musical theatre research paper topics

Top 235 Theatre Research Paper Topics for Students

Mar 17, 2022 | 0 comments

Mar 17, 2022 | Topics | 0 comments

The theater is always captivating because of the different genres and topics of study. The theater has roots that date back centuries and is a part of the entertainment scene worldwide. For people who love theater, writing about it for research papers must be enjoyable because they get to write more deeply on their favorite subject matter–theater. Theatre Research paper topics can center around anything imaginable but typically cover those with creative art in executing plays for radio, TTV or auditorium audiences. It could explore any aspect of life, from Shakespearean dramas detailing warring European monarchies to experimental modernist drama exploring sexuality issues between men and women. Teachers expect students to pick a good area for their theatre paper, but they can also provide them with ideas when they make that decision themselves. Writing research papers helps many different types of people in ways like improving literacy skills and helping you find new information. Some think research papers are too demanding because they require extensive time and detail. However, the advantages to writing a paper outweigh the negatives by far with things such as helping learners get better grades, expanding their knowledge base past what’s taught in school, impressing teachers/professors grading assignments, and knowing how long it is going to take them for future projects. You can approach theatre research paper topics from many different angles. One could write a history of theatre, tracing its origins to the Greeks and naming the various periods since then. In this context, you might study the works of playwrights such as William Shakespeare or Sam Shepard. Another approach that you could use for theatre research paper topics would be a study of the meaning or message being delivered by a particular play or scene. This topic would provide an opportunity to examine a given play’s theme and see its relevance in modern society if any. A third possible choice is a study on the influence of culture on theatre. Overall, an individual’s best interest would be covered when completing this assignment. Topics are the foundation for writing good, engaging theatre research papers. However, getting appropriate subject ideas can be difficult and often obscure to those trying to write a paper. Fortunately, you can easily get creative with your topic! Here are some theatre Research Paper Topics that will make you stand out from the rest:

Table of Contents

Theatre Research Paper Examples

• Artaud’s theatre influence
• Costumes use by actors and actresses to exemplify history on the theatre stage.
• Theater reserved for the irrational
• O’Neill Eugene and Players from Provincetown
• David Belasco, Producer of Theatre
• Theatre in an era where home entertainment dominates
• My preliminary Impression of Acting
• Describe and explain science occasions in European theatre presentations
• Influence of religion on theatre development
• Theatre in a Shakespeare era
• Piscator Erwin and scenery projection
• The Music Function in Theatre
• The theatre that lives
• The 3D entry and how it has impacted the experience of going to theatre halls
• Theatre is used as a tool to impact politics.
• The differences and similarities between Chinese and American operas
• The propagandist methods used to spread dictatorship
• Where war plays a role in driving nationalism
• The impact of the second world war on arts social development
• When theatre grows into a blasphemous entity
• Technology infusion in theatre
• The role children play in European performances on the theatre stage
• Theatre role as a lesson in philosophy
• Community theatre commercialization
• The elements that are the most influential in the Elizabethan theatre and culture era
• European society’s gender bias
• Puppetry influence on cartoons these days
• Who was the most guilty for blame in the demise of Smith Eva?
• Foreman Richard and the hysterical theatre/Ontological theatre
• Wealth and morality in renowned European plays
• Theatre’s position as the source of Europe’s liberalism
• Theatre’s role as an emblem of nationalism. Theatre’s place in the history of European
• Theatre’s role as a tool in social commentary
• The melodramatic assembly in the shape of racism
• Svoboda Josef, the scenographer master

Interesting Theatre Research Paper Ideas

• How Has Theatre Changed Since the Turn of the Century?
• What Was the First Play to Receive a Pulitzer Prize?
• Who Is Your Favorite Stage Actor, and Why?
• What Is the History of Experimental Theatre in New York City?
• What Is the History of Theatre in Medieval Times?
• What Are Some Common Themes of Shakespearean Plays?
• What Are Some Common Themes of Greek Plays?
• How Have dramatic Techniques Changed Throughout Time?
• Who Are Some Famous Directors Today, and How Do They Compare to Those of the Past?
• Greek Theatre in the 5th Century BC
• The Roman Theatre and its Influence on Modern Theatre
• Important women and Theatre in 17th and 18th Century England
• The Shakespearean Globe Theatre
• Commedia del’Arte
• The Development of Realism in Nineteenth-Century European Drama
• Brechtian Theory and Epic Theatre
• The Development of Realism in American Drama from O’Neill to Williams
• Antonin Artaud: The Development of the ‘Theatre of Cruelty
• Stanislavski’s Method: A Case Study of a Modern Actor Training System
• Which Is More Important: Acting or Directing? Why?

