History Of Musical Theatre | St. Clair College
Course Code
PART410
Course Credit
2

This course is intended as a survey of the rich terrain of Western music theatre, from the modern origins of the staged drama set to music, to the present-day Broadway musical. It will combine two different perspectives in our study:, the study of cultural and social history on the one hand, and the analytical study of musical style on the other. The course is designed in such a way as to emphasize particular themes that will serve as recurring reference points throughout the term. These themes, in part, determined the repertoire as did the need to choose representative works that defined the genre's musical and dramaturgical conventions. It is hoped that this course will also refine the student's understanding of how the musical synthesizes various arts or elements into a single work; how the visual and musical elements support (or overwhelm) the drama; or even whether dramatic cohesion is necessary or desirable in a musical.