Development of American Musical Theatre
THTR 3009 / Essays

Guidelines for the 2-3 page papers / Uncle Bud's 10 Helpful Hints for a Successful Essay

List A Essay / List B Essay / Live Performance Essay / Extra Credit Essay

You must write three essays, one using List A, one using List B, and one based on a live performance. You may turn the essays in to the instructor in any order.

The essays are due: Tuesday 10 March 1998
Thursday 2 April 1998
Thursday 23 April 1998

Each essay is worth 10% of your total grade.

 N.B. No late papers will be accepted.
The essays must be typed, proof-read, and double-spaced.
Multiple pages must be stapled together. (no plastic covers) (-1 point for loose pages)

Go to top of page

Guidelines for the 2-3 page papers:

 This is a personal response to the performance you experienced. This is not to be a synopsis of the plot or of stage action, nor is it to be a critique in the "I liked this, I hated that" format.

The list of possibilities is almost endless, but your paper must have a focus - a point of view.

You must include concrete examples from the production to illustrate your thesis.

The essay needs one specific focus. Various possibilities include:

  How is the tone of the piece established and maintained?

  What are the major ideas / themes of the dramatic action? Are there a number of possible interpretations of the play? If so, does this production seem to be showcasing a particular one?

  What is the relationship of the subplot to the main action of the play?

  Discuss the overall acting style and how it affected / enhanced the entire production.

  How well do the performers integrate the various assignments of character / dance / singing?

  Discuss the choreography and how it affected / enhanced the entire production.

  Discuss the musical score and how it affected / enhanced the entire production.

 If you are writing your compare / contrast essay:

  Write an essay in which you compare the live performance with a film/video of the same musical. What changed given that you saw the same musical in two different mediums?

  Write a comparison essay in which you compare the live performance with a film/video of a musical theatre piece written by one of the same members of the creative team of the live performance piece. For example, compare Guys and Dolls with Frank Loesser's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

  Write an analysis of the musicalization process. For example, read Damon Runyon's short stories that Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows adapted to form the book for Guys and Dolls. What did Swerling / Burrows / Loesser chose to musicalize? This essay is focused around your reactions to those choices.

From your paper it should be very clear that you have not only seen the production, but have thought about it. I encourage you to talk about the production with friends who have seen it, but the paper should reflect only your opinions, not the consensus of your conversation group.

A successful essay is an analysis of both the "text" of the musical (musical score, lyrics, and libretto) and the "performance" of the musical. Make sure you address both areas.

Go to top of page

Uncle Bud's 10 Helpful Hints for a Successful Essay

1. Do not include a plot synopsis in your essay. You can assumed an "informed reader" is the reader of your essay.

 2. Underline play titles Guys and Dolls

3. Song titles are in quotation marks "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat"

4. It is the convention in performance writing to mention an artist by both first and last names. (Ethel Merman) the first time you mention them, then refer to them by last name (Merman) after that.

5. Keep in mind the difference in your essay between who the character is in the musical, and what an actor does to bring this character to life.

6. Speak for yourself, not the entire audience. You know what you liked, but you cannot speak for the whole audience: "Everyone loved Mary Martin as Annie Oakley." You can mention that there was a lot of laughter at a certain point in the musical, or that it received a standing ovation, but you cannot talk about what the audience as a group thought or felt.

7. Be specific. Instead of "I really liked the song that Laurie sang with Curly," tell me why you liked the song: was it the lyrics, the tune, the orchestrations, the harmony, the actors' voices, etc.?

8. Is there a logical flow to your essay? There are many ways to organize your essay, so make sure it has a logical progression, and is not a list of observations.

9. Make sure you apply a spell-check program to your essay. There is no excuse for misspelled words.

10. Read your paper out loud before you turn it in. It is also a great idea to swap essays with a classmate. Does your paper advance one argument? How clearly have you illustrated your ideas? Being a good editor is a great way to improve your own writing.

Go to top of page

List A

Compare / contrast one of the following musicals with a musical written by the same creative team as one of the Core Viewings. Concentrate on the "world view" of the piece, the integration of spoken word / song / dance in the work, the sophistication of the music / lyrics, etc.

