Lesson Plans by Donatella Galella, PhD
Scholar-in-Residence for the Michael Friedman Estate
Associate Professor
Theatre, Film, and Digital Production
University of California, Riverside
galella@ucr.edu
Claudia Wilsch Case, “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (review),” Theatre Journal 62, no. 3 (October 2010): 459-460. A review that situates Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson within an avant-garde theater tradition. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/401798/pdf
Elissa Harbert, “Hamilton and History Musicals,” American Music 36, no. 4 (Winter 2018): 412-428. A theorization of historical accuracy, heightened theatricality, and contemporary song styles in history musicals such as Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/715969/pdf
Julie A. Noonan, “The rock star figure: Authenticity, satire and legacy in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2006),” Studies in Musical Theatre 10, no. 1 (March 2016): 19-36. Noonan contends that the figure of the rock star in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson encourages audiences to connect Jackson’s history with present-day politics. https://doi.org/10.1386/smt.10.1.19_1
Jill Dolan, “Seeing Broadly: A Cultural Omnivore’s Menu,” Theatre Journal 67, no. 2. (May 2015): 295-309. A review essay of nine theatrical productions, including The Fortress of Solitude, which Dolan found to be less vibrant than Jonathan Lethem’s original novel of the same name. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/583129/summary
Donatella Galella, “‘Superman/Sidekick’: White Storytellers and Black Lives in The Fortress of Solitude,” in Reframing the Musical: Race, Culture, and Identity, edited by Sarah Whitfield (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). This chapter argues that The Fortress of Solitude relies upon white authorization to center black characters, stories, and songs and ultimately imagines interracial possibilities. https://www.macmillanihe.com/resources/sample-chapters/9781352004397_sample.pdf
Anthony Lioi, “Introduction to The Great Immensity,” Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities, 2, no. 1 (Winter 2014): 113-114. An introduction to five reviews of The Great Immensity by literary, performance, and feminist ecocritics. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/583712
Una Chaudhuri, “The Sun’ll Be Hotter Tomorrow: Growing Up with Climate Chaos,” Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities, 2, no. 1 (Winter 2014): 115-121. Chaudhuri thinks through the roles of children and collectivity in this climate change musical. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/583713
Anthony Lioi, “After the Beautiful Sorrow: Affective Resilience and The Great Immensity,” Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities, 2, no. 1 (Winter 2014): 140-144. Lioi argues that The Great Immensity enacts affective resilience as a constructive response to climate change, and compares the text with other musicals as well as Karen Malpede’s Extreme Whether and Bruno Latour’s Gaia: Global Climate Tragi-Comedy. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/583717
Andrew Mark, “‘This Is a Picture Of…,’” Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities, 2, no. 1 (Winter 2014): 122-129. Focused on the opening song in The Great Immensity, Mark engages with the critical possibilities of eco performance. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/583714
Nicole M. Merola, “Review of The Great Immensity,” Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities, 2, no. 1 (Winter 2014): 135-139. Merola positions The Great Immensity as another example of The Civilians’ “nonreassuring theater” with an unsettling, open ending. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/583716
Nicole Seymour, “Review of The Great Immensity,” Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities, 2, no. 1 (Winter 2014): 130-134. Seymour observes how the musical addresses the problem of representing climate devastation and ultimately fails to problematize “sentimental heteroreproductive futurism.” https://muse.jhu.edu/article/583715