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Men of Letters: Shakespeare’s Influence on Abraham Lincoln
This podcast was produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library. Abraham Lincoln was known for many things — freeing the slaves, winning the Civil War, holding the Union together. But he was also one of our most literary presidents. Of the three books that sat on his White House desk, one of them was the works of Shakespeare — a writer Lincoln cherished throughout his life. In this podcast, UCLA professor of English Stephen Dickey, John Andrews , editor of “The Everyman Shakespeare,” and Michael Bishop, founding Executive Director of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, discuss Shakespeare’s enduring influence on Lincoln. |
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Music of Contemporary Greece
Part of the series “Culture of Greece: The Past if Present,” produced for ArtsEdge at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Though Socrates and Plato died 2,500 years ago there is, of course still a country called Greece. And many modern Greek musicians will tell you that their art is influenced by the ideas of the ancients. Join us as we explore whether or not this is true. Two modern Greek musicians and scholars of ancient Greece talk about the twisting road Greek culture has taken to bring us to the music of Greece today. The podcast is narrated by John Franklin, professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Vermont. Listen Here
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Influence of Greece
Part of the series “Culture of Greece: The Past if Present,” produced for ArtsEdge at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Though the ancient Greek culture was destroyed thousands of years ago, Greek ideas continue to influence us today. That’s particularly true in music. Join John Franklin, professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Vermont to hear the impact that the ancient Greeks had on the creation and development of Opera, Classical music and Jazz. Listen here
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Fill In the BlanksPart of the series “Culture of Greece: The Past if Present,” produced for ArtsEdge at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. There are only a handful of pieces of music remaining from ancient Greece. And we do mean pieces; tiny scraps of papyrus and bits of stone with musical notes that are thousands of years old. Come with John Franklin, professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Vermont to meet the people who bring this ancient music back from the dead. Learn how they come to understand the slashes and squiggles that they see and translate them into music. And find out what they do when they learn that he music they’re playing was torn in half a thousand years ago and the other half is gone forever. Listen here
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Now Thrive the Armorers: Armor in Shakespeare
This podcast was produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library. Although people associate “knights in shining armor” with the Middle Ages, most surviving armor actually dates to the period of William Shakespeare, a time when traditions inherited from the world of medieval chivalry were increasingly at odds with the changing realities of the Renaissance. Shakespeare’s works are filled with arms and armor both as literary images and as objects, evoking themes of knighthood, warfare, personal conflict, and honor. |
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History of the American Musical
Part of the series “Putting It Together: Words and Music and Musical Theater,” produced for ArtsEdge at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. From the Indian Princess to Minstrel Shows to Vaudeville to Rent; a look at the trends and ideas that shaped American Musical theater. Narrated by Heather Nathans, Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland. Listen here
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Broadway and Social Commentary
Part of the series “Putting It Together: Words and Music and Musical Theater,” produced for ArtsEdge at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Despite the admonishment “If you want to send a message, call Western Union,” American musicals have commented on social issues for as long as there has been a musical theater in America. Heather Nathans, Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland takes us through the history of social commentary in the American Musical, from The Beggar?s Opera to Avenue Q. Listen here
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The Elements of a Musical
Part of the series “Putting It Together: Words and Music and Musical Theater,” produced for ArtsEdge at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. A musical is not a cabaret show and it’s not an opera. It has distinct elements that must be present. In this piece Heather Nathans, Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland explains what those elements are. Listen here
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Musical Theater – Where To?
Part of the series “Putting It Together: Words and Music and Musical Theater,” produced for ArtsEdge at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. As the rock musical gave way to the spectacle musical, shows like “Cats,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “Starlight Express” came to rely less on story and more on technology. As a result, by the end of the 20th Century, musical theater was looking for a way to define itself. Heather Nathans, Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland talks about the changes in musical theater in the last forty years and where musical theater appears to be headed. Listen here
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Disney and the Musical
Part of the series “Putting It Together: Words and Music and Musical Theater,” produced for ArtsEdge at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In an odd turn, the Broadway music — exported by Walt Disney to cartoons in the 1930s — was returned to Broadway by Disney in the 1990s. Heather Nathans, Associate Professor of Theater at the University of Maryland explains this transition. Listen here
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