IN-PERSON: The Elderwise classroom at the Vineyard Church
The American Musical is often characterized as diversion, distraction, and amusement, yet from the earliest days of Vaudeville to the present, the musicals have both reflected and shaped our civic and social values. In this uniquely American art form composers, lyrists, and performers have employed sentiment and satire, melody and mirth, to both entertain and enlighten America’s distinctively heterogenous audiences. In this class, Ken Stevens will explore the ideals and values in shows by time honored theatre luminaries like Rodgers, Kern, Sondheim, Williams, and more recent award winners like Kander and Ebb, Lin Manuel Miranda, and Terrence McNally, while considering the evolution of audience characteristics over the decades. Ken Stevens came to Michigan from the University of Cincinnati. He is Professor Emeritus at Eastern Michigan University, where he created both the musical theater program and the graduate and undergraduate programs in arts management.
