By the 1700s, two forms of musical theater were popular in Britain, France, and Germany: ballad operas, such as John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728), that included lyrics written to the tunes of popular songs of the day (often spoofing opera) and comic operas, with original scores and mostly romantic plot lines.

By the 18th century, the most popular forms of musical theatre in Britain were ballad operas, like John Gay 's The Beggar's Opera (1728), that included lyrics written to the tunes of popular songs of the day (often spoofing opera), and later the developing form of pantomime and comic operas with original scores and mostly romantic plot lines, like Michael Balfe 's The Bohemian Girl (1845).