Cost and Registration Information

Early Registration Price (January 9 at 10 am – January 26 at 4 pm): $250
Regular Registration Price (January 26 at 4 pm – first day of class): $275

Members, seniors, and students get a 10% discount.

Online registration is closed, but you can still register by phone. Please call (312) 255-3700 to do so.

Excuse our dust!

Beginning January 2018 the Newberry will be undertaking renovation of much of the first floor. The Adult Education Seminars Program will still have use of the basement classrooms, but please check this link frequently for the latest conditions - which exterior doors are open or closed, where to find an accessible entrance, which restrooms are available, etc.

Because of the renovation, the Newberry Bookstore will be closed during the Winter/Spring and Summer 2018 terms. As such, seminar participants will be responsible for acquiring all required texts for their seminars on their own. We apologize sincerely for the inconvenience, and appreciate your understanding. We have put together a list of helpful resources that should make it easy to find the books you need.

Seminar Description

The art form of the American musical is as big and broad as the country that spawned it, and it allows for infinite variety in the ways it incorporates comedy, farce, drama, history, and religious themes into its mix. This seminar will examine eight shows that span that spectrum, from the happy and high-stepping songs of Guys and Dolls to the glorious, pop-infused score of Godspell. Other major musicals we will examine are My Fair Lady, West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Fiddler on the Roof, Man of La Mancha and 1776. Eight sessions.

Douglas Post is an award-winning playwright, composer, and lyricist whose works have been produced around the world. He has taught at Northwestern University, DePaul University, and Victory Gardens Theater. He currently teaches playwriting at Chicago Dramatists and serves on the Council for the Dramatists Guild of America.

Materials List

Required:

• Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, My Fair Lady: A Musical Play in Two Acts Based on Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw. Penguin Books, Limited (UK); First Edition March 27, 1997. ISBN#: 978-0140013641
• Arthur Laurent, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story. Signet Classic Shakespeare Series, Laurel Leaf (August 15, 1965). ISBN#: 978-0440974833
• Larry Gelbert, Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Applause Boo. ISBN#: 978-1557830647
• Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler on the Roof. Limelight Editions, ISBN#: 978-0879101367
• Dale Wasserman, Joe Darion and Mitch Leigh, Man of La Mancha. Random House. ISBN#: 0394406192
• Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards, 1776. Penguin Book. ISBN#: 978-0140481396

First Reading:

• There is no reading assignment for the first class.

This class is part of the Newberry’s Adult Education Seminars Program. Learn more about our registration procedures.