HISTORY OF MUSICAL THEATER

Catalog description

A comprehensive history of musical theater, and how this continuously evolving genre continues to be shaped by history and culture. This course will focus on the American Broadway Musical, and its evolution from the Civil War through the present day, including opera, operetta, light opera, musical comedy, minstrelsy, vaudeville, reviews, rock opera, dance, off-Broadway, Tin Pan Alley, and musical plays. In this course, student will examine the social, political and cultural implications of the musical theatre genre and how to assess its purpose, meaning, and effectiveness as historical narrative.