Music Theater Workshop
THEA 279
Fall 2020
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
MUSC 230 |
| Course Cluster and Certificates: Writing Certificate |
This class will be a collaborative, hands-on workshop for playwrights and composers who will work together throughout the semester, simulating the real-world process of writing a piece of musical theater. Students will explore standard works in the musical theater canon as well as less traditional pieces, concentrating on dramaturgical elements specific to the form (opening numbers, "I Want/I Am" songs, extended musical sequences, act one finales, 11 o'clock numbers, etc.). Students will then apply this knowledge to their own work as they generate scenes, songs, and outlines for libretti. Students will leave the class with a grasp of the classic components of this art form, hopefully inspired to follow or bend the "rules" to suit their own creative instincts. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA THEA |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: THEA199 OR MUSC103 OR MUSC201 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (MUSC)(THEA) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Readings and listenings will include:
Nemiroff, Zaltzberg, Woldin, Brittan - RAISIN
Merriam, Miller - INNER CITY
Swados - RUNAWAYS
Simon, Fields, Coleman - SWEET CHARITY
Ragni, Rado, MacDermot - HAIR
Slater, Britten - PETER GRIMES
Malloy - NATASHA, PIERRE, & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812
Wheeler, Sondheim - SWEENEY TODD
Weidman, Sondheim - ASSASSINS
Laurents, Stine, Sondheim - GYPSY
Laurents, Bernstein, Sondheim - WEST SIDE STORY
Moses, Friedman - FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
Stew, Rodewald - PASSING STRANGE
Kushner, Tesori - CAROLINE; OR CHANGE
Miranda - HAMILTON
Ross, Gasman, Barsha - RADIANT BABY
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Examinations and Assignments:
Assignments to write songs, scenes, and outlines based on weekly lessons. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
For composers, the course prerequisite is MUSC103, MUSC201 or equivalent skills as demonstrated through the Music Department theory placement test. For playwrights, the prerequisite is THEA 199. Songwriters/composers: please submit audio files of two original, contrasting compositions or songs, via email to the professor. Playwrights: please submit one five-page dramatic scene and one monologue via email to the professor. Deadline for submission of materials (via email to professor): Wednesday 8/26/20, @ 12 noon.
Prior to the first day of class, all students are expected to have watched the 1961 film "West Side Story". |
| Instructor(s): Dame,Nathan Baumgartner,Robert Times: .M..... 01:00PM-03:50PM; Location: TST114; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 12 | Permission of instructor will be granted during the drop/add period. Students must submit either a ranked or unranked drop/add request for this course. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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