How close or distant are European theater and the American musical? Since Cecil Smith first described in 1950 the development from the European-influenced genres of American musical theater to the musical and concluded that the American musical should be regarded as an independent form, this view has prevailed in theater and musicology as well as in American studies.

Marc A. Bauch takes up Smith's question of the influence of European theater on the American musical in the 20th century and challenges the traditional understanding of the American musical's independence. Using the musicals "Porgy and Bess" (1935), "Oklahoma!" (1943), "Kiss Me, Kate" (1948), "West Side Story" (1957), and "Pacific Overtures" (1976) as examples, he shows that European operettas and dramas were also models for American musicals in the 20th century.