Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description
The Broadway Musical: An American Cultural Lens
Instructor(s): Charles M. Joseph, Professor of Music
Have you ever seen musical theater professionally staged on Broadway, or participated
in a high-school show? Was the production merely entertaining; or did it also encourage
you to think about the issues raised through the show鈥檚 coordinated efforts of writing,
singing, acting and dancing? Students in this seminar will consider the diverse artistic
ingredients of a musical that must blend in achieving a collaborative balance. We
will study the creative process: how a show evolves, why adjustments occur, and how
artists make decisions; but we will also look beyond, by exploring recurring sociological
perspectives evident throughout 20th-century American Musical Theater history. The
Broadway Musical provides a looking glass into our nation鈥檚 shifting cultural attitudes,
challenging societal issues, and individual and collective struggles and triumphs.
The musicals we will examine include South Pacific (gender, race and prejudice); West
Side Story (urban violence); Hair (confronting established conventions); and Sweeney
Todd (ethical and moral dilemmas). Students鈥� final projects will focus on a specific
musical and the questions it raises.
Course Offered