International Conference

SONG, STAGE & SCREEN IV

Interdisciplinary approaches to the musical stage

200-word abstract due June 15

December 3-5, 2009

The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities &

The Department of Theatre

University of Maryland, College Park

The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities and the Department of Theater at the University of Maryland, College Park invite submissions for the fourth annual international and interdisciplinary conference on musical and music theatre. Papers on any topic relating to the intersection of music and theatre or film are welcomed. Suggested topics include:

Collaboration and the creation of the musical

Musical theatre texts

Musical theatre archives

Teaching the musical

Representations of race and gender in the musical

Critical and audience reception of the musical

Please send abtsracts of no more than 200 words to Doug Reside <dreside@umd.edu> by June 15

Song, Stage and Screen is the annual conference of the academic journal, Studies in Musical Theatre, which is published by Intellect Press. Previous Song, Stage and Screen conferences have been held at the University of Portsmouth, UK (2006), University of Leeds, UK (2007), and the Graduate Center of City University of New York (2008). It is expected that a selection of papers from this joint conference will be invited for submission to the journal and publication. This year’s conference is organized by Doug Reside (University of Maryland) and Laura Pollard (University of East Anglia).

Details

The purpose of this conference is to stimulate debate around musical theatre provision in UK higher education. While this is a popular and growing area of study, musical theatre remains something of an afterthought in many institutions, often positioned slightly awkwardly within either a music or drama department.

The initial deadline for proposals is 20 October 2008.

http://www.palatine.ac.uk/events/view/1365/

The complete published proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on the Arts and Humanities are available for free on-line in a downloadable pdf format, here.

The papers published by this interdisciplinary conference offer a valuable resource to researchers of all levels. Among these five-to-ten thousand page documents are several interesting complete papers on musicals (as well as some short abstracts).
Complete papers, in chronological order, include:

• James Gifford. “Introducing Creativity and the Arts into a New Technology-Centered Curriculum: A Report on a Work in Progress.” 2004 Proceedings. (Includes a discussion of using West Side Story as part of this technology-centered curriculum for a new degree program in Web and Media Development.)
• Eleanor M. Johnston. “’Amor Vincit Omnia’: Love in Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Life and Works.” 2004 Proceedings. (A well-focused biographical essay about this composer of film scores, opera, and operetta.)
• Laura Hanson. “The First Modernist Musical: Sondheim’s Company.” 2005 Proceedings. (An analysis of this musical’s relationship to preceding Broadway theatre and modernist art movements.)
• Timothy P. Kinsella. “Strike Up the Band: War, Satire, Art, and Praxis.” 2005 Proceedings. (A history and analysis of the Gershwin brothers’ 1930 Broadway musical.)
• Candace Pfefferkorn. “America’s Transformation from Vaudeville Theater to Movie House: The Mass Dissemination of Movie Sound Technology.” 2006 Proceedings. (This historical account of the coming of Vitaphone extensively discusses the 1927 movie of The Jazz Singer.)
• Ronald N. Bukoff. “’Here Am I, Your Special Island’: Pan-Asia on the Western Musical Stage.” 2007 Proceedings. (A survey and analysis of images of Asia and Polynesia in American, British, German, and Hungarian musical theatre.)
• Lisa Campbell Albert, Christine Knoblauch-O’Neal, and Annamaria Pileggi. “Musical Theatre as Liberal Inquiry: The Pathway to Craft.” 2007 Proceedings. (Describes in some detail their approach to teaching musical theatre craftsmanship within a liberal arts context.)
• David Goldblatt. “The Spiritual Violist: The Use of Improvisatory Viola in Jewish and Christian Liturgical Contexts.” 2007 Proceedings.( Discusses Fiddler on the Roof in a sub-section called “The Jewish Connection to Stringed Instruments: A Powerfully Socially Constructed Image.”)
• Laura Hanson. “’I Could Have Danced All Night’: The Choreographic Scenery of Oliver Smith.” 2007 Proceedings. (Describes how Smith approached musical theatre set design, using My Fair Lady as a specific, in-depth example.)