Easy Theatre Topics for Students

• What is the relationship between representation and reality in theatre?
• In what ways are theatrical conventions used to construct and communicate meaning?
• What is the role of the spectator in theatre?
• What does it mean to say that theatre is a social process?
• In what ways is the study of theatre important to understanding human experience?
• How does theatre contribute to our understanding of history, culture, and society?
• What is the relationship between live stage performances and technology?
• Why study Theatre Studies?
• How will theatre change as a result of the pandemic?
•  What are some topics that would make great theatre essays?
•  Why do most people prefer watching movies to watching plays in theatres?
•  How can we encourage more people to watch plays rather than films?
•  Do you prefer watching films or plays at the theatre, and why?
•  Why do people like watching plays?
•  What is the history of the theatre?
•  How to write a play review?
•  How do movies differ from theatres?
•  What are the different roles in a theatre play?
•  Why was the Greek Theatre built in the way it was?
•  What is the purpose of a Theatre Review?
•  Should Theatre be made more accessible for blind people?
•  How does music affect theatre performance?
•  What is theatre?
•  What are the characteristics of Shakespeare’s plays?
•  A topic on the dramatic play, “Othello.”
•  In the play Hamlet, the character Polonius and his “famous” advice to Laertes.
•  Movie adaptations of novels: How do they compare with the printed word?
•  How does a play or novel you have studied change your understanding or appreciation of history?
•  The life and works of famous playwrights, for example, Aristotle, Sophocles, William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, and Tennessee Williams.
•  The lives of actors and actresses in ancient Greece, the Elizabethan era, or modern times
•  What is tragic drama? Tragic heroes from Greek drama and modern plays
•  The history of Greek theatre
•  The changing role of women in theatre since the Elizabethan period
•  The Importance of Theatre
•  The Best Form of Entertainment
•  A Brief History of Drama
•  The Role of Women in the Theatre
•  How to Write a Play
•  The Role of Music in the Theatre
•  The Evolution of the Art of Acting
•  The Evolution of Theatre Design and Architecture
•  How to Become an Actor or Actress
•  Famous Actors and Actresses
• How has the concept of the theatre changed over time?
• How does theatre influence society?
• What is the role of theatre in modern society?
• What is the purpose of theatre?
• What are the historical origins of theatre?
• Who was the first playwright in history?
• What is the impact of theatre on education?
• Explain how drama can help develop children’s social skills and self-esteem.
• What are some factors that contribute to the successful production of a play?
• How can I choose a good play to perform with my students?
• What are some strategies for teaching students about acting and stagecraft?

A-List Of Intriguing  Theatre thesis topics and Prompts

This list of Theatre thesis topics has been divided into Master’s thesis topics and Ph.D. thesis topics. The current thesis topics below are available for theatre studies students.

• “The Clash Between Classical and Contemporary Music Theater: A Study in British Musicals from 1970 to 1980.”
• “The Effects of Music on Audience Perception of Emotion in Musical Theater.”
• “The Importance of the Musical Director in Modern Musical Theater Productions.”
• “The Evolution of Race Relations in Tennessee Williams’s Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire.”
• “Sam Shepard’s Use of Mythology in Buried Child and True West.”
• “An Analysis of the Role of Women in William Shakespeare’s Comedies.”
• The Future of Theatre Criticism: Implications of Social Media on the Profession.
• The Relevance of Shakespeare in Contemporary Theatre.
• The Performance and Impact of Greek Theatre Today.
• The Influence of the Cultural Revolution on Modern Chinese Theatre.
• The Influence of Milton’s Poetry on Modern Theatre.
• Using Theatrical Symbols in Political Propaganda.
• Nationalism, Globalization and Contemporary Theatre in Latin America.
• Latin American Women’s Role in Contemporary Theatre.
• I will write a thesis exploring the intersection of drama therapy and disability theatre. Working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental illness is an important part of my life. I became interested in this topic because it combines two things that are so meaningful to me.
• My thesis concerns performance-making’s role in forming a cultural identity for diverse communities. The topic I am exploring is how theatre can be used as a tool for participatory development. Specifically, I am looking at how performance-making can be used as a tool for community engagement and dialogue and the pedagogical implications of this practice.
• I want to write my thesis on the relationship between narrative structure and theater design: how we use stories to shape spaces and how spaces inform our stories. This is a question I’ve been thinking about since studying abroad, when I learned that all of the theaters in Italy were built before Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, despite being designed to accommodate his plays specifically.
• My thesis falls into Theatre & Performance Studies (TPS) category. It’s about Shakespeare’s use of clowns in his plays, focusing on Falstaff in the Henry IV plays Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

