This is a recurring event: View all events in the series “Music Research Seminars”
Abstract
In the musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a production centered on the concept of two individuals traveling through time toward each other, the narrative explores "middle ground" on multiple levels.
This paper begins by examining how the aging of two central characters - one older and one younger - is conveyed without the use of makeup or visual effects. Instead, the production achieves this transformation through a choreographic approach that uses movement to balance the ascent and descent of age.
This investigation is further supported by the integral role of actor-musicianship, which unites performance and storytelling across the ensemble in an extraordinarily nuanced manner that deeply complements the plot.
The interplay between choreographic structure and musicality not only enriches the narrative’s exploration of middle ground but also serves as a dramaturgical strategy, showcasing the distinctive potential of actor-musicianship.
Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, this paper explores how the centering of the body as both a site of storytelling and a locus of musical and choreographic practice enhances the dramaturgical depth of the production.
By analysing the symbiotic relationship between choreography and actor-musicianship, this study underscores how these elements collectively amplify the storytelling and illuminate the unique capabilities of actor-musicianship.
Ultimately, this exploration unveils the intersection of embodied performance and narrative as a dynamic "middle ground" at the core of the musical's artistic and thematic triumphs, celebrating the fleeting yet profound convergence of lives to "live a little life," however brief.
About the speaker
Dr. Phoebe Rumsey is the Programme Director of the BA (Hons) in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre Course and MA in Performing Arts Management and Practice City St George's, University of London.
Prior to this she was Associate Head of Research and Senior Lecturer in Musical Theatre at the University of Portsmouth. Prior to moving to the UK in 2020, she taught in the Theatre and Speech Department at the City College of New York.
She received her PhD from The Graduate Center, CUNY, and holds an MA in Performance Studies from New York University (NYU), an MA in Theatre from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Simon Fraser University, Canada.
She is the author of Embodied Nostalgia: Social Dance, Communities and the Choreographing of Musical Theatre (Routledge). Her research has been published in The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Politics, The Routledge Companion to the Contemporary Musical, Studies in Musical Theatre, Reframing The Musical: Race, Culture, and Identity (Palgrave), The Cambridge Companion to West Side Story. She is the Co-Editor (with Dustyn Martincich) and contributing author of Dance in Musical Theatre: A History of the Body in Movement (Bloomsbury/Methuen Drama).
Along with her engagement in academic studies Dr. Rumsey has worked as a performer and choreographer in musical theatre and concert dance across the US, Canada and Japan. Favourite choreographic credits include, Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, I Love You You're Perfect Now Change, Working the Musical, Side by Side by Sondheim, Rocky Horror, Mahogony Songspiel among others.
She is on the Editorial Board of the Studies in Musical Theatre Journal and the Co-conveyor of the Musical Theatre Working group for the International Federation of Theatre Research Conference.
Performing Arts Research Seminars are hosted by SPARC (Sound Practice and Research at City St George’s) in the Department of Performing Arts at City St George’s, University of London. They bring together world-leading artists, practitioners, and scholars in the broad fields of performing arts.
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