This is a musical theater lecture with instructor Dr. Thomas Stretton. A graduate of Dickinson College, Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Stretton worked in the School District of Cheltenham Township for 36 years as both a teacher and Assistant Superintendent. He retired from Cabrini College as Associate Professor of Theatre, English and Secondary Education. A long-time enthusiast of Broadway and Hollywood, Dr. Stretton has directed more than a hundred and thirty plays and musicals and has been an investor in a variety of Broadway shows.
Oklahoma! Dr. Stretton will explain the show that drug-addicted and depressed Lorenz Hart does not want to write with Richard Rodgers (after writing 500 songs and two decades of Broadway hits). Rodgers convinces Oscar Hammerstein II to work with him, and in writing Oklahoma!, they create a new American art form and the most successful show in American history to date.