List of possible term paper topics on Theatre

Theatre term paper topics range from Contemporary Theatre to Historical Theatre, Broadway Theatre to Theatre Design. I have listed a few topic suggestions below to help you get started on your theatre term paper. In addition, I have included a list of the most popular theatre research paper topics. The following is a suggested list of topics for your theatre term paper:

• Brecht and Epic Theatre
• The Golden Age of Broadway – 1920-1940
• The Renaissance in England and France
• The influence of Greek culture on American drama
• Shakespeare’s Hamlet – a psychological study
• Your favorite Shakespeare play
• The styles and themes of Tennessee Williams’ plays
• Anton Checkhov’s plays – an analysis of female characters
• Chekhov as a modern dramatist
• Bertolt Brecht’s use of alienation in Mother Courage and her Children
•  The importance of theatre in the modern world
•  Theatre as a lifestyle
•  Theatre and politics
•  How to attract more people to attend theatre shows?
•  Reasons why people watch theatre today
•  The history of theatre
•  The place of theatre in the past and present world
•  The reason why fashion is so important for theatres
•  Differences between modern and old-school theatres
•  How do politics influence the work of playwrights?
• “The Lion King” and Social Responsibility
• “A Raisin in the Sun”: Walter’s Dream
• “A Raisin in the Sun”: The American Dream Deferred
• A Doll’s House: The Decline of the Institution of Marriage
• A Doll’s House: Nora Helmer Character Analysis
• Antigone: The Role of Women in Antigone
• Antigone: Creon or Antigone – Who is the Tragic Hero?
• Antigone: Creon as a Tragic Figure in “Antigone”
• Antigone: Power Corrupts, but Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
• The Crucible: What Made “The Crucible” Such a Successful Play?
• The Crucible: John Proctor Character Analysis
• Death of a Salesman: A Research Paper on Arthur Miller’s American Dream
• Death of a Salesman: Willy Loman’s Failing American Dream
• Death of a Salesman: Willy Loman as Tragic Hero in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Theatre Research Paper Questions and Essay Prompts

✔ Choose one particular element of theatre and analyze its role in modern performance. For example, you may write about costume design, lighting, stage props, or the screen itself. ✔ Compare and contrast modern theater with the theater of the past – for example, popular theaters in Shakespeare’s time. How has theater changed? Are there any elements that have remained intact? ✔ Analyze a specific actor (or actress). You may compare their work to other actors of their time; also, you can compare their work to actors of today. In either case, provide examples from at least three performances by this actor. ✔ Write an essay on how the audience impacts a given performance. If a performance is well-received by an audience, does it necessarily mean it is good? Conversely, can a poor performance receive rave reviews from an audience? Make sure to support your thesis with examples from specific performances. ✔ Analyze how various theatrical traditions address social issues. For example, you may write about Chinese Peking Opera or Japanese Kabuki Theatre. Alternatively, you may address Theater of the Absurd and analyze its key elements as well as its functions within society as a whole

Interesting Drama Paper Topic Ideas

• Drama and the facilitation of leadership
• Types of stages and drama productions
• Operetta and emotion: An analysis of Sweeney Todd
• South Pacific: Depictions of war in theater
• Adaptations of theater to cinema
• The role of spectacle in contemporary theater
• History of Broadway
• A brief history of drama
• Creative dramatics
• Set design and modern theater
• Drama and the development of imagination
• Music and theater
• Classical mythology and tragedy
• To Kill a Mockingbird: Race and dramatics
• European drama
• Television drama and depictions of family values
• Social stigma and Elizabethan actors
• Radio drama: Pre-television popular culture entertainment
• Dionysus and the origins of theater
• Tennessee Williams and modern theater
• Role play in group therapy
• Greek Tragedy
• Drama and the Harlem renaissance
• Drama and the psychology of self-confidence
• Acting and expression
• African American expression and Blacksploitation: The Wiz.
• Drama on the stage and screen
• Shakespeare’s histories
• Revolutionizing contemporary musical theater: Rodgers and Hammerstein
• The art of directing: Bringing stories to life
• Chinese Drama
• The Wizard of Oz: Contemporary influences
• Drama in elementary education: Developing thinking, feeling and moving skills
• The exploration of social issues in drama
• Shakespeare and his contribution to drama
• The Diary of Anne Frank: Expressions of the Holocaust in art
• Homosexuality and theater
• The Interrogation of Nathan Hale: Minimalism and the forging of a nation
• Contemporary theater influence in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange
• Performance skills
• Choreography and contemporary theatre
• Three Theban plays: Depictions of civil disobedience
• Drama and team building
• Multiple intelligence: Howard Gardner and drama
• Improvisation and expression

Ideas for good topics for theatre research papers

• Does a director or an actor define what the play will be like?
• Drama as a universal language;
• Does cinema kill theater?
• The role of music in a certain play;
• The place of improvisation in contemporary theatre;
• History and origins of opera and ballet;
• The roles of ‘personal’ and ‘collective’ in a play.
• Shakespeare’s contribution to the development of theater;
• The influence of ancient Greek tragedy on modern-day theater;
• How does theater develop a viewer’s imagination?

