Tuesday, Apr. 9 2024
10:00 am - 11:30 am
This lecture-demonstration examines the contributions of Stephen Sondheim’s music and lyrics to the musical theatre canon. Songs will be examined and performed that exhibit his approach to lyrics as they tell story and evoke character, and it will look at Sondheim’s significant contribution to musicals being considered a substantial art form.
Masters of Musical Theatre is generously sponsored by Bob and Charlotte Otto.
Led by
Dr. Jeff Kennedy
Jeff Kennedy is an associate professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance at Arizona State University. He researches and writes about American theatre and is a leading scholar on the Provincetown Players, writing extensively about Eugene O’Neill and Susan Glaspell. He is a former president of the Eugene O’Neill International Society, chair of their 2011 international conference in New York City, and on their board of directors. He received a Fulbright Scholar award to research Colonial American theatre at the British Library in 2020. Jeff’s latest book is Staging America, the Artistic Legacy of the Provincetown Players, and he is the creator of the theatre websites www.macdougalstreet.com and www.provincetownplayhouse. As a musical theatre professional, he has been the music director for Broadway performers Pamela Myers and Carol Lawrence, been the music director of over a hundred musicals, most recently at Phoenix Theatre, has conducted for Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx in concert, and was a production assistant for Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine.