Hi all,

So, let's see how this forum goes, shall we?

I have an idea for doing a book roundtable discussion session for MT/D--I ran such session for a couple of year for the Theory&Criticism group. I was thinking of selecting a book that doesn't necessarily talk about musical theatre directly, but rather a text that we could read and see how it's theories/ideas might be applied to musical theatre, especially in terms of the conference theme. Basically, people would read the book beforehand, post comments/discussion questions prior to the conference itself, perhaps produce short position papers, and then have at it in public during the conference itself.

 Therefore, 2 questions:

1) does this sound like a session that people would be interested in?

2) anyone want to throw a particular book title into the ring, or should I just go with what I had in mind?

Curious to see what people think...

Best,

Kathryn Edney

 

I was just thinking that a roundtable session addressing a single would make for an excellent addition to conference 2015, Kathryn. What titles were your considering? I can think of a few books, but would like to hear what titles sparked your ideas for a session first.

Something by Victor Turner?

The book that first came to mind for me - given the conference theme - was Marvin Carlson's THE HAUNTED STAGE. Given the popularity of the musical theatre, certain works are haunted by the ghosts of original productions, performers, or their given historical moment. I would love to hear what titles Kathryn and others are considering.

Oh that's a great suggestion, Bryan, what with the conference theme. Should we also just devote an entire panel to FOLLIES?

I love the idea of THE HAUNTED STAGE - I would definitely be interested in that.

Hello all,
I think the idea of using the Haunted Stage would be interesting. We should also note Marvin's article on Follies in JADT from some years back. Also, there are several pieces that riff off his ghosting to frame musicals.
This could be an interesting panel. Are you thinking about each panelist focusing on a particular musical or having a variety of papers inspired by The Haunted Stage?