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Musical Theatre and Theatre With Music

Content in this section explores the popular art form of musical theatre and theatre works that integrate music in other ways. You’ll find thoughts and conversations from artists, articles about contemporary and historical works, and performance videos. The #MusicalsWeek series is a great place to begin, as is “The Black in Black Musical Theatre” episode of the Daughters of Lorraine podcast.

The Latest

Opening the Channel with Masi Asare
Podcast
Opening the Channel with Masi Asare
by Masi Asare, Leticia Ridley, Jordan Ealey
28 February 2024
Justice for Movie Musicals, or Why the Musical Adaptation of The Color Purple Matters 
Podcast
Justice for Movie Musicals, or Why the Musical Adaptation of The Color Purple Matters 
by Jordan Ealey, Leticia Ridley
14 February 2024
An Art Festival in Rwanda Converses with the Past and Celebrates Our Shared Present
Essay
An Art Festival in Rwanda Converses with the Past and Celebrates Our Shared Present
by Giulianna Marchese
5 October 2023
Dragon Lady
Essay

Dragon Lady

One Mother of a Musical

19 October 2017

Dragon Lady, written and performed by Sara Porkalob, brings bring race, female stories, and intersectionality into the American theatre conversation.

Women Making Musical Theatre
Essay

Women Making Musical Theatre

Institutions Hold the Power to Effect Change

3 October 2017

Women musical theatre writers may exist but do they apply for funding opportunities? EllaRose Chary addresses this question and looks at how that information can be used by institutions to create solutions to support emerging musical theatre writers.

Life Imitates Art Imitates Life
Essay

Life Imitates Art Imitates Life

21 September 2017

While researching and developing his musical The Rising Sea, playwright Eric Schorr reflects on the parallels between the historical narrative of slavery and the modern narrative of climate change.

An Experimental Argument
Essay

An Experimental Argument

Ethan’s Lipton’s Outer Space Odyssey Toward a Sustainable Life

8 September 2017

Ethan Lipton returns to his artistic home at the Public Theater in New York City to play with toys, musical storytelling, and space travel.

The West Side Story Appropriation We Never Really Talk About
Essay

The West Side Story Appropriation We Never Really Talk About

25 August 2017

Viviana Vargas compares West Side Story and La Carreta by looking at the history of Puerto Ricans migrating to New York to better understand an example of cultural appropriation in the arts, its effects, its telltale signs, and some lessons for the future.

The Sonic Harvests of Øystein Elle / Capto Musicae
Essay

The Sonic Harvests of Øystein Elle / Capto Musicae

18 August 2017

In the third installment of this series, Brendan McCall discusses the work of Norwegian artist Øystein Elle and his company Capto Musicae. Originally a classically trained opera singer, Elle now works in a hybrid performance field combining live and recorded music, with performances that border on vocal concerts or art installations.

Theatre History Podcast #42
Podcast

Theatre History Podcast #42

From West Side Story to Wicked: Dr. Stacy Wolf on Feminism & the Broadway Musical

7 August 2017

Dr. Stacy Wolf reveals the hidden feminist history of the Broadway musical in this discussion of her book Changed for Good.

The Musical (Non-Lyrical) Brilliance of Hamilton's Hip-Hop Vernacular
Essay

The Musical (Non-Lyrical) Brilliance of Hamilton's Hip-Hop Vernacular

16 July 2017

Howard Ho breaks down the genius of Hamilton’s music and tracks how it follows musical theatre tradition.

Photo from Saint-Ex.
Comparing Notes
Essay

Comparing Notes

A Conversation with Jenny Giering

8 July 2017

In the final installment of the series, Donald Sanborn III talks with composer Jenny Giering about her experience and creative process.

Revising and Feminizing the Fairy Tale in Anastasia
Essay

Revising and Feminizing the Fairy Tale in Anastasia

27 June 2017

A fairy tale for our modern age? A consideration of Anastasia by Amanda Prahl.

