Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
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dissertations related to my topic <strong>of</strong> social issues begins with Donald Egan Whittaker III’s<br />
“Subversive Aspects <strong>of</strong> American Musical <strong>The</strong>atre.” He presents the issue <strong>of</strong> Other with<br />
a focus on sympathetic leading characters based on ethnicity (Jews), sexuality, and race<br />
that undermines the hegemonic norm. James M. Dowd’s “Musicals Often Demonstrate<br />
the Cultural Aspects <strong>of</strong> the Periods in Which <strong>The</strong>y Were Written” focuses on the decades<br />
<strong>of</strong> the 1920s, 1940s, and 1970s through George and Ira Gershwin’s Of <strong>The</strong>e I Sing,<br />
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Oklahoma!, and Stephen Sondheim’s<br />
Company. 21 Lari Dianne Young’s “A Historical View <strong>of</strong> Twentieth-Century American<br />
Society as Witnessed Through Musical <strong>The</strong>atre: 1927-Present (Twentieth Century)” is<br />
closest to my approach as she parallels musicals with their contemporary socio-historical<br />
trends, but her work focuses on productions after Show Boat. 22<br />
Dissertations about gender stereotypes and transgressive identity roles are repre-<br />
sented by Bruce Steven Kirle’s “Cultural Collaborations: Re-historicizing the American<br />
Musical,” which is a compelling investigation <strong>of</strong> musical theatre history through perfor-<br />
mance and reception in a non-linear chronology <strong>of</strong> cultural and social context. 23 Another<br />
example is Abigail Feder-Kane’s “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better . . . .” She<br />
describes the “play” in performances <strong>of</strong> female characters as subversive role models in<br />
direct opposition to the prescribed libretto. However, her parameter <strong>of</strong> musicals from<br />
1930-1950 deals with later gender issues that are colored by World War II. A similar<br />
project is an early work by Elaine Small Klein, “<strong>The</strong> Development <strong>of</strong> the Leading<br />
21 (M.A. thesis, <strong>The</strong> American <strong>University</strong>, 1991).<br />
22 (Ph.D. diss., Texas Tech <strong>University</strong>, 1994).<br />
23 (Ph.D. diss., City <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> New York, 2002).<br />
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