First-Year Seminar: On Broadway - Musicals, Race, Place

DRAMA 1165

The Broadway theatres are closed but pressure to make these stages more racially and ethnically diverse when they re-open is strong. This course looks at the history of the Broadway theatres and the ways this coveted theatrical real estate in midtown Manhattan has played host to white and non-white performers in the signature American theatrical genre: the musical. Using digital and archival research tools, including an abundance of maps, our study stretches from the creation of the Theatre District at the turn of the twentieth century to the present. We will examine groundbreaking and all-too-typical shows-from Show Boat to Hamilton-and look closely for how systemic racism has played out on Broadway stages for Broadway's mostly-white audience. We will produce original research and explore digital humanities methods to questions of racial inequality in commercial popular culture. This course is for first-year, non-transfer students only.
Course Attributes: EN H; FYS; BU Hum; BU BA; AS HUM; AS SC

Please note, you do not need to attend for the entire time.  It usually takes about 5 minutes to place your hand, or foot print on the wall and sign your name.  And remember to take a photo or two.

We will be adhering to socially distant protocols. We will invite one graduate and a single guest (to photograph) into the PAD Hallway at at time. Folks gathering in the PAD Lounge will be asked to maintain a respectful distance from others. 

A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival 2020

Streamed live on October 16 & 17

Cheryl Robs a Bank: 
An Evening of Dramatic Entertainment Presented in Play Form by Cheryl Pryor
Friday, October 16th at 7pm
Written by Holly Gabelmann
Directed by Bill Whitaker
Dramaturg, Michele Volansky
A bank-teller named Cheryl micromanages a situation between a thief, a killer-on-the-run 
and a sick pig named Olive. In this hilarious and dangerous telling, Cheryl finds herself 
trapped in the small slippery space between reliving and reimagining, as her story 
ricochets between what is happening now, what happened then, and what may never have 
happened at all.

Women Eating Cake (*a ten-minute play)
Saturday, October 17th at 2pm
Written by Elizabeth Phelan
Directed by Andrea Urice
Three women eating cake discuss truth, friendship, and having a hook for a hand, as they pose the question: is it better to be yourself, or keep yourself away from yourself?

Five Year Reunion
Saturday, October 17th at 2pm (*immediately following ten-minute play)
Written by Ike Butler
Directed by Henry Schvey
Dramaturg, Michele Volansky
Twenty-three year-old Dawn is ready to leave the past behind her and finally do something with her life, but she's not sure how. She lives with her mom, just got fired, has no aspirations, is still hooking up with the same weirdo from high school, and she doesn't even know how to make tea. It's the absolute worst possible timing for her five-year high school reunion.

Grand
Saturday, October 17th at 7pm
Written by Sophie Tegenu
Directed by Paige McGinley
Dramaturg, Quinn D. Eli
In a modern day re-contextualization of The Great Gatsby, Grand sharply unravels the American Dream through the journey of a young Black woman banker who dreams of being a painter, and an older iconic actress who hosts wild parties, does not attend them, and nostalgically dreams of a certain lily-white boy.

Produced by Carter W. Lewis
On-Line Producer: Tom Shotkin
Festival Assistant:  Abby Smyth
 

Personal Information
In Memoriam: Ting-Ting Chang

In Memoriam: Ting-Ting Chang

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Past Events

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Past Events

Choreography by Rachael Servello (MFA '19) to be Performed at the St. Louis Chamber Chorus: Love Dances

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