WEBINAR DESCRIPTION

The musical, alongside jazz, is one of the few truly indigenous American art forms. Where, when, and how did it originate? What makes it a uniquely American invention and why was this particular form unlikely to have arisen anywhere else? What makes it different from related forms like plays or operas? What were some of the milestones in its development and who were the creative people responsible for them? This 1-hour presentation, including plentiful video and audio clips, will provide a whirlwind tour and birds’-eye view of the history and evolution of this fascinating form and some of its most distinguished practitioners.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Armando Fox (armandofox.com) is a classically trained (since age 5) pianist who completed pre-conservatory training at the Mannes College of Music, New York (now part of the New School). There he studied piano performance with Michael Boriskin and others, as well as music theory, ear training, ensemble performance, choir, arranging…the whole enchilada. He grew up in New York City and loves the theater; he’s Music Directed over two dozen shows and played in pits for many others. Other theater contributions include original orchestrations for Ron Lytle’s Oh My Godmother! and The Man Who Saved Christmas, and ambitious reductions and original arrangements (usually to 6 or fewer pieces) for Man of La Mancha, Merrily We Roll Along, Assassins, Pal Joey, Cabaret, and others. As far as he knows, he’s the author of the best book on music direction written by a computer scientist (pianoconductor.com) and the best computer science textbook written by a music director (saasbook.info). In addition to keyboards, he plays drums, single reeds, and accordion at varying levels of shame. He also plays actual 80s vintage synthesizers in the 80s cover band Disposable Pop, currently on hiatus. By day he is a computer science professor at UC Berkeley.

REGISTRATION

$15 for members, $25 for non-members.  Closer to the date, registrants will be sent an email with Zoom instructions from programs@playcafe.org. This email might land in a spam folder. Members, write to programs@playcafe.org to request the discount code.