CFP for ATHE 2016: Cabaret and Sweet Charity 50th anniversaries

Given that two iconic musicals, Cabaret and Sweet Charity, will celebrate their 50th anniversaries in 2016, I would like to curate a panel investigating the persistence of these particular musicals over the last fifty years. Both were adapted as films, and both have enjoyed major revivals on more than one occasion. Papers might look at their talented creative teams including but not limited to Harold Prince, Boris Aronson, Kander and Ebb, Bob Fosse, Gwen Verdon, Neil Simon, Dorothy Fields, or Cy Coleman, and the impact of their contribution to the particular musical's persistence. Specific songs, characters, or performances (definitive or otherwise, live or recorded) could also provoke discussion. Was there something about 1966 that contributed to these musicals' endurance? Or, do they exhibit a timelessness that allows audiences to continue engaging with them over the course of five decades? Discussing both musicals in a paper is a possibility, but limiting yourself to one would also be fine. The papers selected for this panel will each have a clear and original point to make about these musicals having long lives beyond 1966. 

Interested scholars should submit a 250 word abstract and brief bio to Laura MacDonald (laura.macdonald@port.ac.uk) NO LATER THAN Friday 23 October, so that a panel can be assembled prior to ATHE's 1 November proposal deadline.