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Carousel

Flower Drum Song

The King and I

The Sound of Music

South Pacific

Cinderella

 

videocass 91-118 ('56 film, 128 min.)

videocass 90-84 ('61 film, 133 min.)

videocass 91-12 ('56, 133 min.)

videodisc 92-26 ('56, 133 min.)

videodisc 95-1 ('65; 172 min.)

videocass 121 (IMIG) ('65; 172 min.)

videodisc 87-75 ('58; 150 min.)

three versions available in Norlin Media Reserves

 

 

Lerner and Loewe

Brigadoon

Camelot

Paint Your Wagon

 

videodisc 87-19 ('54, 108 min.)

videodisc 96-10, vol. 2 ('54)

videocass 114 (IMIG, '54)

videocass 91-15 ('67, 177 min.)

videodisc 92-24 ('67, 177 min.)

videocass 132 (IMIG, '67, 177 min.)

videocass 109 ('69, 164 min.)

 

 

Leonard Bernstein

Candide

On the Town

 

videocass 232 ('89, 147 min., concert version)

videocass 90-77 ('49, 98 min.)

videodisc 96-10 ('49, 98 min.)

 

 

Jule Styne

Bells Are Ringing

Funny Girl

 

videodisc 92-23 (1960 Judy Holliday)

videocass 91-13 (1968 film, 165 min.)

videodisc 93-11 (1968 film, 155 min.)

 

 

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Jesus Christ Superstar

 

videodisc 90-6 (1973, 108 min.)

 

 

Stephen Sondheim

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A Little Night Music

Passion

Sunday in the Park With George

Sweeney Todd

 

videocass 97-70 (1966 film, 100 min.)

 

 

(Norlin Media Reserves)

videocass 90-93 (live stage version, 1986; 145 min.)

videocass 90-92 (live stage version, 1982; 140 min.)

 go to the top of the page

List B

Annie

videodisc 92-22

Annie Get Your Gun

videocass 91-119 (1957 Mary Martin)

Bye Bye Birdie

videocass 96-74 (1963, 112 min.)

Cabin in the Sky

videocass 91-16 (1943, 99 min.)

Carmen Jones

videodisc 92-25 (1954 film; 102 min)

A Chorus Line

videodisc 90-7 ('86 film, 117 min.)

videodisc 95-211 ('86 film, 117 min.)

 

Damn Yankees

videodisc 91-2 ('58 film, 111 min.)

Finian's Rainbow

videocass 91-14 ('68 film, 141 min.)

videodisc 93-8 ('68 film, 141 min.)

 

The Gospel at Colonus

videocass 91-141 ('87)

Grease

videodisc 90-8 ('77 film, 110 min.)

Guys and Dolls

videocass 90-81

Hello, Dolly!

videodisc 93-13 ('69, 148 min.)

videocass 91-17 ('69, 146 min.)

 

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

videocass 90-74 ('67, 121 min.)

videodisc 91-42 ('67, 122 min.)

 

 

Kismet

videodisc 91-85 ('55, 118 min.)

Kiss Me Kate

videocass 90-75 ('53, 110 min.)

Lil' Abner

videocass 93-63 ('59, 114 min.)

Little Shop of Horrors

videodisc 94-4 ('86, 94 min.)

Mame

videocass 90-85 ('74, 131 min.)

Meet Me in St. Louis

videodisc 91-58 ('44, 119 min.)

The Music Man

videodisc 90-10 ('61, 151 min.)

videocass 112 ('61, 151 min.)

 

Oliver!

videodisc 87-57 ('69, 145 min.)

One Touch of Venus

videocass 91-10 ('48, 82 min.)

Pal Joey

videocass 90-82 ('57; 109 min.)

Pippin

videocass 93-65 (live stage '82; 104 min.)

Porgy and Bess

videodisc 94-2 (London, 1989)

1776

videodisc 93-22 ('72; 180 min.)

Silk Stockings

videodisc 90-9 ('57; 118 min.)