Let’s Get Lost
Essay

Let’s Get Lost

Can Rock Tell a Story Onstage?

21 June 2017

Jessica Wallenfels considers the state of the new American musical.

The Native Language of Inclusion
Essay

The Native Language of Inclusion

An Interview with Ty Defoe

21 May 2017

Ryan Leeds interviews Ty Defoe about winning the Jonathan Larson Grant, his show Crane: On Earth, In Sky, and how his identity influences his work.

Celebrating Women Musicals
Essay

Celebrating Women Musicals

18 May 2017

Calling for more female-driven musicals.

Articulating Content and Creating Familiarity for Audiences
Essay

Articulating Content and Creating Familiarity for Audiences

14 May 2017

Meghan Randolph surveys theatregoers to consider best practices to market lesser-known plays.

Imagining Theatre as a Town Hall Meeting
Essay

Imagining Theatre as a Town Hall Meeting

2 May 2017

Director Alex Hare discusses using a town hall format for Chains Don’t Rattle Themselves, a song cycle performance about incarceration and how it affects individuals and their families.

The Power of Jo of Arc
Essay

The Power of Jo of Arc

18 April 2017

The grace and fury in the performance of Jo Lampert as Joan in Joan of Arc: Into the Fire.

Come From Away
Essay

Come From Away

Resenting the Decency in This 9/11 Musical

6 April 2017

 Jonathan Mandell considers his own and other reactions to the Broadway musical Come From Away, which have as much to do with what's happening in the world as on stage.

We Are the Heroes We Need
Essay

We Are the Heroes We Need

Squeaky Fromme, Assassins, and the Call for Arts Activism

28 March 2017

Kitty Drexel writes about Stephen Sondheim's Assassins , and the need for artists to defend natinoal arts funding.

Theatre History Podcast # 26
Podcast

Theatre History Podcast # 26

Jack Viertel Introduces the New York City Center Encores! Revival of The New Yorkers

23 March 2017

Michael Lueger and Jack Viertel talk about The New Yorkers.

Vietgone, Hamilton, and the Decolonization of American Theatre
Essay

Vietgone, Hamilton, and the Decolonization of American Theatre

15 March 2017

Arlene Martínez-Vázquez looks at how colonization impacts her view of Hamilton and Vietgone.

China on Stage
Essay

China on Stage

3 February 2017

Jonathan Mandell digs into three recent productions in New York City—Made in ChinaConfucius, and Caught—that explore US-China relations.

Jennifer Ashley Tepper; or, The Evolution of a Theatre Historian (and all that followed)
Essay

Jennifer Ashley Tepper; or, The Evolution of a Theatre Historian (and all that followed)

1 February 2017

Jena Tesse Fox talks to Jennifer Ashley Tepper, theatre historian, author of the three-volume series The Untold Stories of Broadway, about her role as Director of Programming at 54 Below, and how the history of Broadway relates to us today.

The Coffeehouse Chronicles #139
Video

The Coffeehouse Chronicles #139

HAIR 50th Anniversary at LaMaMa—Saturday 21 January 2017

Saturday 21 January 2017
New York City, NY, United States

LaMaMa in New York City presented the Coffeehouse Chronicles #139: HAIR 50th Anniversary livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Saturday 21 January at 2 p.m. EST (New York) / 19:00 UTC / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 11 a.m. PST (Los Angeles).

One Queen’s Highly Personal/Subjective Reaction to Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music
Essay

One Queen’s Highly Personal/Subjective Reaction to Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music

15 December 2016

Rob Oronato on Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, a “communal, intelligent, erotic, participatory, spectacular performance art concert; a marathon survey dedicated to destroying through exposure the racism, patriarchy, supremacy, and fascism suppressing the fabulosity of all our country’s different beleaguered Others over the years.”

“For the Love of Originality"
Essay

“For the Love of Originality"

NYMF’s Discussion on Inventing New Stories in Musical Theatre

12 December 2016

Donald Sanborn, III reports on the New York Musical Festival, discussing the landscape of original musicals.