3336 - House Seats: Great Broadway Musicals and How They Were Created (Bill Nigut)
Course Description
Instructor: Bill Nigut
Using audio and video highlights, we''ll explore the evolution of the Broadway musical , from Jerome Kern to Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim and beyond. We'll go behind the scenes to discuss how a great musical is created,, and how one song can make the difference between a flop and a hit. And we'll look at how one generation of composers and lyricists informed the next, in a thread that runs from Showboat to Oklahoma to Rent, Into the Woods, Hamilton and more.
Bio: Bill Nigut has been best known for his career as an Atlanta television and radio political analyst and reporter. But less known is that he studied acting and theater history at one of the most prestigious theater colleges in the country - the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago. He founded his own theater company in his hometown of Chicago, studied improvisation at Second City, and was a member of a Chicago improvisation troupe developed by improvisation guru Del Close. Bill saw his first Broadway musical - the original production of The Sound of Music starring Mary Martin - when he was 12 years old - and has been passionate about musicals and straight plays ever since.