OLLI at Duke • Spring 2022
Course Description
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was arguably the most famous figure in American classical music in the 20th century—a noted conductor, composer, and educator. After the success of his score for Jerome Robbins's 1944 ballet Fancy Free, he and Robbins enlisted Betty Comden and Adolph Green to expand the ballet into the full-length musical On the Town. He followed this landmark show with Wonderful Town (1953), Candide (1956), and West Side Story (1957)—shows that continue to be performed around the world in both theaters and concert halls. This course will focus on these four shows as well as Bernstein’s Mass (1971), commissioned for the opening of The Kennedy Center. We will touch briefly on lesser known works such as Bernstein’s “play with music” version of Peter Pan (1950), his operas Trouble in Tahiti (1952) and A Quiet Place (1983), and the ill-fated 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976). Students will learn about the book, lyrics and music for each of the major shows and the contributions of his collaborators, who also included Lillian Hellman, Stephen Sondheim, Alan Jay Lerner, and Stephen Schwartz. The course is primarily lecture with video and audio clips, but there will be opportunities to ask questions and make comments during each class.
Instructor : Alan Teasley
Alan Teasley began his career as a high school English and drama teacher. In 2006, he retired after working for 31 years in the Durham Public Schools. He also worked as a professor in Duke’s Master of Arts in Teaching Program, retiring from that work in 2015. A member of the OLLI Advisory Board, he is an avid theatergoer with a particular fondness for American musicals. His seven previous courses on musical theater for OLLI have focused on the works of Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kander & Ebb, Frank Loesser, Lerner & Loewe, Jerry Herman, Bock & Harnick, the ten musicals that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and The Women of Broadway, a survey of musicals with book, lyrics, and/or music by women.