The Broadway Musical & America |
May 12 — July 21The Broadway Musical and America is intended to give students a broad overview of the American musical from Oklahoma to the present. The course situates the form as a distinctly American phenomenon and which both influenced and was influenced by the American political landscape since the end of World War II. The course, which will include special Broadway guests, will survey classic works of musical theater, and we will engage, discuss and think about why the Broadway musical has endured as an important American art form.
11-week Webinar
60-minute virtual lectures every Tuesday at 5:00PM
May 12–Jul 21, 2020
Members: $99 per person
Full Price: $124 per person
Instructor
Adam Epstein’s theatrical productions have received 46 Tony nominations and garnered 12 Tony Awards, one of which Adam himself received as a producer of Hairspray in 2003. Adam’s other credits include A View From a Bridge, The Crucible, Amadeus, The Wedding Singer and Cry-Baby. In the West End, both his productions of Amadeus and Hairspray earned multiple Olivier nominations and Hairspray was awarded a record 11 nominations, winning four, including Best Musical. An adjunct faculty member of NYU (which is also his alma mater) Adam has also been a guest lecturer at Harvard, Columbia and the University of Miami. Adam recently graduated with his Master’s degree in American Studies from Brown University, and he is currently working in political journalism and media.
Syllabus
Please note: Syllabus is subject to change
Tuesday May 12, 2020: Introduction and Welcome: People Will Say We’re in Love: Oklahoma and American Patriotism.
SUGGESTED READING: Something Wonderful by Todd Purdum
Tuesday May 19, 2020: Carousel, My Fair Lady and The Golden 1950’s
Tuesday May 26, 2020: Gypsy, and the Great American Musical
Tuesday June 2, 2020: 1964: The year of the impresario: David Merrick presents Hello Dolly and Harold Prince presents Fiddler on the Roof.
SUGGESTED READING: The Abominable Showman by Howard Kissel, Sense of Occassion by Harold Prince
Tuesday June 9, 2020: Cabaret: Wilkommen, and Goodbye to Berlin.
SUGGESTED READING: Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, Sense of Occasion, Harold Prince
Tuesday June 16, 2020: The Musical Gets Real Angsty: “Phone rings, door chimes, in comes company.” What Stephen Sondheim saw at the revolution: Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along.
SUGGESTED READING: Stephen Sondheim: A Life by Meryle Secrest, Finishing the Hat/Look, I Made a Hat by Stephen Sondheim, Automatic Vaudeville by John Lahr
Tuesday June 23, 2020: Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett and the triumph of American showmanship: Chicago, A Chorus Line, and Dreamgirls.
SUGGESTED READING: Fosse by Sam Wasson, A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett by Ken Mandelbaum; watch “All that Jazz”-1979, 20th Century Fox, directed by Bob Fosse
Tuesday June 30, 2020: Leapin’ Lizards, This Joint is Jumpin’ Joy and Race in the 1970’s: Annie, The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’
Tuesday July 7, 2020: Gower Champion is dead, And to the Barricades We Go!: Broadway in the 1980s
Tuesday July 14, 2020 :The Empire Strikes Back: Rent, The Producers, Hairspray, Wicked
Tuesday July 21, 2020: Hamilton Conquers Broadway: Changing Faces; Changing Times