Date of Award
1966
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Music Education (MME)
Department
Music
First Advisor
Dr. David Scott
Second Advisor
Dr. William Trantham
Third Advisor
Dr. Glen E. Kelley
Abstract
The performance of Broadway Musicals by high school students as an integral part of their public school music education is a relatively new concept. The apparent absence of any written material directly relating to the concept has created a need for information among directors faced with the task of producing a show ·using high school students.
The purpose of this study was to prepare a guide to the anticipation and solution of these problems endemic to high school student productions of Broadway Musicals. The preparation of a catalog of those agencies that rent the scores, scripts, dialogue books, stage manager's guides, orchestra parts, sets, costumes, scenery, and properties was to be compiled to assist directors in their planning of a production.
Directors and other professional persons involved in the theater or in businesses or industries directly related or closely associated with the theater were interviewed where possible to gain information applicable to this study. Written correspondence and telephone conversations were also employed in an effort to gain information for inclusion in the study. The Turfery and Palmer book The Musical Production, Engel's book Planning and Producing the Musical Show, and Huber's Producing Opera In The College were read and related portions were discussed to allow application of the material to the production of musicals by high school students. Observations of the working methods of professional persons were made and those methods capable of incorporation were discussed. An experimental production employing the recommendations of the study was undertaken to test the validity of those recommendations. The results of the experimental production were consistent with the purposes of the study and appeared to lend credence to the validity of the procedures suggested.
The results of the study would appear to support the following conclusions: 1. The performance of Broadway Musicals by high school students offers educators a vehicle for enjoyable student self realization and the development of aesthetic discrimination. Thus, such endeavors serve both an educational and an aesthetic function which justifies their inclusion as an integral part of the school curriculum. 2. Performances of Broadway Musicals by high school students offer a means of earning revenue for school use consistent with the purposes of education.
Recommended Citation
Boyer, Donald Hornbeck, "A Guide to the Production of Broadway Musicals in High School in a Selected Geographical Area" (1966). OBU Graduate Theses. 40.
https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/grad_theses/40