An excellent theatre research paper starts with selecting a captivating and robust subject. It offers a good foundation that, coupled with other research guides, will provide a polished and exciting paper. So as a writer interested in writing about theatre, your choice of topic will define the rest of the document. The catalog of theater research paper topics provided will set you on a course to writing an excellent paper.

Get Help from the Experts with your Theatre Research Paper Topics Paper

We hope you’ve found this article useful. It may seem like there are many theatre research paper topics to choose from, but maybe not as many as before after reading this blog post! If none of these ideas sparks your interest, don’t worry – we have writers who can help with that too. Place an order today and start crafting your perfect essay or dissertation for school or work tomorrow morning.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you write a theatre research paper.

• Define Your Thesis Statement
• Do Research
• Sketch an outline of your essay
• Write Your Research Paper in a Structured Way: Introduction, body, and conclusion.

What are some drama topics?

• Drama in elementary education: Developing thinking, feeling, and moving skills

What are some good ideas for a research paper?

Some common research paper topics include climate, birth control, health, abortion, change, technology, global warming, history, gun control, science, social media, AI, and child abuse.

What are the five acceptable research topics?

• The Impact of U.N. Policies on the Environment
• Bar Code Implants
• The Impact of Globalization on Religion
• Imposed Democracy
• Marketing and Media Influence on Teens

With a passion for education and student empowerment, I create blog content that speaks directly to the needs and interests of students. From study hacks and productivity tips to career exploration and personal development

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Broadway Then and Now: Musicals in the 21st Century

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A special issue of Arts (ISSN 2076-0752). This special issue belongs to the section " Musical Arts and Theatre ".

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Dear Colleagues,

In what ways have musicals developed in the 21st century to reflect current socio-political changes? These revolutions in narrative, sexual and racial politics, linear representation and thematic content give us the opportunity to see the musical in a different light. The musical’s structural revolutions are intimately connected to the thematic considerations and politics of musical theatre performance, including the politics of its reception. New Broadway musicals are shaped by the current political climate and absorb recent events, deal with teenage mental health and sexuality, adapt Greek myths, revisit gender politics, address gender-blind casting and also deal with failure. This Special Issue aims to present a range of Broadway musicals that shape our understanding of how the genre has evolved in the 21st century. Ranging from Fun Home to Dear Evan Hansen and Hadestown, this promises to be a unique cutting-edge volume of exciting new research by well-established and emerging music-theatre specialist academics edited by George Rodosthenous.

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Musicals & Musical Theater: A Guide to Research and Resources

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Key Musical Theater Journals

Articles in periodicals, music periodical databases & full-text, subject search links for musical theater periodicals.

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• International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance with Full Text Provides abstracts and full-text for journal articles, books, book chapters, and dissertations on all aspects of theater, dance, and performance.
• Performing Arts Periodicals Database Provides abstracts and full text to the periodical literature for a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry--including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, film, and television.
• RILM Abstracts of Music Literature with Full Text This link opens in a new window Covers all aspects of music, including voice, dance, dramatic arts, and musical theater. For a subject search on musicals, click here For a subject search on Broadway musicals, click here
• Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window Indexes music journals covering a broad scope of research from performance, theory and composition to music education, jazz and ethnomusicology. Provides selected full text coverage of the most important music journals, and both scholarly and popular publications.
• Music Index with Full Text This link opens in a new window Includes international music periodicals covering classical, popular and world of music. Comprehensively cites articles and news about music, musicians and the music industry as well as book and concert reviews and obituaries. 1970+ more... less... Print volumes covering 1949-1972 are available in Mendel Music Library: Reference (SV) ML 118 M84.
• Music & Performing Arts Online (Article Search) Simultaneously searches the International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP) and the International Index to the Performing Arts (IIPA), offering cross-searching of music, theater, dance, television, film, and other performing arts journals.
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Musical Theatre Research

The University of Lincoln’s Musical Theatre research evidences a broad understanding of the area, embracing Broadway and the West End; new writing in musical theatre; British musical theatre; Queer Theory, and wider understandings of the intersections between music and the stage. Given its inherently interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches in musical theatre, our researchers work frequently with other colleagues in the areas of Drama, Music, and Dance, while engaging in wider projects across the arts and social sciences. These have explored uses of music in performance relating to migration, place, identity, (auto)ethnography, community, psychology, health, and wellbeing.

