Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Department

Theatre and Dance

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

In musical theatre, “cut songs” are the pieces of music that are removed from a show, whether the cut occur in the early creative stages, a pre-Broadway run, minutes before opening night, or even for a major revival years after its initial debut. These songs easily go unnoticed, as some are never made public while some are sneakily recycled for other musicals. Cut songs, though greatly varying in quality, are still works of art that at one time fulfilled their sacred duty of entertaining an audience and required just as much artistic effort to produce as the songs that survived the chopping block. By gaining an understanding of the songs themselves, theatre consumers and creators alike can deepen their base knowledge and overall appreciation of musical theatre, its history, and its construction. Cut Song Cabaret is a fifty-five minute, one-person show that aims to bring eleven cut songs from a century’s worth of notable musicals to light while exploring each song’s history and function through a largely comedic, and occasionally profound, lens.

Advisor(s) or Committee Chair

Michelle Dvoskin, Ph.D.

Disciplines

Music Performance | Performance Studies | Playwriting | Theatre History

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