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Since the first recorded theatrical events, theatre has been presented in a linear fashion. It is no surprise that the majority of American Musical Theatre also follows a linear plot conception. Musicals that blatantly defy linearity are often called "concept" musicals. However, there is a small portion of concept musicals that do not abandon their linear plot altogether, but instead choose to skew the line in order to give the audience a unique perspective of the story being told. This mass categorization does not accurately take into account the extreme difference in structure of the two types of concept musicals. For this purpose, I explored the notion of a new structural category, the Less Linear Concept Musical, in hopes of identifying the unique characteristics and challenges associated with this type of musical. Beginning with Aristotle's "The Poetics" and ending in modern day Musical Theatre, I examine key events in the shaping of this musical theatre form, as well as define the form itself. The application of this research culminated in a classroom presentation of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years, which I directed. I pose the question, "Can sound direction conquer the pitfalls found within the Less Linear Concept Musical?"

This thesis examines, details, and evaluates the process used while executing the scenic design for a production of Spring Awakening, produced by Temple University's Department of Theater. I will discuss each part of the design process as well as the technical rehearsal process and evaluate the choices made. / Theater

This thesis proposes a critical study of the theoretical framework of Urinetown, asking the question of whether or not the show is truly a “Brechtian musical,” utilizing the tenets and beliefs of Bertolt Brecht. Set in a quirky, Gotham-like town where you have “to pay to pee” due to a severe drought, Urinetown follows a cast of absurdist characters as they navigate a society plagued by the perils of big business, ecological devastation, and the inequalities of capitalism. While the show appears to make a relevant social commentary, supporting a righteous rebellion to overthrow the evil Urine Good Company, in the end, by proving that revolution does not always succeed, writers, Kotis and Hollman invalidate these commentaries, proving that despite its Brechtian appearance, the show in its textual form is much more simply a comedic parody. However, Pomona College’s production, in which I played Hope Cladwell, takes on a much more severe tone, creating legitimate commentary by replacing many of the comedic, two-dimensional characters with living breathing, realities. In a text traditionally lacking authenticity, I approached Hope Cladwell with the intention of finding strength and satire in an otherwise vapid character.

This dissertation takes musical theatre seriously as a historiographic practice, and considers six musicals that take the past as their subject matter in order to interrogate how these works craft their historical narratives. While there have been studies of historical drama and performance, musicals have generally been left out of that conversation, despite (or perhaps because of) their immense popularity. This project argues that not only can musicals “do” history, they offer an excellent genre for theorizing what I call “queer historiography.” While sexuality remains one category of analysis, I use “queer” to signify opposition, not simply to heterosexuality, but to heteronormativity, and normativity more broadly. Musicals’ queer historiography, then, is a way of engaging past events that challenges normativity in form as well as content; a way of productively challenging not only what we think we know about the past, but how we come to know it. Each chapter uses a different theoretical lens to guide close readings of a pair of thematically linked musicals. The first chapter considers 1776 (1969) and Assassins (1991, 2004) as challenges to official narratives of United States history. My primary lens in this chapter is form, as I analyze how musicals’ structures influence their queer historiographic potential. Chapter 2 examines two musicals that offer histories of U.S. popular culture, Gypsy (1959) and Hairspray (2002), considering how the placement of divas at the center of each show enables a historiography that is feminist as well as queer, challenging ideas about gender and sexuality while making women central to the histories they represent. In the third chapter I look to two musicals, Falsettos (1992) and Elegies: A Song Cycle (2003), which present histories of trauma while featuring overtly gay, lesbian, and queer characters. I use these two texts to theorize how musicals might not simply present history as it “really” was, but also as it might have been, thereby offering what Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick terms a “reparative reading” of history. In examining each of my six case studies, I analyze specific performances as well as written texts whenever possible. / text

Recent advances in sound technology have had significant implications for the teaching of voice and speech that are only now becoming apparent. As more students become “plugged in” it becomes more difficult, both for the instructor and the student, to communicate, let alone find a voice. We are becoming increasingly addicted to communicating through our devices, rather than through the traditional and accepted modes of the past: using the human voice. In light of these rapid and various new developments, voice training, especially at the introductory level, needs to be examined anew. A number of traditional approaches and teaching methods for twenty-first century Generation Y students may need to be reconsidered or updated. Technical advancements - which are affecting actual physical changes in our human condition - necessitate that the voice instructor be informed by, and where possible incorporate, the new technologies into teaching. This thesis focuses on possible ways to combine and integrate such technologies with traditional practices of voice and speech training in an attempt to reestablish the importance, vibrancy and creative potential of the spoken voice in theater performance. This thesis includes a record of a production that I directed in the fall of 2009: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM 2009 ON THE RADIO and its later Podcast.

