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Gillian Hodges

Professor Dean Leonard

ENG 1201.509

30 June 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My research proposal will answer the question: How has the American Dream been

portrayed throughout American Musicals? I will explore the topic of the American Dream, the

different definitions of the ideal, and how American musicals have portrayed it throughout

history based on current events.

Delman, Edward. “How Lin-Manuel Miranda Shapes History.” The Atlantic, 29 Sept. 2015,

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/09/lin-manuel-miranda-

hamilton/408019/. Accessed 23 June 2019.

The interview conducted by Edward Delman was published on The Atlantic magazine

website in September 2015 under the title “How Lin-Manual Miranda Shapes History.” The

main point of this interview was to discuss with Hamilton creator Lin-Manual Miranda about the

significance of his show. Delman explains that Hamilton’s success is based on Lin-Manual

Miranda’s use of hip hop/R&B and racial diversity to make the show relatable. In the interview,

Miranda explains that despite the drastic changes to the characters and style, he tried to remain as

historically accurate as possible. Miranda wasn’t aware that Hamilton was an immigrant, before

starting the play. Miranda notes that Hamilton’s story about working hard and making a life for

himself would relate to many people who were immigrants themselves, a factor that pushed him

to write the musical. When asked about how this interpretation will shape people’s understanding
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about the historical figure, Miranda says that immigrants have been changing history since the

beginning. He notes that the conflicts happening in the play can relate to what’s happening to the

United States in its political climate. This includes debates about foreign relations, state rights,

and national rights.

The purpose of this interview was to present the creator’s reasoning with changing the

source material so drastically. It was also written to illustrate how telling a story in a radically

different way can relate more with audiences and educate them. The audience for this interview

could be for anyone, but it could relate more to aspiring artists who take inspiration from

Miranda’s work. The author Delman also might have had an older audience in mind as well so

that they can understand what Miranda was trying to accomplish.

This author is credible for this interview. Delman is a former editorial writer for The

Atlantic and because he is interviewing Lin-Manual Miranda as a primary source, his main

points are supported.

Using this interview, I will use it to discuss immigration and finding success in America,

which are factors that are part of the American Dream. These two topics are prevalent today and

akin to what the interview said about reflecting history in similar ways. I will also use the

interview to show how diversity opens doors to present the American Dream, especially when

sharing American history, and how it can relate to a younger demographic.

Edstrom, Lisa. Knight, Michelle G. Roegman, Rachel, “My American Dream.” Education &

Urban Society, vol. 48, no. 9, Dec. 2016, pp. 827–851. EBSCOhost, https://journals-

sagepub-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/doi/10.1177/0013124515589596

The article titled “My American Dream” written by Lisa Edstrom, Michelle Knight, and
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Rachel Roegman, was originally published in the Education & Urban Society Journal in

December 2016. The thesis of the article is about the plight of West African immigrants and their

journey to find success in America. In the article, the authors detail the tribulations of young

West African immigrants finding academic and career success in America. The authors examine

how America immigration at the time as well. From the perspective of the West Africans, they

believe that to find the American Dream, they must work hard to find success and receive formal

education. The authors also acknowledge that these immigrants realize that they must worker

harder to achieve their dreams while also maintaining their own cultural roots. Throughout the

article, it’s a struggle but also deemed a challenge for the immigrants who want to pursue a long

and happy life in America.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the hardships and obstacles that immigrants

face when pursuing the American Dream. The authors wanted to present this information to an

audience that might be curious about the topic. Or a chance for a reader to see the perspective of

an immigrant.

The authors for this source are credible. Michelle Knight, Lisa Edstrom, and Rachel

Roegman have links to their previous work on the website the article’s published on. The authors

provide a work cited page and provide citation for each quote and claim. They also provide

tables and charts to organize their data and make it easy for readers to understand.

With this article, I plan on discussing real-world events that involve immigration within

my research proposal. I will also use the immigrant’s story as an example of how people in the

present are still in search of the American Dream and that they face greater struggles.

Kadlec, Dan. “Is the American Dream Withering or Just Changing?” Time, Time, 26 Sept. 2013,
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http://business.time.com/2013/09/26/is-the-american-dream-withering-or-just-changing/.

The article “Is the American Dream Withering or Just Changing?”, written by Dan

Kadlec, was posted on Time Magazine’s website in 2013. The article’s main point dives into the

issue of the “Dream” and whether it’s disappearing or becoming something new. Kadlec claims

that many adults believe that living in America was better for earlier generations, since they

believe that today’s kids will have a less likelihood of getting a full-time job and owning a home.

The author also says that adults believe that today’s children will lose that hunger for the

American Dream, by working less and not showing as much patriotism. The author is convinced

that the younger generation doesn’t see this as an issue and argue that they will have

opportunities in the United States compared to their parents. This is maybe to their experience of

the Great Recession; however, the author claims that with no real assets at risk themselves they

became more conscious about spending and debt than the previous generation. Millennials and

younger people are finding success more nowadays with the use of technology compared to older

generations.

