American Musical

I was pleasantly surprised to see the music department offer a class validating musical theater as a serious discipline worthy of study. Based on our class size, it should be offered every semester. Sadly, the class was intent on focusing on some rather obscure composers and works at the expense of iconic creators. There was no mention of Jule Styne, Marvin Hamlisch, Cy Coleman, or Comden and Green, for example. Masterpieces like "Annie Get Your Gun," "Gypsy," and "A Chorus Line" were negated for shows like "Lady in the Dark," and "The Cradle Will Rock." Moreover, our class was blessed with outstanding pianists, composers, and performers, some of which were actual working professionals. Accordingly, we would have been better served having such students provide musical examples rather than suffering through Frische's piano playing. Although Frische is amusing and charming, he lacks the "it" factor. In short, he does not possess the star quality of the performers or creators that he references in class. It is that quality that defines the American Musical Theater. I still enjoyed this class especially the guest speakers, but the American Musical is rather like a mediocre Broadway show. Novices or out of towners may enjoy it, but hard core students may want to attend something more theatrical.

I'm not sure why Frisch teaches this class. He is not a scholar in the area by any means; he seems to just have a mild interest in musical theatre, and perhaps a deeper interest in one or two composers. I'm also not sure why Music Hum is even a prereq for the class; the material one learns in MH was referenced once or twice, and the depth of the class was about the same.

Content-wise, it's probably not worth your time. I would guess that the class as a whole already knew most of the material he covered. The main draw is the guest speakers, all of whom were far more interesting than WF could ever hope to be. Sadly, neither Kander nor Sondheim could make it this semester, but the men Frisch did get to come were quite entertaining and informative.

Lastly, you would be hard pressed to find a more boring individual than Walter Frisch. He does seem to have a sense of humor, but it very rarely comes to class with him. And his speaking voice is rather reminiscent of Marlon Brando, but not in a good way by any means.

Unfortunately, I have to diagree with the review below. Perhaps Professor Frisch is a better teacher for classes on Brahms, Music History, and other musicologist based courses, but he is certainly not qualified to teach a class on musical theatre. Everything in this class was approached from a musicologist's standpoint and not from that of a lover of musical theatre. Frisch even admitted to not having seen many of the classic shows that we talked about. And, with the course being called "The American Musical" you would think that we would have discussed American shows that made some kind of impact on theatre as an art form. We didn't discuss A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, Gypsy, or many of the other classics of theatre. While the class was incredibly easy, it was a huge bore for anyone who already had any knowledge of musical theatre. The one class that the TA, Daniel, conducted was much more exciting and passionate. He should teach the class in the future. I would recommend this class to anyone under the assumption that Frisch didn't teach it again.