ONLINE: African Americans have created and performed stage works in New York City since the early 19th century. In the 1890s, minstrel shows and vaudeville gave rise to composers, lyricists, and actors who created the first Black musicals. These musicals would reflect historical events such as the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement and provide a stage for the work of such composers as Eubie Blake, Duke Ellington, and Fats Waller. This course will feature the performers Bert Williams, Ethel Waters, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horne, Audra McDonald, and Brian Stokes Mitchell, among many others. Shows covered will include “St. Louis Woman,” “Lost in the Stars,” “Purlie,” “Raisin,” “The Wiz,” and “Bubbling Brown Sugar.” Throughout the course, we will address issues of Black representation, authorship, casting, and producing power, culminating in the Broadway So White activism of the early 2020s. | Lecture + Q&A.
Max enrollment: 200.
Class sessions are recorded.
