AHS-E1-1. May Death Never Stop You
Logan Strong1
Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Bellor, Ph.D.2
1Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction
2College of Fine Arts, School of Music
ABSTRACT
May Death Never Stop You, sharing its name with the My Chemical Romance greatest hits album, is a jukebox musical based on a modernized adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, using music spanning the career of My Chemical Romance. The goal was to produce a film of this musical that can be used by teachers to aid when teaching Hamlet. The final product is a shooting script as well as scores to all of the arranged songs, and a demonstration scene for presenting the concept. The music was chosen to align thematically with Shakespeare’s story, and to lyrically express the play’s plot. The medium of film was chosen to optimize accessibility and to parallel the experience of watching the original play. The desired outcome is to help students better understand Hamlet in its original form, as well as to appreciate the songs of My Chemical Romance in an academic context. It will also demonstrate for young audiences the relevance of Shakespeare’s works in the modern world.