Staff in the area have produced monographs, journal articles, edited collections, and book chapters, while contributing to community-facing events, projects, and reports. Our approaches also embrace practice-as-research and professional practice, and colleagues in the school have been recognised for their award-winning musical theatre writing.

Meanwhile, we have made leading contributions to the international journal Studies in Musical Theatre, the conference series “Song, Stage and Screen”, and book series “Palgrave Studies in British Musical Theatre” and “Critical Perspectives in Musical Theatre” (OUP), and events with organisations such as Mercury Musical Developments, English National Opera, the Ohio Light Opera Festival, and the Oxford Literary Festival. PhD opportunities in musical theatre embrace both practice-based enquiries and more traditional theoretical study. 

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How has Musical Theatre been used to project political, social and historical themes

Musical Theatre has been seen by many as a 'fluffy' piece of entertainment. This paper examines how Les Miserables, Billy Elliott and Oliver can be examined to explore how the musical has projected political, social and historical themes of the time of writing.

Related Papers

Millie Taylor

Contents: Introduction Musical characterisation in HMS Pinafore and The Rocky Horror Show Encoding the voice: Show Boat, Guys and Dolls, and musical theatre post-1960 Integration and distance in musical theatre: the case of Sweeney Todd Layers of representation and the creation of irony: Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Merrily We Roll Along and The Last 5 Years Alternatives to linearity: Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Assassins Illusions of realism in West Side Story and actor-musician performances Experiencing live musical theatre performance: La Cage Aux Folles and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert I&#39;ve heard that song before: the jukebox musical and entertainment in Jersey Boys, Rock of Ages, Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You Conclusion Bibliography Index.

Dennis Altman

The musical is in some ways the most significant contribution of the United States to theatre. Musicals have long been a space for considerable political expression, which is often overlooked in the tendency to view them as no more than light popular entertainments.

Cambridge University Press eBooks

William Everett

Theatre Journal

Laura MacDonald

Brock Review

Musical theatre can take root anywhere. The future of the musical may very well lie beyond Broadway and the West End. In recent years, successful musicals have been developed in Canada, Australia and the German speaking countries. Some, like Elisabeth, have travelled internationally without ever playing in English. Companies in Korea, Japan and China are investing in new works, both domestically and internationally. These different countries can learn from each other. In South Africa, people do literally burst into song on the streets. During the apartheid era, some of the freedom fighters were known to have gone to the gallows singing. Both there and in Argentina, musical theatre played an active role in the struggle against oppression. Shows like Sarafina weren’t just about the struggle against apartheid, they were part of it. This is nothing new – the cabarets of Weimar Berlin were also struggling against oppression. In fact, the birth of the musical coincided with the birth of democracy. On the other hand, during World War II, the allfemale Takarazuka Revue was co-opted by the Japanese government for propaganda purposes. The real point of my book A Million Miles from Broadway is not just to tell a history of the musical. It’s what you do with that history after you’ve learned it that is important. Firstly to learn about our own musical theatre heritage, but also to learn about each other’s. We may find that people in other countries have found solutions to problems that we are struggling with.

David Roesner

As the complicated relationship between music and theatre has evolved and changed in the modern and postmodern periods, music has continued to be immensely influential in key developments of theatrical practices. In this study of musicality in the theatre, David Roesner offers a revised view of the nature of the relationship. The new perspective results from two shifts in focus: on the one hand, Roesner concentrates in particular on theatre-making - that is the creation processes of theatre - and on the other, he traces a notion of ‘musicality’ in the historical and contemporary discourses as driver of theatrical innovation and aesthetic dispositif, focusing on musical qualities, metaphors and principles derived from a wide range of genres. Roesner looks in particular at the ways in which those who attempted to experiment with, advance or even revolutionize theatre often sought to use and integrate a sense of musicality in training and directing processes and in performances. His study reveals both the continuous changes in the understanding of music as model, method and metaphor for the theatre and how different notions of music had a vital impact on theatrical innovation in the past 150 years. Musicality thus becomes a complementary concept to theatricality, helping to highlight what is germane to an art form as well as to explain its traction in other art forms and areas of life. The theoretical scope of the book is developed from a wide range of case studies, some of which are re-readings of the classics of theatre history (Appia, Meyerhold, Artaud, Beckett), while others introduce or rediscover less-discussed practitioners such as Joe Chaikin, Thomas Bernhard, Elfriede Jelinek, Michael Thalheimer and Karin Beier.

