American Musicals

Description from DukeHub

What is it about musicals that made them a uniquely American theatrical form? In this course, we will investigate how musicals represent what it means to be American. Musical theatre history is American history, indebted to and reflective of critical histories of appropriation, capitalism, immigration, and popular entertainment. Musicals seduce us in song and dance; it is easy to ignore the substance beneath the sequins. We will study the texts and historical contexts of musicals over the past century, from Shuffle Along, and Oklahoma!, to A Chorus Line, and Hamilton. Musicals reveal shifting notions of what 'American' means as they stage ability, ethnicity, gender, race, and sexuality.

Skills

No skill passed the confidence bar. Weak matches go to review instead of this page: an AI pass that has to quote the description, then a person.

AI-resilient: 2 of 5 2/5

• No: Physical, lab or field work
• No: Live work with people
• No: Judgment someone is accountable for
• ✓Yes: A craft you practice with your hands or body · "dance"
• ✓Yes: Small, in-person format · seminar, 14 seats per section

The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works

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