The Arab countries did not know the art of opera until the nineteenth century, when the cities of Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Damascus, and Aleppo witnessed the arrival of Italian and French troupes presenting musical plays.
Trips to Rome and other European cities also made it possible to attend some operatic performances from the musical theater, which prompted Maroun Naqqash, who frequented Italy, to undertake his pioneering theatrical adventure and introduce singing into it for aesthetic taste, in accordance with the desire of the audience. The nineteenth century also witnessed the birth of Arab musical theater in its simple form at the hands of Abu Khalil al-Qabbani. He was succeeded by his student Sheikh Salama Hijazi and his troupe, where he presented plays interspersed with singing, including: Martyr of Love and Romeo. And Juliet, then Sayed Darwish came to perform operettas such as Scheherazade and The Good Ten.