MMED 641 Making a Musical: Mayhem to Merriment

3 credits 42.0 hours
600 level graduate course

Making a Musical: Mayhem to Merriment. It’s often stated that the musical theatre is the most
collaborative of efforts in the performing arts, and that’s for good reason. Since the earliest
days of Jerome Kern to the most recent musicals traveling through space, time and the stories of
history, musicals have called on the artistry of composers, librettists, singers, actors,
musicians, dancers, choreographers, directors, and designers. Under the best of situations that
level of collaboration is a challenge, under the least of situations it can be chaos. This course
is an exploration in identifying the unifying narrative that drives each of the above disparate
elements comprising the musical. Vocabulary and exercises will be established to help the student
engage in a dynamic, artistic and satisfying reach through the musical production effort.
Students will establish methods of storytelling in order to focus a production team, an artistic
team and a cast toward a unifying goal.

This course is not repeatable for credit.