Short abstracts (in chronological order):

• Betsy Cooper. Abstract, “The Hollywood Musical and Censorship: The Dancing Body’s Subversion of the Production Code.” 2004 Proceedings.
• Daphne Lamothe. Abstract: “Cultural Memory and the Staging of Blackness.” 2004 Proceedings. (A discussion of Katherine Dunham’s choreography, using the movie musical Stormy Weather as one of two main examples.)
• Barbara Parisi. Abstract: “Critical Reaction to Feminism in the Off-Broadway American Musical Theatre (1970-1990).” 2005 Proceedings.
• Paula Marie Seniors. Abstract: “The Red Moon: The Interconnections Between Theater and History and the Black and Native Americanization Program at Hampton Institute.” 2005 Proceedings.
• Rod Hernandez. Abstract: “The Spoiled Fruit of Carmen Miranda.” 2006 Proceedings.

This conference topic is intentionally wide in its appeal as it is
hoped papers will cover all aspect of performance as well as the
creation of the music and its composers. The following strands are
anticipated: historic performance practices; design; production;
individual composers and works. The conference organisers are working
closely with Studies in Musical Theatre, and papers presented at the
conference will be invited for submission to the journal and possible
publication.

Further details to follow.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Papers are invited of 20 minutes duration (plus question time) and
abstracts of 200 words should be sent to Dr F Jane Schopf at
Fiona.schopf AT bruford DOT ac DOT uk or Rose Bruford College, Burnt Oak Lane,
Sidcup, Kent DA15 9DF, England
Deadline May 31st 2008

“Those who have enjoyed Stacy Wolf’s writings on musical theatre, including A Problem Like Maria (2002), might enjoy the online article about her in ATHE News (Feb. 22, 2008), “Scholar Spotlight: Stacy Wolf.” (http://www.athe.org/newsletter/080222-fa2z.html)”

Call for Papers information is located at:
http://www.wpunj.edu/SondheimSymposium/papersstudies.html

This Symposium is designed for academics, theatre professionals, as well as music, theatre and musical theatre aficionados. Highlights and options include:

• Opportunity to hear Stephen Sondheim (He’s bringing Anthony Rapp of Rent and Sean Patrick Flahaven, associate editor of the Sondheim Review)
• Panels, Presentations, Performances – two days of Sondheim-related academic activities 
• Opportunity to see a preview performance of the Broadway revival of Sondheim’s Pulitzer-Prize winning musical, Sunday in the Park with George
• Continuing Education Credits available
• College Credit available
• President’s Day holiday on the following Monday – Extend your trip into a long NYC weekend
  

A significant discount is automatically available to those registering prior to December 1, 2007.

Please look over the information at http://www.wpunj.edu/SondheimSymposium. If you have questions, please feel free to e-mail me.

-Phillip Sprayberry, convener

sprayberryp AT wpunj.edu

William Paterson University Media Relations Coordinator

-Diane Nottle, convener
Assistant to the editor, culture news, The New York Times

The Sagacious Stephen Sondheim
William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey

CALL FOR PAPERS
2008 National Popular Culture & American Culture Associations
Conference: March 19 – 22, 2008
San Francisco Marriott
55 Fourth Street
San Francisco, California
The National PCA/ACA invites submissions and abstracts for its 2008 Conference, to be held at the San Francisco Marriot.
Paper topic areas are broad and many, encompassing business, entertainment, fashion, gender, the body, ethnography, technology, science fiction, and many more. Political, historical, literary—essentially all approaches are welcome. See http://www.pcaaca.org/areas/areas.php for a list of all subject areas and the area chairs’ contact information.
For more specific and detailed information about the conference and the organization, please visit www.pcaaca.org
If you have further questions, please contact Delores Rauscher, the Conference Coordinator, at rausche5 AT msu DOT edu

Contact for symposium infomation: Paul Laird – plaird@ku.edu

For info on The Music Man production, directed by John Staniunas: http://www.kutheatre.com/~kutheatr/07-08_season/Murphy50th.shtml