The solo interpretation and performance of song is a powerful storytelling medium! Students will consider and experience how the underground art of cabaret performance provides a liberating space for representation, mischief and joyful, music-filled self-expression. Cast yourself in your favorite musical theatre numbers! Reinterpret popular hits! Recontextualize jazz standards! (Wear sequins?) Over the course of the semester, this course will engage in reading, viewing, listening and evaluative assignments related to the craft of cabaret, as well as the influence of notable performers in the genre from Eartha Kitt to Martha Graham Cracker, Taylor Mac to Lea Salonga, and Somebody Somewhere’s Bridget Everett to Oh, Mary’s Cole Escola. Visits by working professional performers in the interconnected fields of cabaret, drag and musical theatre may enhance our exploration throughout the semester. Along the way, students will learn to apply acting philosophies and performance techniques to disentangle the voice from the body and expand their avenues of physical expression, while preparing the imagination through lyrical interpretation, character development, and the crafting of dynamic patter. (Vocal technique can be honed elsewhere and applied to this course by students as desired, but all that’s required is curiosity and enthusiasm as we focus on rapport-building and connection!) Along the way, students will develop multi-song plots for an imagined full-length one-person cabaret show of their own - and ultimately offer a small taste of this vision through the final public performance of a short, curated set. Step into your spotlight!

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 8

Prerequisites: None.

Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video

Typical Periods Offered: Every other year

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring

Notes: Mandatory Credit/Non Credit.