1. Similarities and differences between opera and musical. Opera is a comprehensive art that integrates music (vocal music and instrumental music), drama (script and performance), literature (poetry), dance (folk dance and ballet) and stage art. It is usually composed of aria, recitation, duet, chorus, overture, interlude and dance scenes. As early as in ancient Greek dramas, there were chorus accompaniment, and some recitations even appeared in the form of singing; In the Middle Ages, religious stories were used as the theme, and miracle dramas promoting religious views were also filled with incense and continued. However, the modern western opera, which can really be called "musical drama", came into being at the end of 16th century and the beginning of 17th century with the secularization of music culture in Renaissance. Musical theater evolved from comic opera and operetta (or operetta). It was called "musical comedy" in the early days, and later called "musical" for short. It was an opera genre that originated in England at the end of 19th century, and it was a drama form that was performed by combining dialogue and singing. Musical drama, music, singing and dancing are equal to one furnace, full of humor and comedy. Its music is easy to understand, so it is very popular with the public. Musicals are performed all over the world, but the most frequent performances are Broadway in new york and West End of London in England. Therefore, the title of Broadway musical can refer to musicals staged in Broadway, and it can often refer to all musicals similar to Broadway style. Secondly, talk about the differences between them, that is, similarities and differences. 1. Musicals are mainly pop music, supplemented by classical music; The opera runs through the whole play with bel canto. 2. The contents of the opera are expressed by exaggerated arias and recitations, and the whole drama focuses on psychology; Musical is short of recitations and arias, with more unaccompanied dialogue, and the whole play is content-centered. 3. Opera emphasizes the technical content of vocal music, while musical emphasizes the stage effect. Therefore, musicals have more dance elements than operas. 4. Musicals are mostly based on dark tones, while operas are always elegant and enjoyable. 5, from the singing method, musicals are popular (such as rock, blues, jazz, country, R&; B, etc.), bel canto, and opera is absolutely only bel canto. 6. Musical drama should be regarded as a continuation of opera in time. 7. There are also great differences in performance. The degree of freedom of musical performance is much higher than that of opera. Many musicals are not solo, but songs are shorter, more concise and easier to sing. Opera leads the whole situation with solo arias. Generally speaking, aria will bring the whole play to a climax with every dramatic turn. 8. The musical form of musical is operatic, which is the modern inheritance of classical opera art.. It is the mainstream of modern music and drama. Musicals and operas are the same in form, and there is no obvious dating between them. Musical is not so much a new art form as a modern musical which inherits the opera art. Although it is comprehensive in artistic techniques, it still has a unique tradition of opera in terms of artistic form.