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I KNOW IT SO WELL - Musicals and their Inescapable Hit Songs
Dr. John Snelson Friday 13 November 2026

An Arts Society Surrey Area Special Interest Event

Join us at The Menuhin Hall, Stoke d'Abernon, KT11 3QQ and explore the world of musical theatre and its place in popular culture.

Stage musicals have long been a source of some of the most well-known and lasting popular songs. John Snelson will explore how these hit songs spread from the stage into shared culture. Using sound, video and live demonstration/performance from the keyboard, examples range from Edwardian musical comedy and Broadway classics to the concert hall, jazz clubs and the pop charts. Such classic creators as Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Noel Gay, Lionel Bart, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim feature in this celebration of musical theatre on stage and beyond.

10.00   Refreshments

10.30   Lecture 1:  From Hit Show to Song Standard

11.30   Refreshments

12.00   Lecture 2:  A Life Beyond the Musical

13.00   Close

Dr John Snelson is an expert on musical theatre and has written an number of books on the genre while also regularly lecturing at Goldsmiths, University of London and presenting talks for organisations such as the ENO, BBC amd The Royal Opera House.

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