1.   Also last week, David Merrick announced a reorganization of his philanthropic foundation, which from now on will focus on developing American musicals.

2.   And it is speaking to its audiences with an electricity and immediacy that evoke the great American musicals of decades past.

3.   As an opera buff who also reveres the heritage of the American musical, I always find such low-brow satire exhilarating.

4.   As a composer of American musicals, theater music and film scores, Bernstein has certainly reached the public.

5.   At least if the American musical is to have a future as well as a past.

6.   A double death would be too much for an audience, accustomed to feel-good American musicals.

7.   A great American novel has become a great American musical.

8.   But if Broadway is scarcely the place to read the vital signs of the American play, it remains the primary showcase for the American musical.

9.   Encores resurrects neglected old American musicals in exuberant, choreographed, costumed, concert performances with winning casts and restored orchestrations.

10.   Fisher, with his efforts to reconstruct old shows from original, often incomplete, sources has become a hero to devotees of the American musical.