The purpose for the author writing this article was to show that while in some cases the

American Dream has diminished but has blossomed into something new. This article was most

likely written for an older demographic, for those who are part of the baby boomer generation of

older. This speaks directly to them because they highly value the ideals of the American Dream

and very conflicting opinions about the younger generations.

The author is mostly credible when writing this article. Dan Kadlec has been an

experienced writer for TIME and has written about personal finance for the past 25 years. Within

the article, he references and links sources to support his claim, for example referencing the

Great Recession.
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This information in the article will emphasize my point about how the American Dream

is changing in our society. With the ideals being represented differently throughout musical

theatre over the years, it’s important to note that it’s a reflection what’s happening in real life.

This article will help support my claim that as society changes its perspective of the American

Dream, it reflects in the media we consume, specifically musical theatre.

Lubbock, Mark. “American Musical Theatre: An Introduction.” American Musical Theatre: An

Introduction, 1962, www.theatrehistory.com/american/musical030.html.

This article originally published in the book The Complete Book of Light Opera written

by Mark Lubbock was posted on theatrehistory.com. The main point of the article is to show the

evolution of the phenomena called “The American Theatre” and how its progressed over time.

The first ever American production put on in the Colonies was called Flora in February 8, 1735.

It wasn’t even a full American production, as it was originally an English ballad opera.

Burlesque soon came to American theatre in the 1800s which were parodies and dance heavy

performances of famous plays but were also mostly imports that gained popularity. Minstrel

shows followed afterward but were criticized for lacking plot and for their containing material

from African-American culture. Despite the European influence, Lubbock explains that the

familiar American musical style and format was just beginning to catch on in the theatre world.

The first unofficial American musical to concentrate on American traditions themselves was

The Brook in 1879, by telling about an American picnic by using familiar ballads and songs.

However, Lubbock writes that the “American Musical” didn’t get off the ground until the 20th

century. Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern came along and created the first known official

American Musical called Show Boat in 1927, where integration of song, story, and characters

were fully realized. They also inspired other playwrights to bush the boundary for musical
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theatre by integrating different topics such as dream psychology & American history and

literature. As American musical theatre grew in popularity, it became subtler and more

sophisticated while maintaining American themes and roots. Guys and Dolls, The Pajama Game,

and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying focused fully on American culture and

settings, with characters either pursuing big dreams in the city or by find success.

The author’s main purpose for writing this article was to present how the American

Musical has evolved overtime. The author also wanted to show how American writers tried to

define a certain style and pave the way for what musicals are well known for today. The

audience for this article can be anyone of any demographic who is interested in theatre. While

the original publication of the article only talks about older musicals, it’s still relevant to how

“the American Musical” started in the 20th century.

I believe that this author is credible. Lubbock cites the writers and lyricists of each play,

while also naming the title and year produced. Because this article was originally in a book, the

author who posted it on the website also linked the plays to their respective pages that give more

detail about their history and the production.

This article will support my research proposal by relating to American musical theatre

and by defining what that is. It will also be used as support to explain how older 20th century

musicals reflected the American Dream compared to more recent shows, such as How to Succeed

in Business Without Really Trying vs. 9 to 5, both centering around finding your place in the

business world.

Magee, Jeffrey. Irving Berlin’s American Musical Theater. Oxford University Press,

2012. EBSCOhost, https://www-oxfordscholarship-

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com.sinclair.ohionet.org/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195398267.001.0001/acprof-

9780195398267

The book titled Irving Berlin’s American Musical Theater was written by Jeffrey Magee

and published in 2012 and posted on the Oxford Scholarship website. The main point of the book

is discussing one of America’s most famous songwriters and first of many to kickstart American

musical theatre. The author fittingly frames Berlin’s story as a Russian immigrant who came to

the country searching for the American Dream, which was working hard to garner success.

Berlin started finding fame by producing music for minstrel shows, vaudevilles and opera. There,

his political perspective, Jewish heritage, and patriotism reflected in his work. He also was a

crowd-pleaser, finding ways to make his music relatable to the American audience. With Berlin

finding his talent and fame with vaudeville shows in 1910, to various hit singles in the 1940s, all

the way to writing his first musical Annie Get Your Gun, the author Jeffrey Magee chronicles

Berlin’s evolution from comedies to musicals in which songs are integrated into the plot. Magee

also explains how Berlin found balance with finding musical numbers to relate to historical

events happening in the world. He continued to produce musicals up until the 1950s and become

a legendary composer for the likes of other lyricists such as Rodgers & Hammerstein and George

Gershwin.

The purpose of this book was to dive into an artist’s life and show that hard work and

creativity can make one successful. Magee carefully goes into detail how Berlin reached success

by his careful study of music and his innovative ways of bringing a new musical genre and style

to the mainstream. The audience for this book can be made for any inspiring artist, but mostly a

younger audience so that they can understand how one can be successful if they work hard

enough.
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The author is Jeffrey Magee who is a graduate for the University of Illinois School of

Music. He is credible for this source; he provides visual texts within the book such as

photographs and tables to support his claims and give the reader context.

