ACADEMIA.
Laura London Waringer is Assistant Professor of Directing at the College of Arts + Architecture at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is the coordinator of their brand new Musical Theatre certificate program, which she helped develop.
She is a PhD candidate at the School of Theatre at Florida State University.
Her research interests include race and gender portrayals in musical theatre, theatrical adaptation, site-specific performance, and the evolution of musical theatre training at academic institutions.
Creative & Scholarly Research Portfolio- Click Here
Publications include:
“Queen Bey: A Lyrical Investigation of Beyoncé as Feminist, Mother, Superstar, and Sex Symbol,” in Queen Mothers: Articulating the Spirit of Black Women Teacher-Leaders. (Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.) Dr. Rhonda Jeffries, editor. (collaboration with Devair Jeffries)
Forthcoming Publications include:
“The Villain in Your History: The Complications of Color-Conscious Casting in Hamilton's America,” in Hamilton: History and Hip-Hop: Essays on an American Musical. Expected to publish mid-2018. (McFarland & Co. Press.) Dr. Kevin Wetmore, editor.
“Making Lemonade: Beyoncé’s Reclamation of Musical Theatre as a Mode of Reinvention,” in Musicals at the Margins. Martha Shearer and Julie Lobalzo Wright, editors. (collaboration with Devair Jeffries)
“Welcome to America: Reassigning Appropriation through Choreography in Soft
Power,” in Dance in US Popular Culture. (Routledge Press) Jen Atkins, editor.
Recent Presentations include:
“Beyond Assumptions: De-centering whiteness & gender binaries in the Musical Theatre Performance Classroom”, Presenter and session coordinator, ATHE Musical Theatre & Dance Focus Group Pre-Conference, 2021, Austin, TX (virtual).
“Mobilizing a Movement: Creating an Anti-Racist Musical for the Pandemic,” Song Stage & Screen 2021, Salzburg, Austria (virtual).
“Steering the Conversation: Innovation and Inspiration in Community-Engaged Musical Theatre,” ATHE, Detroit, MI. August 2020.
"Two-Year Triple-Threat: Designing a Musical Theatre Curriculum for a Non-
Conservatory Program," Mid America Theatre Conference (MATC). Pedagogy Symposium, Chicago, IL. March 2020.
“This is Me: Race, Identity and Revisionist History in The Greatest Showman,” International Conference on Film Studies, London. UK, February 2019.
Convener, “Arousing the Senses: Sonic and Digital Dimensions in Performance” Working Group, ASTR, San Diego, CA, November 2018.
“Choose Your Own Neil Patrick Harris: Collisions of Sexuality, Stardom, and Public Persona,” ATHE, Boston, MA, August 2018.
“The Villain in Your History: The Complications of Color-Conscious Casting in Hamilton's America,” Song , Stage and Screen XIII, Los Angeles, CA, June 2018.
"Method Men: Suffering, Stardom & Stanislavski's System in Hollywood", Comparative Drama Conference, Orlando, FL, April 2018.
“What’s the Use of Wond’rin?: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Bad Boys and the Power of Female Perspective”, Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference (ATHE), Las Vegas, NV, August 2017.
Musical Theatre & Dance Working Group Panel, The Industry & the Academy, Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference, Las Vegas, NV, August 2017.
“Making Lemonade: Beyoncé’s Reclamation of Musical Theatre as a Mode of Reinvention,” Song, Stage, and Screen XII, Guildford, United Kingdom, June 2017. (collaboration with Devair Jeffries)
“The Industry and the Academy: Bridging the Gap between Actor Training and Career”, Athens Institute for Education & Research Conference, Athens, Greece. (accepted April 2017).
“And Actor Prepares?: Auditioning and the Subversion of Craft and Performance”, Comparative Drama Conference, Orlando, FL, April 2017.