Nordic Theatre Studies

Magnús Þór Þorbergsson

Introduction to issue 29/2 of Nordic Theatre Studies on Theatre and the Popular. The articles of the issue were developed from papers given at a conference of the Association of Nordic Theatre Scholars at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik in March 2016. Guest editor of the issue: Magnus Thor Thorbergsson

Fern Wigfield

The life and works of William Shakespeare have long been a fascination and source of inspiration for scholars and audience members alike, with the very name ‘Shakespeare’ connoting images of cultural importance and literary greatness. In contrast, American musical theatre is largely unstudied by academics, possibly due to it being disregarded as a piece of popular culture with little societal importance. However, the influence of William Shakespeare upon popular culture is just as significant today as it’s ever been, and this thesis shall explore just how Shakespeare’s themes, literary techniques and own personal brand of ‘celebrity’ have contributed (individually and collectively) to shape the face of American musical theatre since the turn of the millennium. Using the Romeo and Juliet inspired Bare: a pop opera (2000), Something Rotten! (2015) (in which a fictitious embodiment of Shakespeare himself makes an appearance) and Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (2015) as key case studies, this investigation shall explore the ways in which Shakespeare can be found within modern musical theatre in some form, and how this compares with his original writings and other contemporary musicals. The study will conclude with an assessment of how Shakespeare’s somewhat iconic status continues to outlive him in the afterlife of his plays, and that this is prevalent in the case studies of Hamilton, Bare: a pop opera and Something Rotten!. It will also assess the ways in which Shakespeare’s themes and how the identity of the playwright is viewed through contemporary musical theatre has altered over time in order to adapt to the modern world.

Thando Mangcu

Honours year research paper, supervised by Amy Jephta.

Simona Vermeire

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Articles on Musical theatre

Displaying 1 - 20 of 29 articles.

The Questions is a gorgeous and joyful piece of new Australian musical theatre

Catherine Campbell , University of South Australia

Adelaide Festival 2024: a moving marriage of local and international works – with Indigenous voices front and centre

William Peterson , Auckland University of Technology

Keeping a film’s identity as a musical secret is key for box office success – here’s why

Jodie Passey , Lancaster University

‘An extremely serious musical comedy’ about Whitlam? Yes. The Dismissal is great fun, witty and sharply observed

Michelle Arrow , Macquarie University

New Aussie musical Bloom misses an opportunity to interrogate the gaps in aged care – and in our social fabric

Sarah Austin , The University of Melbourne

Puttin’ on the Ritz and improving well-being with older adults through virtual music theatre

Julia Brook , Queen's University, Ontario and Colleen Renihan , Queen's University, Ontario

With 9 Broadway musicals currently on Australian stages, musical theatre is thriving again

Craig Dalton , Edith Cowan University

‘The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’ as TikTok Grammy-winning sensation: Is the future of musical theatre online?

Sarah Bay-Cheng , York University, Canada

Revisiting Shane Warne: The Musical – this brilliant show should be considered an Aussie classic

Mara Davis Johnson , UNSW Sydney

Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Assassins’ lays bare the bizarre role of guns in American culture

Jennifer Tucker , Wesleyan University and Peter Rutland , Wesleyan University

Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a spectacular feast for the senses

Sonya Suares , Edith Cowan University

Letters from Sondheim: how I got to know the great composer

Phoebe Rumsey , University of Portsmouth

Five of Stephen Sondheim’s best shows

Christopher Wiley , University of Surrey

Here’s to the ladies who lunch: one of Sondheim’s greatest achievements was writing complex women

Narelle Yeo , University of Sydney

What’s behind the magic of live music?

Mariusz Kozak , Columbia University

‘Judy’ Grammy nomination: Beyond this film’s rainbow is a wider complexity of queer musical theatre fans

Steven Greenwood , McGill University

TikTokkers are writing Ratatouille, the musical. But who owns the copyright?

Daniela Simone , Macquarie University and Isabella Alexander , University of Technology Sydney

Hamilton – the diverse musical with representation problems

Hannah Robbins , University of Nottingham

Watching Hamilton today – musical drama can be radical, just don’t believe all the hype

Dennis Altman , La Trobe University

As Andrew Lloyd Webber launches a YouTube channel, here’s how he revived the musical

Matt Lockitt , University of Winchester

Related Topics

• Australian Theatre
• Stephen Sondheim
• Theatre review
• US politics

Top contributors

Lecturer in Musical Theatre, Griffith University

Associate Professor, Eighteenth-Century English Literature, Northumbria University, Newcastle

Senior Lecturer Musical Theatre, University of Portsmouth

Associate Professor in Voice, Opera and Stagecraft, Director Music Theatre, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney

Professor of History, Macquarie University

Lecturer in Theatre, The University of Melbourne

Vice Chancellor's Fellow and Professorial Fellow, Institute for Human Security and Social Change, La Trobe University

Associate Professor of Music and Music Theory, Columbia University

Paul Eliadis Chair of Classics and Ancient History, The University of Queensland

Professor of Drama and Film Education, Anglia Ruskin University

Senior Lecturer in Music, Department of Music and Media, University of Surrey

Professor of History, Wesleyan University

Adjunct Associate Professor, Auckland University of Technology

Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University

Professor of Government, Wesleyan University

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Music Theatre Performance (Bachelor of): Constructing Research Questions

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Why develop a research question?