Stop the World, I Want to Get Off

videocass 95-64 ('66, 98 min.)

Sweet Charity

videodisc 91-99 ('68; 148 min.)

This is the Army

videocass 94-326 ('43, 105 min.)

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

videodisc 91-101 ('64; 138 min.)

The Wiz

videodisc 94-26 ('78; 133 min.)

go to the top of the page

Extra Credit

You may write an extra credit essay. The paper (min. five pages) may focus on a live performance you have seen, or be centered around one of the suggested topics below. You may find it necessary to seek out some scholarly analysis outside of your textbook in order to write a well-developed argument.

You must get advance approval, in writing, on your topic.

The essay may earn you up to 5 extra points.

Show Boat videocass 128 (IMIG) [1951 film]
videodisc 90-12 [1936 film]
c/c these two different film treatments of the stage musical

 

Gypsy with Rosalind Russell videodisc 94-13 (1962)
Gypsy with Bette Midler videodisc 94-22 (1993)
c/c these two different film treatments of the stage musical

 

The Wiz videodisc 94-26 (1978; 133 min.)
The Wizard of Oz videodisc 87-99
videodisc 92-21 (50th anniv. edition w/ extra clips)
c/c the two treatments of this famous story of L. Frank Baun

 

Annie videodisc 92-22
Oliver! videodisc 87-57 (1969, 145 min.)
c/c these two famous musicals about orphans

 

Kiss Me Kate videocass 90-75 (1953, 110 min.)
discuss this musical treatment of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew

 

The Gospel at Colonus videocass 91-141 (1987)
discuss this musical treatment of Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus

 

Bye Bye Birdie videocass 96-74 (1963, 112 min.)
Grease videodisc 90-8 (1977 film, 110 min.)
c/c these two looks at American youth culture

 

Carmen Jones videodisc 92-25 (1954 film; 102 min)
Carmen videocass 89 (IMIG) videodisc 87-21
c/c Oscar Hammerstein's adaptation of Bizet's Carmen

 

Paint Your Wagon videocass 109 (1969, 164 min.)
The Unsinkable Molly Brown videodisc 91-101 (1964; 138 min.)
c/c these various views of the American West with that in Oklahoma

Go to the top of the page

MLA guidelines on how to correctly cite information from the web.

Guidelines for the 2-3 page papers / Uncle Bud's 10 Helpful Hints for a Successful Essay

List A Essay / List B Essay / Live Performance Essay / Extra Credit Essay

 

Links to other web pages: THTR 3009 Syllabus / THTR 3009 Fall 1998 Calendar / THTR 3009 Essays

Theatre Resources / Theatre Etiquette

Bud Coleman's Home Page / e-mail: bud.coleman@colorado.edu

 

 

American Theatre History

 

THTR 4001 general vocabulary

 

 

apron arena stage (theatre-in-the-round)

aside backdrop

batten blackout

blocking border

box set business manager

center stage character

choreographer company

cross cyclorama (cyc)

dancers director

downstage drop

ensemble exposition

extras (supernumeraries or walk-ons) flat

flies focal point

footlights forestage

house "in one"

lines masking

monologue offstage

onstage orchestra

orchestra pit plot

producer prompter

properties (hand props) proscenium

rake revolving stage (a revolve)

scrim sides

sight lines soliloquy

stage directions stage house

stage left stage manager

stage right strike

tableau theatrical convention

thrust stage trap

traveler curtain understudy

unit setting upstage

wing and drop wings

 

(c. 1800) / (ca. 1800) (fl. 1835-1845)

(Cf.) NB

  

 

maximum worth of essay is 10 points

 

paper is a plot synopsis -10 points

 

lack of a clear focus -2 points

 

poorly written -1 >>> -4 points

 

not proofread -2 points

 

incomplete investigation of topic -.5 >>> -4 points

 

no concrete examples from production -2 >>> -3 points

 

not enough examples -1 >>> -4 points

 

paper not stapled or bound together -1 point\

 

 

If it is a compare / contrast paper, and the student only talks about one production - 5