
A Skirball Academy Class
John Kenrick :
Jewish Broadway Composers
For more than three generations, Jewish songwriters have shaped the Broadway musical and, in doing so, reshaped popular music. Over six weeks, we will examine how six extraordinary talents — individuals and duos — led that way from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway, Hollywood and beyond.
October 17 — Irving Berlin: Let’s Face the Music & Dance How did a Russian immigrant who didn’t go past third grade and never learned musical notation write more than 2,000 songs, including “White Christmas,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “God Bless America”?
October 24 — Jerome Kern: I’ll Know That Moment Divine His sophistication and gift for melody helped this New Yorker turn Broadway musicals into international favorites with hit songs like “They Didn’t Believe Me,” “Ol’ Man River” and “All the Things You Are.”
October 31 — Rodgers & Hammerstein: What a Beautiful Mornin’ This team turned Broadway songwriters into dramatists with such beloved landmark musicals as Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music.
November 7 — Lerner & Loewe: A Fleeting Wisp of Glory The duo pushed Rodgers & Hammerstein’s innovations even further with stage and screen hits including Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot.
November 14 — Stephen Sondheim: Worlds to Change, Worlds to Win This Oscar Hammerstein protégé created lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy before providing words and music for Company, Follies, Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods.
November 21 — Stephen Schwartz: Got to Find My Corner of the Sky The songwriter responsible for such massive hits as Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, Wicked and The Hunchback of Notre Dame has won three Oscars, but not even one Tony. Why?
Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 PM
October 17, 24, 31, November 7, 14, 21
$180, $120 Temple Emanu-El members
Free for Friends of Streicker
OFFERED IN-PERSON
Skirball Academy General Information
Jane Moyse Gilder Chair in American Jewish History

An entertainment historian, John Kenrick has worked in the theatre at every level, eventually serving as personal assistant to six Tony Award–winning producers, including the team behind the original production of Rent. He has taught at NYU, The New School and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, is creator of the website Musicals101.com and founding curator for the new Museum of Broadway.
Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 PM
October 17, 24, 31, November 7, 14, 21
$180, $120 Temple Emanu-El members
Free for Friends of Streicker
For more than three generations, Jewish songwriters have shaped the Broadway musical and, in doing so, reshaped popular music. Over six weeks, we will examine how six extraordinary talents — individuals and duos — led that way from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway, Hollywood and beyond.
October 17 — Irving Berlin: Let’s Face the Music & Dance How did a Russian immigrant who didn’t go past third grade and never learned musical notation write more than 2,000 songs, including “White Christmas,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “God Bless America”?
October 24 — Jerome Kern: I’ll Know That Moment Divine His sophistication and gift for melody helped this New Yorker turn Broadway musicals into international favorites with hit songs like “They Didn’t Believe Me,” “Ol’ Man River” and “All the Things You Are.”
October 31 — Rodgers & Hammerstein: What a Beautiful Mornin’ This team turned Broadway songwriters into dramatists with such beloved landmark musicals as Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music.
November 7 — Lerner & Loewe: A Fleeting Wisp of Glory The duo pushed Rodgers & Hammerstein’s innovations even further with stage and screen hits including Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot.
November 14 — Stephen Sondheim: Worlds to Change, Worlds to Win This Oscar Hammerstein protégé created lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy before providing words and music for Company, Follies, Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods.
November 21 — Stephen Schwartz: Got to Find My Corner of the Sky The songwriter responsible for such massive hits as Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, Wicked and The Hunchback of Notre Dame has won three Oscars, but not even one Tony. Why?
OFFERED IN-PERSON
Skirball Academy General Information
Jane Moyse Gilder Chair in American Jewish History

An entertainment historian, John Kenrick has worked in the theatre at every level, eventually serving as personal assistant to six Tony Award–winning producers, including the team behind the original production of Rent. He has taught at NYU, The New School and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, is creator of the website Musicals101.com and founding curator for the new Museum of Broadway.