My work as a scholar

My research explores the American musical in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. In particular, I am interested in how musicals respond to moments of crisis. Other interests include the transnational musical and considering how this uniquely American art form has reappeared on the global stage.

I have been a guest lecturer and speaker at Penn State University, Wilkes University, and Bucknell University in addition to serving as an Instructor of Record for courses at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University​. To learn more about my teaching, please visit my CV.

Recent and upcoming presentations

March 2023
I will be presenting my paper, "Enter the Mouse: How Disney 'Transformed' Broadway with a Beauty and a Beast", at the Mid-America Theatre Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

February 2023
I was an invited lecturer for Penn State School of Theatre's Critical Theory undergraduate seminar, speaking on "Queer Theory for the Undergraduate Theatre Artist."

I was a guest lecturer for the University of Pittsburgh's World Theatre undergraduate seminar, speaking on Early Christian Drama and its ties to modern day musical theatre.

October 2022
I delivered a talk at Wilkes University on Disney's Beauty and the Beast and the redevelopment of the Times Square Neighborhood.
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I was a guest lecturer for the University of Pittsburgh's World Theatre undergraduate seminar, speaking on Musical Theatre in South Korea.

Publications

True joy is finding a copy of FIFTY KEY STAGE MUSICALS for sale in New York's Drama Book Shop.

My essay on Dear Evan Hansen is featured in Fifty Key Stage Musicals, a collection of essays about the fifty musicals that were seminal in creating the landscape of the American musical.
A companion podcast is also available for streaming wherever you get your podcasts.
The book is available for purchase now from Routledge.

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Thanks to my classmate, Hansel Tan, for capturing this pic before my guest lecture at the University of Pittsburgh!