Everything coalesces here: Bertie's bewilderment, Wodehouse's love of ludicrously inflated language and the gleeful musical pastiche of a style long dead.

Mr. Sondheim's master stroke is in demonstrating through musical pastiche how vintage Broadway styles can be retooled to express the bitterest of psychological truths.

It is a musical pastiche (or "style parody") of the band Devo.

I indulged in my favourite musical pastiches knowing the performers' voices would match the spirit of the times.

"Where is the line between a musical pastiche and a serious, original composition?"

L'Aiglon, composed jointly with Honegger, employs commedia dell'arte characters and much musical pastiche in a style both accessible and sophisticated.

The musical pastiche, backed by the Shuberts, begins previews Thursday and opens April 1 at Theater 890, a 299-seat theater on 19th Street and, yes, Broadway.

The opera has also been criticized by some for the amount of musical pastiche it contains, including an entire pastoral drama in Mozartian style.

Feinstein served as musical consultant for the 1983 Broadway show My One and Only, a musical pastiche of Gershwin tunes.

The heavy-handed musical pastiche that accompanies both acts does not help.