OLLI at Duke • Spring 2024
Course Description
The first half of the course will explore important works of the British musical theatre that were performed in New York between the 1880s and the 1960s: Gilbert and Sullivan, Noël Coward, Sandy Wilson, Lionel Bart, and Anthony Newley. Shows will include The Pirates of Penzance, Bitter Sweet, Sail Away, The Boy Friend, Oliver!, and Stop the World—I Want to Get Off. The second part will focus on the “British Invasion” of the 1980s—in particular, the shows of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber: Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, and The Phantom of the Opera. We’ll also consider the influence of Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Chess, and Mamma Mia!—shows that may not have originated in Britain, but came to Broadway direct from London. Through this survey students will appreciate the unique flavors of these musicals and speculate on their enduring appeal and commercial success. The course is primarily lecture with video and audio clips; students will be able 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. After retiring from the Durham Public Schools in 2006, he taught in Duke’s Master of Arts in Teaching Program. A member of the OLLI Advisory Council, he is an avid theatergoer with a particular fondness for American musicals. This is his fifteenth course on musical theater for OLLI. Previous courses have focused on Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kander & Ebb, Frank Loesser, Lerner & Loewe, Jerry Herman, Bock & Harnick, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Schwartz, the ten musicals that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, six “Off-Broadway Classics,” and “The Women of Broadway”--a survey of musicals with book, lyrics, and/or music by women. He has also presented a two-course survey of “Broadway’s Silver Age,” focused on the musicals of Rodgers & Hart, George & Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter.