Seeking Collaborative Projects: Studies in Musical Theatre
Hi, musical theatre scholars and practitioners,
You might know us already, but in case you don’t, we are Jess Sternfeld (Chapman University) and Liz Wollman (Baruch College, CUNY). We’ll become co-editors of Studies in Musical Theatre when founding editors George Burrows and Dominic Symonds step down in 2021 after a truly epic 15 years of service. The four of us have been working toward a seamless transition as we build new editorial and advisory boards and explore new directions for the journal. We two have big shoes to fill, but we can’t wait to serve our beloved field as SiMT co-editors.
As we prepare, we’ve been thinking a lot about how important collaboration is to our field, especially right now. The entertainments we study rely on it, of course, but then, so does our discipline; connections and conversations with fellow scholars have helped many of us weather, process, and rise to the challenges of the crises we’re living through. Our field is so extraordinarily interdisciplinary that it couldn’t have developed without reaching across borders and academic areas. It’s fitting that SiMT has always been co-edited; just as a show can’t go on without group effort, editorial partnerships can foster collaboration, mentorship, and varied perspectives and approaches.
In this spirit, we cordially invite you to help us put on the proverbial show in the barn. In addition to select articles by individuals, we’d like our first issues to feature a variety of shorter pieces, in any format, that spring from or focus on collaboration. Examples might include:
• Co-written think-pieces on individual musicals, scenes or songs
• Panel discussions about the state of the theater industry and its future
• Collaborative analyses of the musical’s relationship to culture or current events
• Jointly authored op-eds about our field, its history, and how it needs to change
• Rundowns of current podcasts, streams, or recordings offered in place of live events
• Short plays or other creative projects that reflect any aspects of the above
Please have fun with this: find some friends, engage in a lively debate, and send us the results. Write about an online conference or symposium. Interview makers or scholars about their hopes for the future. Email scholars with whom you’ve long wanted to work, but with whom you are currently unable to connect across a crowded (conference) room. Pitch it. We’ll give it a look! Depending on form or content, the progress from submission to potential publication may be quicker than usual.
Our primary goal is to include pieces on collaboration in issue 15:1, due out in spring 2021. But we’d like to continue exploring the theme, so jump on this now or let it simmer. Either way, we want to hear from you! Please also share this invitation with any practitioners and scholars you think may be interested.
Here’s to collaboration of all kinds—and to new directions for Studies in Musical Theatre!
All the best,
Liz and Jess