Andy Kirshner: “Liberty’s Secret” in Playbill, University Record

Stamps Associate Professor Andy Kirshner recently discussed his new musical, Liberty’s Secret, in the University Record and Playbill.

Long before a reality television star became a presidential nominee, award-winning composer, theater artist and filmmaker Andy Kirshner was thinking about the close relationship between politics and popular entertainment.

Fascinated by the similarities between ​“statecraft” and ​“stagecraft,” and by the sophisticated science of political image-making, Kirshner, an associate professor in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, set out to create a feature-length musical film about the song and dance of modern American politics.

The result — eight years later — is ​“Liberty’s Secret,” a satirical movie-musical in the grand tradition of Technicolor MGM movie-musicals and of balloon-filled, made-for-TV conventions.

Professor reimagines presidential campaign as musical comedy | University Record

University of Michigan Professor Pens Presidential Musical Comedy | Playbill