Writing a good research question is the first critical step in the research process. A well constructed research question will guide the research project and help in building a logical argument. The research question should clear, focused and summarize the issue or topic you plan to investigate.

• Begin by identifying a broader subject you are interested in exploring (ie. development of modern dance)
• give you a good sense if your topic is too broad or too narrow
• provide additional ideas for what aspect of a broad topic you may want to explore more
• reveal whether your topic has already been covered sufficiently somewhere else (in this case, consider modifying your topic)
• Narrow your topic by asking open-ended "how" or "why" questions. (ie. how did the development of modern dance challenge classical ballet?) List a few potential questions and select one that can be explored further.
• How to Write a Research Question Handout

1. Identifying Keywords

Step One:  From your research question, identify the keywords and phrases.

For example:

Isadora Duncan is typically credited as one of the earliest innovators of modern dance .  How did Duncan's new style of dance, influenced by Greek art and theatre , challenge the conventions of  classical ballet ?

Step Two:  Create your search, focus on nouns only. These will be your  keywords or phrases -  not  who, why, where, when, how  or  what .

• modern dance  2. Greek art, or theatre  3. classical ballet

Step Three : Identify synonyms and related terms for each keyword or phrase. Remember to put any phrases in quotes, e.g.

  You can find more synonyms or keywords using the Visual Thesaurus (see below) or  Thesaurus.com  .

• Visual Thesaurus An interactive dictionary and thesaurus. Creates interactive word maps.

3. Entering Keywords

Once you have developed your list of keywords and identified ways to combine the terms, you can begin entering them into the search box of the search engine or database you are using.

FIELD SEARCHING  – narrow your results by specifying where the database should search for your terms.  Try narrowing certain search terms to the title field or abstract, for example.  If you know the subject terms being used by the database, use these terms and limit the search to the subject field (a.k.a. descriptor).

TIP: It’s always a good idea to try different combinations and keywords to improve your search results.  Remember, research is a process!

2. Using Keywords and Phrases

Each database recognizes slightly different commands.  Luckily, these commands are becoming more standardized.  Here are some commonly used commands.  See the Search Tips (or Search Help) in your database to see which symbols are recognized.

PHRASE   – specifies that terms must appear in the order given.  A common symbol is quotation marks ("...").

• EXAMPLE: “modern dance”

OR   – broadens your search by specifying that any of the listed terms must appear in the article.  Use for synonyms.

• EXAMPLE: theatre OR drama 

AND   – narrows your search by specifying that all of the listed terms must appear in the article.  Use for connecting different concepts.

• EXAMPLE: "modern dance" AND "Greek drama" AND ballet

NOT   – narrows your search by removing articles with unwanted words. Use with caution. When you use the NOT operator, you run the risk of removing potentially relevant articles.

• EXAMPLE: "modern dance" NOT jazz

TRUNCATION   – allows you to retrieve different forms of a root word.  Common symbols are asterisk (*), number sign (#), or question mark (?).  See the help tool in your database to determine which symbol is appropriate.

• EXAMPLE: danc* (retrieves dance, dancing, dancers, dances etc.)

Videos to help with Search Strategies

• Search terms and methods: Keyword vs. controlled vocabulary. 6m 27sec.
• Search terms and methods: Boolean searching. 3m 48sec.
• Using a research database. 6m 34sec.
• Last Updated: Sep 19, 2024 11:17 AM
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Selected Periodicals

The Music Library subscribes to periodicals and journals in both print and online formats. Each journal below is linked directly to its record in the Library Catalog — click to see which volumes are available. If the Library Catalog states that a title is available online, click Show All Online Resources to see what issues are available through which electronic resource.

Below are some journals related to musical theatre that you can access at/through the Music Library.

• American Music Call Number: ML 1 .A5028
• American Theatre Call Number: PN 2000 .A51
• Playbill Call Number: PN 2000 .P64
• Popular Music and Society Call Number: ML 1 .P83
• Show Music Call Number: ML 1699 .S561
• Sondheim Review Call Number: ML 410 .S6872 S6
• Studies in Musical Theatre (Available online only.)

