Past Projects

MA Thesis

Completed on October 6, 2023

In September of 2023 I successfully defended my master's thesis, entitled "Characterization, Subjectivity, and Intersectional Considerations in Heathers the Musical," which examined embodied subjectivity and archetypal characterization strategies in Heathers. I looked at all written material for JD, and used a filmed performance as a way to examine the manner in which the actor's performance (for my paper this was Jamie Muscato of the West End cast) makes the reception of the character less tropey, or less reminiscent of the James Dean-esque "rebel" trope in which the character is originally based. This project was intially developed off of a paper I wrote in a seminar on music and subjectivity, in which I wrote about O'Kefe and Murphy's "positivity doctrine" as a gendered means of enforcing character stereotypes. In that paper, I contrasted Heather Chandler and JD as two antagonists who are adapted differently on gendered lines. Where JD is individualized and developed, Chandler is typified and wholly symbolic. (Of course some of this is because Chandler is not a lead role in the same way that JD is, nor is she the love interest). This was largely seen in the songs that reveal the character the most: For Chandler this was "Candy Store" and for JD this was "Freeze Your Brain." Ultimately, the biggest difference between the two was that while Chandler's evil came from how she hurts others, JD's comes from how he hurts himself (and only later, once that isn't enough anymore, he hurts others). I presented that paper at my university's grad student internal conference in 2021 and got some really great feedback. The analysis of JD later became a version of my thesis' first chapter. Here is the abstract for the final thesis:

Abstract

This thesis examines the multifaceted and interdisciplinary means through which the “rebel” trope is used as a groundwork for complex characterization in Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy’s Heathers the Musical (2018). Using Jamie Muscato’s performance as Jason Dean (“JD”) as an exemplar, I employ a three-stage analytic process through which nuanced, embodied subjectivity is realized, and the performer is highlighted as a vector for intersectional interpretation. The first stage examines the narrative impacts of the text and music written for JD and explores how they serve to individualize him. The second considers the musical mechanics and rock informed stylization of the character using an analytic model for embodied subjectivity, which I extend to account for theatrical elements of performance. The third considers the analytic findings of the first two chapters through an intersectional lens, highlighting the musical and theatrical interpretation of the text posited by the performer as being the main vehicle through which the “rebel” trope is expanded upon.

Here is a link to the pdf should you care to read it: My Thesis.