history of musical theatre, then how come nobody performs it anymore? The last recorded performance of it I could find was a silent film from 1916. I suppose one reason would be that it could no longer be relevant in style to modern theatre entertainment. But I can hardly understand how that would be a good enough reason when we still perform much older plays of Aristophanes and Socrates. With reinvented designs and a variety of interpretations, older plays have succeeded in being brought into modern relevance. So why can't the same be done for the Black Crook? I bet with the technology and special effects we can now use in theatre, that the original musical could make a comeback in a big way.
The musical was said to be controversial because of the suggestive dress of women on the stage. While this was a big part of what caught people's attention about the musical spectacle, it also caught a lot of press, and some criticism for being obscene. Despite the fact that the musical was meant to glorify women and their beauty, it was not really seen that way outside of New York City. I suppose one reason it may not have been reproduced in recent times is because it might be linked to a negative image of degrading women. But really, I think nowadays there are much more scandalous modes of performance out there than what the Black Crook provided (like your average gentleman's club). 
Overall, I'm interested in what the performance would have been like to have seen live, and disappointed that up to this point there has been no attempt  to bring back this musical. Even hollywood hasn't jumped on this with the idea of reinventing the story. Yes, it served as a prototype for the modern musical and doesn't entirely inhabit what one expects from them. But still, as a pinnacle in theatre history for the "musical," I think it deserves to be brought to life once more on the stage. It would be useful, at least, to pass down footage of a performance of the Black Crook to future theatre students.