Proposal
Course Title: The American Musical
Course Description: This is a spring semester course for Senior Regents English. This course will focus on the history of the American musical and the way it has influenced and been influenced by various historical and social movements. It will begin with Vaudeville and the emergence of the Gershwins, and follow its development through Rogers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein, the 60s, Stephen Sondheim and Lin Manuel Miranda. The survey will be organized around the questions below.
Course Objectives
Essential Questions/Themes:
How did the revue format of vaudeville morph into the story form of the musical? What other important changes have occurred?
How do musicals reflect the time and place in which they are written?
How has the musical changed in relation to the form? For example, why was “Oklahoma” considered a watershed moment in the musical?
How has popular music effected the musical?
How has the musical dealt with the Western literary canon?
How has the musical dealt with the Bible?
Methodology
The course will focus on listening skills and literary analysis skills. It will also include lectures and independent and group projects. The projects will focus on teaching skills, i.e. how to analyze a song for literary and grammatical elements, and how to incorporate listening and literary analysis skills into a lesson plan.
Materials:
The Beginnings
“Of Thee I Sing” by George and Ira Gershwin
“Oklahoma” by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein
Shakespeare and the Musical
“Kiss Me Kate” by Cole Porter
“West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein
The Rock Musical/The Gospel and the Musical
“Hair” by Gerome Ragni, James Rado and Galt MacDermot.
“Godspell” by Stephen Schwartz
“Jesus Christ Superstar” by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
The Literary Musical
“Company” and “The Tale of Sweeney Todd” by Stephen Sondheim
The Novel and the Musical
“Oliver” by Lionel Bart
“Les Miserables” by by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel
“Wicked” by Stephen Schwartz
American History and the Musical
“1776” by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone
“Hamilton” by Lin Manuel Miranda