Until 1970, America dominated musical theatre - but then the focus began to shift, first to London and then to Paris. When Andrew Lloyd Webber and his collaborator Tim Rice introduced Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971, it was the first of what came to be known as "mega musicals". Engineered to be global entertainments not confined to Broadway and London, these visually spectacular musicals replaced almost all spoken dialog with song while delving into universal emotional themes. Later shows in this tradition included Webber's Evita, Cats, and Phantom of the Opera, Frenchmen Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, and even Lin-Manuel Miranda's comparatively recent hit Hamilton. In this class, we will watch all of the above and explore how their universal themes still resonate with us today.
No class held 11/26.