The American Songbook

The Lectures

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American Popular Music: 1850 to 1950

Two hours or four 30-minute segments.
(This is an overview. The topics are expandable.)

  1. Minstrel shows, Gay '90s, band concerts
    Videos: minstrel show, Stephen Foster, scenes from
    The Music Man
    Live songs of the era
  2. Tin Pan Alley, burlesque, vaudeville, early Broadway
    Videos: Tin Pan Alley, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor
    Live songs of the era
  3. Operettas, early musicals
    Videos: Victor Herbert, Sigmund Romberg, Richard
    Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
    Live songs: Berlin, Kern, Gershwin, Porter
  4. Depression era, motion picture musicals
    Videos: Warren & Dubin, Oklahoma, My Fair Lady, 
    West Side Story, A Chorus Line
    Live songs: McHugh & Fields, Mercer

Cole Porter: His Life and His Music

One hour or two 30-minute segments.

  1. His early years
    Yale, Paris, Venice
    Video: Life scenes, Anything Goes!
    Live songs: "Bull Dog! Bow-Wow-Wow"
    "I'm Only a School Girl," "Weren't We Fools"
  2. His successful years before/after the accident
    New York, Hollywood, Williamstown
    Videos: Scenes from Can-Can, Silk Stockings,
    Kiss Me, Kate! High Society
    Live songs: Selected from 20 Cole Porter songs.

Lerner & Loewe: A Tumultuous Collaboration

One hour or two 30-minute segments.

  1. The early years
    New York, Vienna, Harvard
    Videos: Scenes from Brigadoon
    Live song: "It's Almost Like Being in Love"
  2. The successful years
    New York, Palm Springs, Monte Carlo
    Videos: Scenes from My Fair Lady, Camelot, Gigi
    Live songs: "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Any More"
    "How to Handle a Woman,"  "On the Street Where
    You Live," "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?"