Musicals are the gateway drug to theater. Or so says Dwight Currie, associate director of exhibitions and programs for The Ringling, and he’s only half joking. For many, the musical represents the theatrical standard, the starting point and introduction to the world on stage, usually through school or community productions. Since its creation, the musical has varied in prominence nationally, but never abandoned, it remains a staple of American theater. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a town in America of any size that hasn’t done Oklahoma! and My Fair Lady and Camelot and probably Rent by now too.”

This begs the question of why. What is it about the musical that draws us and won’t let go, that has created a dramatic tradition truly celebrated and innovated through no sense of historical obligation but sheer enjoyment and faith in the craft? In short, it is because the American musical is that rare cultural gem, distinct yet general, decidedly American but transcendent of borders and language, taking residence in the universal.

“The musical as we understand it today is an American invention,” says Michael Donald Edwards, producing artistic director at the Asolo Repertory Theatre, which is currently steering through a series dedicated to exploring the American Character through musical theater, begun in past seasons with the 1970s musical 1776, on the founding of the nation, and Show Boat, a seminal work from 1927 marrying conventional lightheartedness with a serious examination of race relations in a troubled country, and continuing this season with the opening of South Pacific.

Musical theater began in the 1910s and 1920s in New York City, which had become the proverbial melting pot, filled with musical inspirations from all over the world. On these streets, operatic traditions from Old Europe met vaudeville. Musical and storytelling styles from the Greek, German, Jewish and British traditions swirled together, blending with variety shows, musical revues and “very importantly,” African American music, creating something all its own but indebted to each–a musical performance rich with story, enjoyable and populist with the potential for meaning and relevance, a great unifier.

At their best, musicals combine the two, drawing in the audience with a good story while reflecting upon the times. South Pacific, for example, combines comedy and excitement and adventure in a tale of American sailors and Pacific islanders exploring each other’s cultures and falling in love, with cogent commentary on the systemic and accepted racism plaguing the country back home.

“The musical can represent a very complicated, rich and deep exploration of who we are and what we’re going through and why, or it can be simply ‘Forget all your troubles and be happy,’” says Edwards. “And all that can be negotiated in one two-hour period. There’s nothing quite like the American Musical, itself an emblem of the American Character.”But while the form is unabashedly American, musicals have become one of the most widely exported bits of American culture, playing across the world in a way that their non-musical counterparts, hampered by a nuance-destroying language barrier, fail to do.

“Song and dance don’t have that problem. People understand musicals,” says Richard Hopkins, artistic director at the Florida Studio Theatre (FST). “It’s more universal because it has those universal aspects of music and dance that are not confined by core culture.”

Hopkins has, in his tenure at FST, grown the organization to new heights, attracting audiences and talent while expanding the capabilities of the institution itself, adding new theaters and venues. He likes to open each season with a musical because it’s a “truism,” “something all producers know. Nothing sells quite like musicals and it’s important to open on a good note.

Edwards would doubtless agree. Asolo’s production of Show Boat last season attracted 22,000 viewers, nearly half of Sarasota’s population of 52,000. This year, Hopkins chose to open with Hairspray, a musical based on the film by cult director John Waters. It may seem odd that the man speaking of universality would select a story with such specificity, from a creator with such distinct taste, as the opener for the season. It’s “funky” and “off-beat”–words Hopkins regularly uses to describe FST and their productions–but universal?

“It’s a good fit for us and the audience because this play deals with outsiders,” says Hopkins. “Whether it’s the heavy girl or the heavy mama or people of color, it’s about how the outsiders can get into the center of America and get all of the great things going on, everything that we all want. And we all relate to that. At some time or another, we’ve all felt like outsiders.”

“It makes you feel like life is larger than it is,” says Mary Bensel, executive director for the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Bensel grew up a short train ride from the theater district of New York, a childhood steeped in stage and a tradition she continues to this day, heading north annually for a week at the heart of American theater. “Every year I look forward to the new musicals.”

For the 2014-2015 season, Bensel selected a wide variety of musical theater, ranging from classics such as Camelot and Jersey Boys (“The most requested show I’ve ever presented.”) to the very modern Evil Dead: The Musical, based on another cult classic, this time from Sam Raimi, showcasing another key contributor to the longevity of the form, related to its universality but not quite the same–its ability to adapt and transform.

“At some point on Broadway, we all woke up and saw if we didn’t do something we were going to lose a whole generation of people because it wasn’t accessible anymore,” says Bensel. “Hence came Rent and Bring in ‘da Funk.”The movement succeeded, at least ostensibly so, with Rent becoming an instant classic and newer shows like The Book of Mormon from satirists and South Park-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone breaking records and winning Tonys. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark may not have enjoyed the same success (the word “notorious” springs to mind), but is still indicative of a generation hungry to create musicals from their own mythologies and tell stories within the form that reflects their world.

“What I see that’s exciting is the number of young people moving into it and taking it over, which is what needs to happen,” says Edwards. “It was created by young people, by people who write, play, sing and make music and that is what young people need to do. There’s a youthful energy to the American Musical that is our job as artists to recapture.”

“Why?” That’s Currie again, asked why it is we all love musicals. His response is less historic and less obviously philosophical, but no less convincing. “Life should be like a musical; you should have a song ready at all times that flows just seamlessly out of whatever’s happening in your life. That’s the appeal.”

Like the musical itself, it may seem simple, but there’s something heavy in there.

Elisa Van Duyne and Denis Lambert in Asolo Repertory Theatre

ELISA VAN DUYNE AND DENIS LAMBERT IN ASOLO REPERTORY THEATRE