WISCONSIN LUTHERAN COLLEGE
8800 W. Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI 53226
THR 312: Survey of American Musical Theatre (3 credits)
FALL SEMESTER - 2002
MEETING TIME: M/W 9:30-11:00
ROOM: F205
INSTRUCTOR: Prof. Nelson
OFFICE #: FM08; OFFICE PHONE:
OFFICE HOURS: M-TH 11:30-12:30, FR 10:00-11:00, or by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION/OBJECTIVES:
The theatrical genre known as musical theatre is significant for a variety of reasons. First, it is the most popular form of theatre in the United States; second, it is one of few truly American art forms; third, it is arguably the most complex form of theatre, bringing together a number of elements to create the whole.
This course examines the history of this important genre, from its antecedents through its Golden Age to present-day controversies. We will examine its elements and structure, as well as its creators, from librettists, composers and lyricists, to producers, directors and performers.
The following are some of the primary overall objectives of this course:
1. To obtain a brief overview of American musical theatre, with an emphasis on key composers and shows that had the greatest influence on the genre. 2. To learn to critically analyze the components of a well-written musical. 3. To learn to differentiate between different genres of musical theatre and different types of songs. 4. To be able to identify songs from some of America’s greatest musicals along with their composers and lyricists. 5. To become familiar with some of the most well-known and/or prolific producers, directors, choreographers and performers. 6. To become more familiar with the life and works of a given composer, which will be shared via a course paper and oral presentation. 7. To attend two musical theatre productions (42nd Street & Chicago).
COURSE METHODS AND MATERIALS
There is no specific text for this show. Lecture, play attendance, handouts and audio and video excerpts from sample musicals will be used instead of one specific text. Students will be required to listen to and/or view various musicals discussed in class. There is a collection of Broadway CD’s as well as stage or film versions of various shows on video in the WLC library through which they can become acquainted with various musicals and songs.
GRADING
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 30%
Presentation # 1 20%
Presentation #2 30%
THR 350: SURVEY OF
AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE
Bibliography (not a complete list, but a place to get started!) Atkinson, Brooks. Broadway. Revised Edition. New York: Limelight Editions, 1974.
Beddow, Margery. Bob Fosse's Broadway. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 1996.
Block, Geoffrey. Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Bloom, Ken. American Song The Complete Musical Theatre Companion, 1900- 1984. New York: Facts on File, 1985.
Bordman, Gerald. American Musical Comedy from Adonis to Dreamgirls. New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.
______. American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle. 2nd edition. New York & London: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Citron, Stephen. The Musical From the Inside Out. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1992.
Engel, Lehman. The American Musical Theater: A Consideration. [New York]: Macmillan, 1967. Revised edition published in 1975.
______. The Making of a Musical: Creating Songs for the Stage. 2nd edition. New York: Limelight Editions, 1988.
Ewan, David. Complete Book of the American Musical Theater. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1958.
Flinn, Denny Martin. Musical!: A Grand Tour. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.
Gänzl, Kurt. Gänzl's Book of the Broadway Musical. New York: Schirmer Books, 1995. [GanzlB]
Gänzl, Kurt. The Musical: A Concise History. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1997.
______. Song & Dance: The Complete Story of Stage Musicals. New York: Smithmark Publishers, 1995.
Gottfried, Martin. Broadway Musicals. New York: Abradale Press/Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1984.
______. More Broadway Musicals Since 1980. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991.
Green, Stanley. Broadway Musicals: Show by Show. Third edition. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, 1990.
______. The World of Musical Comedy. Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. South Brunswick and New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1974.
Kislan, Richard. The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater. New, revised, expanded edition. New York & London: Applause Books, 1995. Lamb, Andrew. "Musical comedy" in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 1980. Vol. 12, 815-823.
Laufe, Abe. Broadway's Greatest Musicals. New, illustrated, revised edition. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1977.
Lerner, Alan Jay. The Musical Theatre: A Celebration. New York: Da Capo Press, 1986.
Mates, Julian. America's Musical Stage: Two Hundred Years of Musical Theatre. New York: Praeger, 1985. Paperback edition 1987.
Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.
______. Coming Up Roses: The Broadway Musical in the 1950s. New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
______. Make Believe The Broadway Musical in the 1920s. New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Morley, Sheridan. Spread a Little Happiness: The First Hundred Years of the British Musical. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1987.
Porter, Steven. The American Musical Theatre: A Complete Musical Theatre Course. New York: Barclay House, 1987.
Porter, Susan L. With an Air Debonair: Musical Theatre in America, 1785- 1815. Washington & London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991.
Rosenberg, Bernard, and Ernest Harburg. The Broadway Musical: Collaboration in Commerce and Art. New York & London: New York University Press, 1993.
Smith, Cecil. Musical Comedy in America. New York: Theatre Arts Books (Robert M. MacGregor), 1950.
Steyn, Mark. Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now. New York: Routledge, 1999.
Suskin, Steven. Opening Night on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the Golden Era of the Musical Theatre, Oklahoma! (1943) to Fiddler on the Roof (1964). New York: Schirmer Books, 1990.
______. More Opening Nights on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the Musical Theatre, 1965-1981. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.
______. Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers. Revised and Expanded Third Edition. New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Swain, Joseph P. The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
WEBSITES
The Definitive Music Theatre Website – http://www.dmtw.co.uk/ (dedicated to West End and B-Way)
The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film – http://www.musicals101.com
Theatricopia – http://www.saitmarys.edu
Musical Theatre Resources – http://www.artslynx.org/theatre/musicals.htm
Show List – http://www.nodanw.com/shows_1
FLEXIBLE DAILY SYLLABUS - THR 350
M 8/26 Syllabus Overview
What Makes a Good Musical?
W 8/28 Early Roots: European Influences
M 9/2 LABOR DAY – NO CLASS
See 42nd Street
W 9/4 America’s Early Shows & Composers:
Black Crook, Victor Herbert,
George M. Cohan , Rudolf Friml
M 9/9 Minstrelsy, Vaudeville, Burlesque
Watch Showboat
W 9/11 Jerome Kern
The Influence of Showboat
M 9/16 Irving Berlin
Read Of Thee I Sing
W 9/18 Sigmund Romberg
Beginning of the Pulitzers and Tonys
M 9/23 George & Ira Gershwin
W 9/25 Rodgers & Hart
M 9/30 Cole Porter
W 10/02 Kurt Weill
M 10/07 1st Presentation
W 10/09 MIDTERM LISTENING EXAM
Watch Oklahoma
W 10/16 Rodgers and Hammerstein
Watch South Pacific
The Influence of Oklahoma! M 10/21 More Rodgers and Hammerstein
M 10/23 Leonard Bernstein
Lerner and Loewe
W 10/25 Jule Styne
M 10/28 Frank Loesser
See WLC’s How to Succeed…
Jerry Bock
W 10/30 Charles Strouse
Watch Sunday in the Park With George
Meredith Wilson
Stephen Schwartz
M 11/4 Stephen Sondheim
W 11/6 Jerry Herman
Kander & Ebb
M 11/11 The British Invasion: Webber
W 11/13 Schoenberg Watch A Chorus Line
Corporate Invasion (Disney)
M 11/18 Other Important Shows: A Chorus Line,
Man of La Mancha, Damn Yankees, 1776
W 11/20 Rent and Life After?
Titanic, Ragtime, See Chicago
Parade, The Producers, Urinetown)
M 11/25 2nd Presentation
W 11/27 2nd Presentation
M 12/2 Review for Final Exam
W 12/4 Listening Portion of Final Exam
Week of 12/9 WRITTEN FINAL EXAM
PRESENTATION ONE
Select one person from category one and 2 people from category two and give a presentation about each (totaling no more than 15 minutes). Give us an overview of their careers, what they were best known for and any other interesting or noteworthy tidbits about their work or lives that you can garner. Try to make it creative, utilizing things like Power Point, Slides, Video Clips, Sound Clips, etc. You might also try to tie the people you select together in some way (i.e. maybe the two people you picked were both directed by a director you picked, or maybe both actors played the same role at some point in their careers, in which case you could compare/contrast their performances. You will need to turn in an written outline of your presentation.
I. DIRECTORS/PRODUCERS/CHOREOGRAPHERS
Florenz Ziegfeld
Jerome Robbins
George S. Kaufman
Michael Kidd
Moss Hart
Bob Fosse
Abe Burrows
George Balanchine
George Abbott
Agnes de Mille
Josh Logan
Julie Taymor
Harold Prince
Susan Stroman
Gower Champion
II. SOME MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMER
Mary Martin
Alfred Drake Ethel Merman
John Raitt
Carol Channing
Mandy Patinkin
Julie Andrews
Tom Bosley
Angela Lansbury
Tommy Tune
Gwen Verdon
Robert Alda
Betty Buckley
Robert Preston
Patti LuPone
Richard Kiley
Bernadette Peters
Len Cariou
Fanny Brice
Zero Mostel
Celeste Holm
Matthew Broderick
Judy Holliday
Nathan Lane
Chita Rivera
OTHER
OTHER
PRESENTATION TWO
This project has both a scholarly and a performance component. Select a musical from the list below or a favorite of yours by a composer not already listed on the syllabus or a show by a composer listed that we didn’t discuss much. Give the following two-fold presentation. You might also want to think about your vocal range/ability and select a musical/character you think you can pull off.
A) Read, listen to and research the history of the musical and give an oral presentation which answers the following (not necessarily in this order):
v Who are the composer/lyricist/book writer? Did they write anything else?
v Is this an original show or an adaptation of some other work?
v How would you classify this show (genre, writing, etc.)
v When did it open and how long did it first run on Broadway?
v Have there been any Broadway revivals?
v Is their anything special about it’s historical context or anything unusual/unique about the show’s history?
v What reviews did it garner?
v Who were the lead/star performers? v What are it’s most well-known songs? (Share a few sound or video clips other than the one you will sing.)
v What is the basic story line of the show?
v Who is the character you will be portraying? (Tell us about him/her and set up the scene you will be performing in part B)
B) Perform a solo (or duet) which is sung by this character. (You may select a partner from inside or outside of class to perform with you in the scene and song if you choose a duet.) An accompanist will be provided. Try to costume yourself as much like the character as possible.
C) Turn in a written outline of your presentation.
Some Suggested Shows
Irene
Redhead
Do I Hear a Waltz
Oliver
Sweet Charity
Applause
Me & My Girl
Two Gentleman of Verona
Nine
La Cage Aux Folles
Big River The Mystery of Edwin Drood
City of Angels
Crazy for You
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Grand Hotel
Jekyll & Hyde