Film, Music & Theater   

This course will continue the “Baseball Movie Club” started last summer. Each week we will screen and discuss a film about baseball. This summer will focus on films about how Black, Latino, and Asian players have affected the game—and our larger culture. Included will be two documentaries: The League, about the Negro Leagues, with a strong focus on Pittsburgh, and Ballplayer: Pelotero, about present-day Dominican training camps. We will also view three fictional films: 42, about Jackie Robinson, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, about a barnstorming group of Negro League players in the 1940s, and Baseball Girl, a recent drama about a young South Korean woman who hopes to pitch in the big leagues. Join us for some good movies and good conversation!

This year will be the 50th anniversary of such iconic movies as Jaws, Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Nashville, Night Moves, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This course will look back at these and other popular films that captivated audiences in 1975. We will place these films in the cultural contexts of American life in the 1970s as well as the artistic contexts in the New Hollywood Cinema and the rise of blockbuster filmmaking. We will discuss how and why they have resonated with viewers then and now, and we will come away with a new understanding of what it means for a movie to be a classic.

Movie-goers who think Eastwood's 60-year career relies solely on his dynamic screen presence may need to think again. Besides acting in 60 films, Clint Eastwood has directed 40, winning 4 Academy Awards and earning 11 Oscar nominations. Consider his films' dazzling smorgasbord of genres, too, and if you are not a fan already, you will likely become one as we explore this Hollywood legend's work. Films include: Two Mules for Sister Sara, Pale Rider, The Bridges of Madison County, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino.

A native of Pittsburgh and graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Gene Kelly had one of the most successful careers in motion pictures. He was a dancer, singer, actor, choreographer, and director – often more than one at a single time. His screen persona was often of the ‘good guy’, but he also played against type, such as his dramatic performance in Inherit the Wind. He was influential not just as a performer in classics such as Singing in the Rain and An American in Paris but on the art of filmmaking itself.

This course will explore the lives and careers of actors and actresses in the 1930s and 1940s who prided themselves on their abilities to inhabit any role. In addition to focusing on notable legends like Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Hepburn and Tracy, Jimmy Stewart, and Judy Garland, the course will also note the lesser-known actors of the era like Luise Rainer and Robert Donat. The course will conclude with an examination of one of the most storied years in Hollywood history: 1939.

This course explores the rich musical traditions of Latin American music, from Argentina's tango to Mexico's mariachi, examining their historical development, cultural significance, and musical characteristics of each country and the musical influences in our American music. Members will study the fusion of indigenous, African, and European roots that shaped these diverse musical expressions.

To quote 42nd Street, "think of musical comedy, the most glorious words in the English language." Using various clips from Broadway and movie musicals, this course will explore five categories: movies to Broadway musicals, Broadway to movie musicals, off-Broadway musicals, message musicals, and show biz musicals. Join us as we dissect and discuss one of America's true art forms, musical comedy.

This course will explore films where people live in oppressive contexts. Some films will be viewed in class while others will be watched by individuals on their own. We will cover broad concepts: national socialism and antisemitism, slavery and Jim Crow, life behind the Iron Curtain, immigration, anti-immigration perspectives, and totalitarian personality cults. The movies we will watch are cinematically excellent, and may include: The Shop on Main Street (1965), Aferim! (2015), Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), The Lives of Others (2006), and A Better Life (2011).

Stirring musical performances that celebrate and support our country have the power to swell the pride in our hearts. From inaugurations to the Super Bowl, patriotic music performances in various settings have often inspired audiences. In this course, we will be listening to pre-eminent patriotic performances and discussing the qualities that make each of them distinct and memorable. We will begin with the national anthem before continuing with several songs associated with the rich American national heritage.