戲劇的起源與誕生，有種說法是始於早期宗教信仰中的祭祀與儀式，人們透過祈禱吟唱、肢體舞蹈將訊息傳達給另一個時空的交談對象，有時又透過面具或是其他媒介，來「扮演」、「替代」我們所交談的對象。過去，古希臘人在舉行宗教活動時，一定會有歌舞隊參與，在這些祭祀活動中，又以祭祀戴奧尼索斯神 最為重要，他是古希臘傳說中的酒神，也是戲劇之神，歌舞隊通常戴上面具，搬演神祇及以往英雄的事蹟，在祭祀活動中，他們圍繞著祭壇不斷的載歌載舞，以歌舞表演娛樂神祇們。由此可見，「音樂性」和「舞蹈性」在戲劇誕生發展的初期便存在了，在世界三大古老戲劇表演體系 中，我們更可以看見這兩大特性，古希臘的悲劇與喜劇，運用了歌隊演員，透過朗誦吟唱等方式，扮演劇中的其他角色，或代替角色們的內心獨白。印度的梵劇 ，則是透過舞蹈性和符號性的肢體舞動將故事呈現出來，並由現場的樂師或歌者負責演唱。中國的傳統戲曲是三大劇場表演體系裡，目前僅存且持續發展中的，也是最完整的一個表演體系，每套角色行當，就有不同的型式規定，它的舞蹈性來自於每套設定好的角色身段﹙武功﹚，音樂性則來自於每個角色的唱腔與樂曲形式之變化。中國國學大師王國維 ﹙1877- 1927﹚將中國戲曲定義為「合歌舞以演故事」 之原因也在於此。

The genesis of theater can be traced back to ancient religious rituals and ceremonies. In ancient Greece, people prayed, sang, and danced as a mean of communicating to the unknown world. Masks or other forms of media were also employed to symbolize those from the unknown world. In those ceremonies, the presence of chorus was indispensable. Among those rituals, the worship of Dionysus, the god of wine and the god of plays, was the most important ceremony. Usually, the chorus, covering by masks, imitated the feats of gods and ancient heroes along with singing and dancing synchronously around the altar as part of the ceremony . This shows “music” and “dance” have been used as two vital elements since the early development of theater.

In addition to Greek comedies and tragedies, these two elements can also be found in India’s Sanskrit drama, and Chinese traditional theatrical opera. Indian portrays stories with symbolic body movements accompany by music and vocals. As for Chinese traditional theatrical opera, it is the only theatrical form that still exists among three world’s ancient theatrical forms. (Greece, India, and China) Each character has its distinct features. The movements have specific set of postures that are designed for each character, while the musicality comes from the different singing of characters and the variation of songs. Therefore, it’s not hard to tell why Chinese great sinologist, Wang Guo-Wei (1877 - 1927), defined Chinese opera as "Enriching the Plot with Songs and Dances.”

一、中文書目
˙徐鉅昌／著，《戲劇哲學》，台北市，東方出版社，1968。
˙不可考／著，《詩經》，
˙劉志明／著，《西洋音樂史與風格》，台北市，全音樂譜出版社有限公司，2000。
˙陳煒智、陳芸芸／著，《音樂劇史記第二部：革新歲月錦繡前程》，台北市，音樂時代文化事業股份有限公司，2006。
˙羅基敏、梅樂亙(Jürgen Maehde)／著，《華格納‧《指環》‧拜魯特》，台北市，2006。
˙康斯坦丁•史坦尼斯拉夫斯基／著，《演員的自我修養》第一部，林稜、史敏徒／譯，地點，中國電影出版社，2006。
˙張旭、文碩／著，《音樂劇導論》，上海，上海音樂出版社，2004。

二、外文書目
˙Aaron Frankel, Writing The Broadway Musical revised and updated, America, Da Capo Press, 2000。
˙Allen Cohen , Steven L. Rosenhaus, Writing Musical Theater, Ner York, PALGRAVE MACMILLAM, 2006。

三、 網路資源
Mucial101.com
http://www.musicals101.com/

The Phantom of The Opera
http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/

Into The Woods
http://www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/intothewoods.htm

Broadway World
http://broadwayworld.com/#

The Broadway League
http://www.broadwayleague.com/

蔣國男銀河網路電台
http://www.iwant-radio.com//showinformation.php?sisn=26956&ln=big

音樂劇介紹
http://phantom.ntch.edu.tw/musical/m1.html

果陀劇場
http://www.godot.org.tw/

吻我吧娜娜！台灣大百科全書
http://taiwanpedia.culture.tw/web/content?ID=13636