Could the next Rogers and Hammerstein be lurking around Bivens these days? Perhaps. And if so, such a mastermind is undoubtedly enrolled in the new and improved Music Theater Workshop, co-taught by professors Anthony Kelley and John Clum. This thoroughly modern course is livening up the neglected corners of East Campus and has attracted fifteen students dedicated to the art of musical theater.
After being discontinued for five years, Music Theater Workshop was revived this year and is charging ahead in full force. The two-part course began last semester by introducing students to the history of musicals, and it continues this semester by dividing students into groups that will each write and perform a 20 to 25-minute musical. "It is a workshop," said Professor John Clum, "and by the end of the term students will have had enough background to create their own musical. Students are generally writing for commercial musical theater, but they do come up with a variety of musicals." One past effort told the story of a group of people trapped in an elevator.
Although the course is cross-listed in the Music and Theater Studies departments, not all the students are experienced musicians and playwrights. Though some students are Music majors, others have had no experience composing. "A lot of us have never written anything before," explained Lisa Kopitsky, a sophomore English major. "Last week when they had us compose four measures of music, my partner and I walked into a room with a piano in it and neither of us knew how to play." Whether musical protégés or novices, the students pool their various talents together to create the final product. "We choose students for a mix of things. Some are strong in musical theater, some are playwrights, performers or composers," said Clum.
The students admitted into the class are chosen to work together--to form a whole--as it takes more than one composer to pull off a musical. Though Kopitsky may not be able to whip out a Rachmaninoff Prelude, she does sing for Hoof-n-Horn. "I love musical theater, and was interested in script-writing," said Kopitsky. "It is interesting to see how many types of people are in the class--a lot of us are actors, very good pianists and vocalists, and we definitely all love musical theater."
At the conclusion of the semester--and four hard months of preparation--the students will have completed their one-act musical. Their work will be showcased to the public in Schaeffer Theater on Dec.r 3. Look out, Broadway; these students may be a force to be reckoned with.
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