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Home » News » Assistant Professor Chari Arespacochaga publishes essay in Studies in Musical Theatre

Assistant Professor Chari Arespacochaga publishes essay in Studies in Musical Theatre

Published October 27, 2021

Assistant Professor Chari ArespacochagaAssistant Professor Chari Arespacochaga has a new piece in the journal Studies in Musical Theatre (volume 15, issue 1)Missing, a collaborative project in process about a historical reimagining of the murder of JonBenét Ramsey:

The script tells the story of a young Black girl, Nancy, coming of age and absorbing these cultural messages. In Act 1, Nancy, a child beauty pageant contestant, learns about the death of her friend, JonBenét. Nancy is simultaneously drawn in, obsessed and repulsed by the media storm that follows.

While the musical theatre format is often thought to be escapist fantasy that reinforces rather than questions the status quo when it comes to representational inequity, Missing tackles concerns such as, “Whose stories get told? How are they framed? Who, in turn, are marginalized and ignored?”

Chari Arespacochaga is a director for theater, film, multimedia, special events, and concerts; and Assistant Professor in Performance as well as Co-Director of the BA Theatre Program. Her theatrical direction credits include Birthmark, Love’s Labour’s Lost the Musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (University of California), Amadeus and Stupid Kids (Phoenix Theatre, Victoria), and 9 Minutes (for PopUP Theatrics NYC). She has also worked with Susan Stroman in the Vineyard Theatre’s production of Dot and with Jeff Whiting in NYMF’s Single Wide through the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation.

More information about Professor Arespacochaga’s work can be found on her website.