Musically Speaking Project
Group and date | Topic | Notes | Presenters |
1 March 27 | Opera: Florentine Camerata & early opera, Castrati, 19th C serious Opera (Verdi, Wagner, Puccini) | Make it clear that the early opera started about 1600 (Baroque). The later form is 19th C. | Jacob Wolstencroft Sabrielle McCurdy-Foreman |
2 March 27 | 18th C: Ballad Opera Singspiel Opera Buffa Dramma Giocoso |
| Hannah Unterschultz Kate Blackburn |
3 March 29 | 19th C Europe: France: Opera Bouffe, Jacques Offenback, Spain: Zarzuela, Austria: Strauss Family |
| Jacob Woike Amanda D’Heer |
4 March 29 | English Operetta (Gilbert & Sullivan) Music Hall |
| Elise Sherwood Sophie Leroux Henry Beasley |
5 April 3 | 19th C America: Black Crook Burlesque Vaudeville (Variety) Extravaganza (Spectacle) |
| Hannah Williams Erin Cote Oliver Castillo |
6 April 3 | Special topic: Race in American musical theatre. Include reference to Tammany Minstrel Shows, Porgy & Bess Showboat, and others. | Check with the two following groups re: Porgy and Bess and Showboat. Keep the focus on race as a topic, performers, cultural setting. | Ben Purych Theo Budd Katherine Alpen
|
7 April 5 | American operetta in the 19th and 20th C Challenges to operetta: Tin Pan Alley, Reviews (Zeigfeld) |
| Gwendolyne Ward Justin Lapena
|
8 April 5 | Kern’s Partnerships: The Princess Shows & Other partners Book Musicals: Rodgers & Hart, The Gershwins, Berlin, Porter | Check with the Special Topic group re: Porgy and Bess & Showboat | Makayla Moore Paige Fraser |
9 April 9 | Mature Book Musicals: Oklahoma and beyond |
| Stuart Barkley Brianne Loop |
see next page for presentation info
Presentations
- Each group will have 40 minutes to set up and give their presentation.
- The topics are introduced in Musical Theatre: An Appreciation. However, do not just re-tell what is included in the book - everyone has read it. Find other sources and help us understand your topic.
- Use good sources. A little Wikipedia goes a long way. What other academically sound sources can you find? Books are great and I have a number of them in the office that you can borrow.
- Each person in the group should be given their own tasks, but you need to know the whole topic. Present to one another and rehearse your presentation.
- Living Theatre lists categories in the introduction “How Historians Reconstruct The Elements of Theatre”. Let these categories guide your presentation’s elements
- A playing space
- The audience
- The performers
- Visual elements
- Texts
- Social requirements
- Put the topic in a cultural/historical context
- Think of all of the areas of musical theatre that you can speak about such as
- Music
- Choreography
- The story
- What kind of stage was used?
- Who were the performers and what was the acting style?
- Use a lot of visuals to help us get a feel for the topic. Power Point is recommended.
- Can you find clips on You Tube or another video source to illustrate your topic?
- Can you find drawings of the theatres of the period? Of costumes?
- Give a musical example as part of your presentation. Musical Theatre: An Appreciation gives you examples of how to discuss the musical style of a period or particular composer. But can you take it further? What does that sound like? Sing part of the song to illustrate. Do a small part and do it well.
- If dance was significant, show us. What does the cakewalk look like?
- You will be graded on
- Accurate content
- Covering the topic completely
- Good research
- Good presentation of your topic
- Uploading your visual presentation. The last slide must contain your works cited.
- Activity or take-away (the activity should have a learning outcome and be fairly short)
- 3 Questions with answers for use on the final exam, uploaded to the blog
MINI BLOG