did the rich watch musicals when they first came out? who invented musicals?

Musicals came to us from opera which came to us from earlier forms of musical plays.

History of opera:
History of OPERA including Roman revivals and intermezzi...., Dafne, Monteverdi, Dido and Aeneas, Handel, Gluck and the reform of opera, Mozart and opera, ...
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab36

Opera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Earlier models of opera generally stuck to more distant history, .... Oxford Illustrated History of Opera, Chapter 1; articles on Peri and Monteverdi in The ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera

Brief History of Opera. Lesson Connection: Aida and Its Relevance to the World Today. Copyright The Kennedy Center. All rights reserved. ...
(Broken Link Removed)

Metropolitan Opera History
Profiles of famous Met singers, such as Mathilde Bauermeister, Celestina Boninsegna, Ferruccio Tagliavini, and Lawrence Tibbett.
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/

History of Classical Music - Eras
Musical history during the Medieval Times, Renaissance, Classical Period, Baroque, ... (e.g. Handel's Water Music), or as a spectacle in the form of opera. ...
http://www.naxos.com/education/brief_history.asp

Musicals:
http://www.google.com/search?q=history+of+musicals&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Here is a site that shows the development from opera to operetta to musical.

http://www.essortment.com/all/musicalsartists_rdku.htm

To find out if the rich watched musicals when they first came out and who invented musicals, we need to explore the history of musicals and the context in which they originated.

Musicals, as a form of theatrical performance combining music, dance, and drama, have a long and complex history. They evolved over time, and different cultures have contributed to their development. However, the modern musical as we know it today traces its roots back to Western theater traditions.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, musicals started gaining popularity in Western countries, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. During this time, wealthy individuals did play a significant role in supporting and promoting musical theater. Broadway in New York City and West End in London emerged as major centers for the production and consumption of musicals, and these venues often attracted affluent audiences.

As for the invention of musicals, it's challenging to attribute their creation to a single individual. Instead, musicals developed through a collaborative process involving playwrights, composers, choreographers, and performers. Key contributors to the development of the modern musical include Gilbert and Sullivan, who created the famous operettas in the late 19th century, as well as composers like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers.

To gain a deeper understanding of the socio-cultural context surrounding the emergence of musicals and the role of the wealthy in supporting them, I recommend exploring historical resources such as books or articles on the history of musical theater. Additionally, studying the works of influential theater practitioners and composers will also shed light on the evolution of musicals as an art form.