Typically, singing training for the musical theatre student is divided into three subjects: music theory, private voice instruction and acting through song. By separating the study of the components of musical theatre performance, musical theatre programs reinforce this compartmentalization and few students are able to make connections between these components in performance. This thesis gives an account of my design of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of musical theatre, specifically a class I developed called Singing for the Actor. In this class, I focused on connecting three components of musical theatre singing: music theory, vocal production (specifically the Estill Voice Training System) and acting. My intent was to help students connect these skills so that they would be able to tell a story through song with more specificity. In this thesis, I detail my research and the design of the course, as well as the outcome and student response.

This thesis details my process in teaching a class I devised, entitled, "Singing for Actors and Acting for Singers," in an attempt to develop a pedagogical bridge between singing and acting. In this thesis, I discuss the need for creating this course and evaluate how effectual it was. Additionally, I detail my research, curricular development and students' responses to the material.

American Musical Theatre is one of the unique American methods of storytelling that exists in performance. In a musical, text, song, movement, and dance tell a story. In Music Theatre, when a character can no longer express what they desire in words, they sing. If singing cannot satisfy the need, the element of dance comes into play. Richard Kislan states, "What sets dance apart is the universality in movement and gesture which is not bound like language to nationality or culture. Dance transcends geography in a way that language cannot. Dance humanizes expression in a way that music cannot."(237) In American Musical Theatre History, dance was, at first, purely used for dance sake. The spectacle of dance was the interest of the public. Choreographers George Balanchine and Agnes De Mille helped to change dance in music theatre, by using dance numbers to further the plot of the story. They believed a musical number should enhance the tone, energy, and rhythm of the entire piece. Influenced by my mentors at VCU, I have discovered the important lesson of "telling a story." A musical number needs to take the audience on a truthful and emotional journey and aid in the flow of the play. Through the many projects that I have worked on with Patti D'Beck, I have learned a way to choreograph that is efficient and, to me, the best way to go about revealing a story to the audience. Using the musical Cabaret, I will highlight these important steps. I was the associate choreographer for the VCU Mainstage production of Cabaret. I assisted in all pre- production work and aided in the creation of all musical numbers. As part of my thesis, I was also in charge of teaching the choreography to all who were involved in the musical. Spacing and polishing the musical numbers once we arrived in the space was also a part of my job as the associate choreographer.The first part of this thesis is a guide for those who have an interest in the world of musical theatre choreography. It outlines a step by step process on how to go about choreographing a dance within a musical. Whether one has choreographed many dances or never choreographed at all, this guide will aid in their creative process as a choreographer. The second part of this thesis is a case study on Cabaret.. All the steps that are outlined in the first part of this thesis are reiterated within the analysis of VCU's Main Stage production.

Abstract DEVISING, REFINING, AND REHEARSAL IN A 30 YEAR WAR By Bradley Harris Willcuts, M.F.A. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2015 Thesis Chair: David Leong Devising, Refining and Rehearsing in a 30 Year War is an account of the process of developing movement and choreography for the production of Mother Courage and her Children at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. It was my largest project during the two years I spent at Virginia Commonwealth University studying an MFA. The title reflects the chronological process that my mentor, director, and colleague David Leong and I went through to produce the work that earned a Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Choreography in a Play. The show starred Kathleen Turner and was directed by acclaimed artistic director of the Arena Stage, Molly Smith. The demands of the work not only had serious responsibilities, but they also asked for a higher caliber of iv work than I had ever been a part of before. It proved to be the single most influential theatrical experience of my career. The movement work needed to be approached with great research and merit due to the highly stylized nature of the project and the national acclaim for it’s opening. This thesis documents that process and the successful outcome of the work which David Leong and I spent over 8 months on.