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Dramatism and Musical Theater: Experiments in Rhetorical Performance is an innovative workbook for both students and teachers in advanced communication performance. Meeting at the nexus of English composition, advanced rhetoric, theater, music, and drama, this book utilizes Kenneth Burke's method of dramatism to discover the motives inherent in performance practices, whether they be in the classroom or on the stage. In this book Kimberly Eckel Beasley and James P. Beasley take the five corners of the dramatistic pentad (act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose) and demonstrate their utilization in performance analysis. The authors then correlate those performance practices with the production of five contemporary musicals: Little Women, Aida, Street Scene, Into the Woods, and Children of Eden in order to emphasize the use of the dramatistic pentad in character, scene, and staging direction. By doing so, the book highlights dramatism as a performance practice necessary for effective participation in artistic communities.
Dramatism and Musical Theater: Experiments in Rhetorical Performance is also an indispensable guide for teachers and directors to successfully navigate the challenges of collegiate theatrical production.
List of contents
List of Figures - Acknowledgments - Introduction - Acts in Motion: Dramatism in Jason Howland's Little Women - Scenes in Motion: Dramatism in Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida - Agents in Motion: Dramatism in Kurt Weill's Street Scene - Agency in Motion: Dramatism in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods - Purpose in Motion: Dramatism in Stephen Schwartz's Children of Eden - Conclusion - Index.
About the author
Kimberly Eckel Beasley received a post-master's Certificate of Vocal Performance degree from Northwestern University in 2004. She teaches courses in opera history and vocal pedagogy, and she serves as chair of the department of music at Jacksonville University. She recently received an excellence in directing award from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for her production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods.
James P. Beasley received a Ph.D. from Purdue University in 2007. He teaches courses in rhetorical history, theory, and research at the University of North Florida. He is the author of Rhetoric at the University of Chicago from Peter Lang Publishing.
Summary
Meeting at the nexus of English composition, advanced rhetoric, theater, music, and drama, this book utilizes Kenneth Burke's method of dramatism to discover the motives inherent in performance practices, whether they be in the classroom or on the stage.
Report
"As a former Director of Forensics, who has judged a lot of Rhetorical Criticism and Communication Analysis rounds, and as an Equity Actor and Professor of Dramatic Arts, I am fascinated by the approach of this text. Dramatism and Musical Theater: Experiments in Rhetorical Performance is an innovative, insightful, and informed approach to the practice of performance." -Jeff Green, Professor and Department Chair, Theatre, Communication, and Media Arts, Georgia Southwestern University
