Abstract

For more than fifty years, the Independent (indie) Music Scene has existed as an evolving business model, allowing indie artists to develop a wealth of progressive musical ideas while creating a sustainable audience base. American Musical Theatre has an already-established rich history of adapting styles to fit concurrent trends in popular music while maintaining the story as the core of a show. While some indie artists (The Lisps, The Mountain Goats, Stephin Merritt, and Stew) and some musical theatre composers (David Yazbek, Doug Crossley, and Michael Friedman) have created crossover works, there is currently an overall dearth of musical theatre pieces infused with the indie style and a lack of indie albums with an actable musical theatre storyline. The intent of this thesis is to prove that although American Musical Theatre and the Independent Music Scene are two vastly different art forms, they can be combined to create a viable and unique form that appeals to both audiences. The indie-rock monologue ...and then, Claire was composed, recorded, and performed to test the viability of this thesis. In addition to presenting research on the history of American Musical Theatre and the Independent Music Scene, an analysis of the already-successful artists mentioned above is presented to provide context for ...and then, Claire. This context along with the original indie-rock monologue proves successful combinations of American Musical Theatre and the Independent Music Scene as well as the potential for more attempts in the future.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2012

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Chicurel, Steven

Degree

Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Degree Program

Theatre

Subjects

Arts and Humanities -- Dissertations, Academic;Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Humanities

Format

PDF

Identifier

CFH0004202

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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