I will be using this source to give an example about the birth of the American Musical

and how the American Dream can relate to theatre. Irving Berlin is a perfect representation for

the American Dream as his story is about finding success in America and how he tries to relate

his talent to an American audience. I can discuss how writers portray America and its current

events through their work, as Berlin did with his musicals. This could also be used to answer my

question as to how “The American Dream” has changed throughout Musicals, by comparing

Berlin’s work with that of a modern creator, such as Lin-Manual Miranda.

Shiller, Robert J. “The Transformation of the American Dream.” The New York Times, 4 Aug.

2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/upshot/the-transformation-of-the-american-

dream.html

This article posted on The New York Times Website titled “The Transformation of the

American Dream” was published in 2017 by author Robert J. Shiller. Their main point of the

article was detailing how the Americans pursued the American Dream differently over time. In

this article, Shiller states that the definition of the American Dream has changed drastically over

the years. The author quotes Ben Carson stating that house ownership is an essential part of the

Dream, and fears that millennials are a “lost generation” when it comes to this. Shiller references

James Truslow Adams’ definition of the Dream, where life is richer and fuller for everybody and

opportunity is open to anyone’s ability. The article then delves into the history of how the

American Dream was perceived, staring in the 1940s appearing frequently in plays and books
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rather than about financial ownership. Starting in the 60’s, the term related more to equality after

Martin Luther King quoted the ideal in his famous “I Have a Dream” Speech. In the 1970s and

80s, that was when the phrase started to show up more when home-builders used in in their

marketing, which led to the ideal being associated with home ownership. The author says that

while the determination to earn a home in the U.S. is warranted as part of the dream, earning

equal opportunity is most important.

The author’s purpose for this article was to show that the American Dream has evolved

overtime. While many relate the term with being successful in the vein of wealth and how much

plot you own, Shiller claims that the point of the Dream was to find opportunity and success

based on one’s ability and determination. The author knows that older generations see the Dream

as owning a home, so primarily his audience is directed to them to remind them of the other

definitions.

The author Robert Shiller is credible because he gives sources and references to his

claims. For example, when talking about society relating the American Dream to home-owning,

he referenced a book titled House Lust: America’s Obsession with our Homes by Daniel McGinn

to emphasize how important home-owning was to Americans during 2008. He links other

sources as well to make his work credible, such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech and George

Bush’s American Dream Downpayment Act.

This article refers to my research proposal by talking about how the American Dream

motto has evolved throughout our country’s history. It also relates to the specific idea of the

Dream that I will discuss in my proposal, which is equal opportunity and finding success in your

own way. This will also be relevant because musicals that feature the American Dream all have

different perspectives on the idea, whether that be about immigration from the show Ragtime or
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about finding success like the lead character does in Miss Saigon. In my essay, I will delve into

how different musicals perceive this country’s ideal motto.

Umehira, Kylie. “Boston University Arts & Sciences Writing Program.” All Hammed Up: How

Hamilton: An American Musical Addresses Post-Racial Beliefs » Writing Program »

Boston University, Trustees of Boston University, 2017,

www.bu.edu/writingprogram/journal/past-issues/issue-9/umehira/.

This academic journal entry titled “All Hammed Up: How Hamilton: An American

Musical Addresses Post-Racial Beliefs” was written by Kylie Umehira and was posted on

Boston University Arts and Sciences Program website in 2017. The main point of the entry is to

discuss how the musical portrays a political statement about diversity and how America doesn’t

live up to the post-racial beliefs that the musical portrays. In the article, Umehira discusses that

most of the actors in the show are a mix of African-American or Latinx, which garners them lots

of attention from news and media outlets. For many years, Broadway has been branded as “The

Great White Way” for its pattern of heavily showcasing mainly white actors and those who are

wealthy, as opposed to low-income People of Color. The author states that with the show

Hamilton, they see the importance of people of color diversifying a story that mainly had white

characters or people to create an inclusive narrative. Despite this positive perspective, the author

notes that there can be problematic, considering the undertones of a Latino playing a privileged

white man. The author claims that racial, socioeconomic, and other political and cultural factors

can prevent someone as equal as Hamilton not having the chance to be as well-known and

successful. Despite the musical being widely more diverse than the source material, the author

sees it as a reminder that even with actors of color, there lies the underlying reality that white
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privilege is still a common occurrence, and that America is nowhere near a post-racial climate.

The writer’s purpose for this article was to discuss how the show Hamilton doesn’t prove

that America has reached a post-racial landscape. The audience for this piece is mainly any

reader of race and age, because it relates to the issues about post-racial America and how it

reflects the current times. It’s notable that this article was written for a University writing

website, so a demographic of young adults was kept in mind of the author while writing.

The author is a writer for a University’s Journal where anyone can post an academic

piece that’s approved by a Professor in the writing program. A reader can tell that the author is

credible because they provide a works cited page and cite sources to make their claims credible.

They also provide an introduction from the professor that has approved their work to maintain

that credibility.

I will use this information from the article to show the political and racial climate that the

United States represents in this moment in time. I will also use this article to show how the

meaning of the American Dream by being successful, especially considering minorities vs. white

people. I will also discuss how America theatre and media has shifted towards being more

diverse, especially when they present themes of wealth and success that tie into the American

Dream. This will answer my question about how the American Dream ideal has changed

throughout American musical theatre.