Mark Cosdon Expands Theatre Research Influence

At the Mid-America Theatre Conference in St. Louis in March, Associate Professor of Theatre Mark Cosdon presented “Fabricated Myths: Little Nemo in Slumberland and Producers Klaw and Erlanger.” Focusing on the “money trail” of American musicals, Cosdon follows the decisions made in the creation of a musical and how these shows often lose money on Broadway.

As president of the American Theatre and Drama Society, Cosdon hosted the society’s 3rd annual reading at the Drama Book Shop in Times Square in New York City.  This year several Allegheny graduates, former students of Cosdon’s, attended the reading and a series of seminar sessions.

Cosdon also served as a respondent at the American Theatre and Drama Society’s Works-in-Progress Conference in Pittsburgh. This conference provides scholarly feedback to authors of theatre research.

“The conferences support my own understanding of the research and I get to know how the profession is changing,” Cosdon said.

Research presented at the conferences also transfers into Cosdon’s classes at Allegheny.

“That is something I really value,” Cosdon said. “It is valuable for Allegheny students to understand what they can do with their major.”

He was also a consultant on the seventh edition of the Bedford Introduction to Drama. As a member of the editorial board for the “Theatre in the Americas” Series, he reviewed two manuscripts for Southern Illinois University Press.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research