Semester.ly

Johns Hopkins University | AS.376.303

Musical Theater on Broadway and beyond

3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

(4.67)

What is a Broadway musical? Why aren’t there more smash hits like Hamilton? And what can American musical theater teach us about our own lives? In this introductory course, students will explore these questions and more, learning about the history and craft of significant 20th and 21st-century musicals in the interdisciplinary context of society, politics, economics, and technology. Students will apply their knowledge by collaboratively creating and performing an original short work of musical theatre and, if practicable, will attend a performance in the Baltimore-Washington area or in neighboring cities as far away as New York.

Fall 2012

(4.45)

Fall 2013

(4.88)

Fall 2012

Professor: Susan Weiss

(4.45)

Students liked the well-informed professor who was able to relate with the course content and relay it to the students in an engaging way. The course also involved guest lecturers that the students real y enjoyed. The worst aspect of this course was the hefty amount of reading required. The course would improve if the readings were more condensed and if the overall information presented in class was more focused. Prospective students should know that this is an amazing course, as it is very informative and engaging. 222

Fall 2013

Professor: Susan Weiss

(4.88)

Students agreed that the best aspect of this course was the professor, whose passion for musical theater and enthusiasm to teach made the class engaging and entertaining. Students found the guest lecturers very interesting as well and loved the energy of the class. Some students thought that the readings were long or disconnected from the lectures and that the course could be a little disorganized at times. Suggestions for improvement included shortening or removing the reading exercises, or spending more time making the materials relevant. Students also would have liked to have started working on the final performance assignment earlier in the class to have more time to prepare. Prospective students only need a love for musical theater and should prepare for ample but doable reading assignments.

Lecture Sections

(01)

No location info
D. Wang
16:30 - 19:00