Teaching Canonic Opera and Musical Theater with Intention by Coppola, Catherine; Wells, Elizabeth A.;

Short description:

Teaching Canonic Opera and Musical Theater with Intention: A Teacher's Guide offers instructors a toolkit with which to productively confront the canon, directly engaging in the difficult conversations this repertoire can prompt.

Long description:

For many instructors today, teaching canonical dramatic repertoire can be a fraught proposition: from Don Giovanni to South Pacific, key works in the history of opera and musical theater present challenges related to gender, race, colonialism, class and more. Teaching Canonic Opera and Musical Theater with Intention: A Teacher's Guide offers instructors a toolkit with which to productively confront the canon, directly engaging in the difficult conversations this repertoire can prompt. Informed by evidence from contemporary and historical context, librettos, and production history, instructors will be able to confidently help students consider best practices for the future.

This book presents fifteen case studies of exemplars from the opera and musical theater canon, which showcase a close study of the music and text in service of addressing the most provocative aspects. With nuanced explorations of each work, the authors offer a variety of pathways to draw connections between their content and the present day. Teaching Canonic Opera and Musical Theater with Intention is a vital resource for college-level music history and appreciation instructors that will enable them to teach canonic repertoire as part of contemporary curricula, and to help students engage critically with these works, their historical impact, and ongoing relevance.

"This book teaches the controversies surrounding some of the most popular works encountered on Broadway, in the opera house, and in music history courses.  Packed with critical insight and practical advice, it will be an indispensable resource for teachers and performers alike."

—Richard Will, Professor of Music, University of Virginia, author of "Don Giovanni" Captured: Performance, Media, Myth (University of Chicago Press, 2022)

“A fascinating and important project.”

—Kunio Hara, Associate Professor of Music History, University of South Carolina; cultural consultant Houston Grand Opera, featured speaker Boston Lyric Opera’s Butterfly Process

Table of Contents:

 I. Gender & Class

Don Giovanni: Beyond the Hashtag 

Mozart

Carmen: Fate or Choice? 

Bizet

Oklahoma!: Rewriting Race and Gender 

Rodgers & Hammerstein

Company: Changing Perspectives on Marriage 

Sondheim

My Fair Lady: Class and Colonialism 

Lerner & Loewe

 II. Race and Presumed Whiteness

Magic Flute: Whose Enlightenment? 

Mozart

Aida: Race and Empire—“Caught Up in the Colors of the Story” 

Verdi

Porgy and Bess: Who Tells the Story of Systemic Racism?

Gershwin & Gershwin

Show Boat: The Dynamics of the South 

Kern & Hammerstein

West Side Story: Whose Stories? 

Bernstein & Sondheim

 III. Colonialism and History Rewritten

Madama Butterfly: Imperialism and Gender

Puccini

Tristan and Isolde: From Fierce Fighter to Transcendent Redeemer

Wagner

Giulio Cesare: Cleopatra Resists

Handel

The King And I: The Colonial Mask Comes Off

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Hamilton: A new era?

Miranda