The Play's the Thing: Curtain Up on New York's Theatre Scene

SPRING 2025: Both sections are full. Email sps.all@nyu.edu to be added to the waitlist and specify your preferred section.
Millions flock to New York City to see its most popular and enduring attractions. It’s not the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building—it’s Broadway and Off-Broadway. In this class, learn many of the reasons why that is—and how it happens. What makes a play work from the ground up? How are musicals created? Does what happens in rehearsal make or break even the best shows? And why do tickets cost so much? Through a fun but rigorous mix of lectures, readings, discussions, meetings with working theatre professionals, and attendance at live productions, you will see for yourself that what goes on before the curtain rises and after it falls is sometimes just as fascinating—if not more—as what audiences see on stage.

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