Selected Online Resources For Articles

Below are some of the main electronic resources that will assist you in locating periodical and journal articles related to musical theatre. To explore other electronic resources available, you can browse all  online databases  and  online journals  by subject or see an overview of  library resources  related to music. 

• Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window Provides indexing and abstracts for more than 260 scholarly and popular performing arts periodicals. The database currently includes half a million records, the majority from the most recent ten years of each journal. It also retrospectively indexes 63 periodical titles as far back as 1864. IIPA covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television and more.
• International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text This link opens in a new window contains more than 60,000 journal articles, books, book chapters and dissertation abstracts. It has more than 500 full-text titles, including more than 170 full-text journals and more than 360 full-text books & monographs.
• Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Web of Science) This link opens in a new window Available through Web of Science, allows searching for articles that cite a known author or work, as well as searching by subject, author, journal, and author address. Indexes 1,600 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals.
• Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window Complete runs of major trade and consumer magazines, from their inception to 2000. Each magazine can be browsed cover-to-cover in full-page, full-text format. Users are able to search for original reviews, interviews, industry news, listings, charts and features relating to the full range of popular media using advanced search and retrieval functionality.
• Music Periodicals Database Indexes over 425 scholarly and popular music periodicals from more than 20 countries with full text for recent articles from 140 of these periodicals. Access: Limited to authorized UM users (through validated sign-on).
• MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window A subject index for books, articles and websites published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and film by the Modern Language Association (MLA), an organization dedicated to the study and teaching of language and literature. The electronic version of the Bibliography dates back to 1925 and contains over 2 million citations from more than 4,400 periodicals (including peer-reviewed e-journals) and 1,000 book publishers.
• Music Index Comprehensive subject-author guide to music periodical literature. The Music Index online coverage spans from 1970 to the present and contains surveyed data from over 700 international music periodicals from over 40 countries. Access: Limited to authorized UM users (through validated sign-on).
• JSTOR Provides full-text access to the archives of core scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences. Access: Limited to authorized UM users (through validated sign-on).
• RIPM (Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals) International annotated bibliography of writings on musical history and culture, found in 140 music periodicals published in 20 countries between approximately 1800 and 1950. Treating primary source material, RIPM indexes the content of complete runs of journals, including articles, reviews, news columns, miscellaneous items, surveys of the press, bibliographies, iconography and advertising. Access: Limited to authorized UM users (through validated sign-on).
• Humanities and Social Sciences Index (with Abstracts and Full Text) This link opens in a new window Provides indexing of over 1,500 periodicals across all humanities and social sciences fields. Full text is included for many articles since 1994.
• Humanities Abstracts (with Full Text) This link opens in a new window Indexes and abstracts articles from almost 700 humanities publications. Covers periodicals in archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, journalism, linguistics, music, performing arts, philosophy, religion, world history, and world literature. Abstracts feature articles, book reviews, interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, original works of fiction (including dramas and poems), and reviews of plays and television and radio programs.
• Film Indexes Online This link opens in a new window Combined access to the American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog, Film Index International (FII), and the FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals databases.
• Project MUSE Provides full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies, with over 120 publishers currently participating. Access: Limited to authorized UM users (through validated sign-on).

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Performing Arts and Media Librarian

Search OneSearch for Books, Journals, Videos, and more

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The pages in this section are designed to assist persons studying specific areas of drama to focus their research. Check out the sections under:

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Key Research: Theatre and Arts Education

Theatre skills are life skills..

Participating in theatre builds students’ creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking abilities. Arts education drives better outcomes for students, including higher graduation rates and SAT scores.

The research about the value of theatre education is clear, and you can explore it all in this curated collection of the most important studies and reports in the field, led by EdTA as well as our partner organizations.

TIP: Identify more research applicable to theatre and arts education using the Arts Education Partnership’s ArtsEDSearch tool .

Theatre education research.

• JumpStart Theatre Research Reports, 2015-2018
• The 2012 EdTA-UTU Survey of Theatre Education in United States High Schools
• The 1991 EdTA Survey of Theatre Education in the United States

Arts Education Research

• Hewlett Foundation Report: 2021 Powerful Arts Education Practice
• 2010 Survey of Arts Education in Public and Secondary Schools
• Increasing Access to Arts Education in Rural Areas
• 2008 Arts Report from National Assessment of Educational Progress
• Learning, Arts, and the Brain (2008)
• Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievement

Policy Reports and Papers

• Every Student Succeeds Act and social emotional learning: opportunities and considerations for P-12 arts educators
• Education Commission of the States analysis of arts education provisions in state reopening plans

Impact of COVID-19 on Theatre Education

• EdTA 2021 report
• EdTA 2020 report

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