Camarillo, CA - From the dawn of the earliest humans to the backstage behavior of Broadway divas, the Fall 2023 semester of CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI)’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) offers a window to the worlds of art, music, history, literature and lots more.  

Enrollment is underway for the OLLI Fall 2023 classes, which will run weekly from Aug. 21 through Sept. 29. Classes will be on Zoom or in-person at CSUCI’s John Spoor Broome Library, Ventura College of Law, or the Studio Channel Islands Art Center in Camarillo.  

Some of this fall’s offerings will include a closer look at entertainment on the stage, screen and in between the pages with courses on “The Art of Abbott and Costello,” “Golden Girls: Essential California Women Writers,” “Dante’s Divine Comedy and Our Journey Toward Wholeness,” “Edgar Allen Poe: His Life and Writings” and “Broadway Deconstructed.”

“Broadway Deconstructed” instructors Sam and Candy Caponegro met 49 years ago onstage. Sam was in a toga. The show was “Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and Sam was cast as the male lead, Hero, and Candy played the sultry Greek courtesan, Panacea.  

“I do remember that I wore a long, cheap-blonde wig,” Candy said. “Thinking I was so cool, wore the wig on and off stage for a month or two.”

They eventually married and are living happily ever after, acting and co-directing shows and teaching theater courses all over the country in various venues such as Rutgers University, Princess Cruise Lines, libraries, community centers and of course, for OLLI.  

Along with some bigger-than-life stories about Broadway divas, the Caponegros will guide OLLI students through the anatomy of a musical with lots of lively clips of beloved blockbusters and lesser-known shows.  

“We are passionate about American musicals,” Sam said. “We break the musical into five different parts. There are the opening numbers, signature songs of main characters, blockbusters, supporting character songs and what’s called the ’10 o’clock number.’”  

The class will watch clips of opening numbers like “Hello!” from “Book of Mormon,” and signature songs for main characters that tell you who they are such as “I’m the Greatest Star” from “Funny Girl.”

A classic song defining a supporting character is “I Cain’t Say No” from “Oklahoma” and blockbuster numbers such as the iconic “Hello Dolly” Waiters’ Gallop. Ten o’clock songs are powerful, often ensemble numbers that happen late in the second act such as “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat” from “Guys and Dolls.”

Other OLLI classes will sweep students around the world such as “The Land Down Under” about the culture and history of Australia; “The Scramble for Africa: How African Countries got their Shapes,” and “American Artists Abroad.”

For anyone who has ever thought to themselves “What is so great about the Mona Lisa?” or “I think a fifth grader could do a better job of whatever that is,” CSUCI Art Lecturer Laura Hagel will teach “The Secret Life of Art.”

“The aim of the class will not be to show students what is ‘good’ art or ‘bad’ art, but instead, to give students the tools they need to evaluate what they see and have a deeper understanding of the world of images around them,” Hagel said.  

And taking students back to the very beginning of humankind is CSUCI Anthropology Lecturer Matt Curtis with “Dawn of the Earliest Humans” in which he will share the earliest fossil evidence of genus **** (humans) dating from about 2.8 million years ago to about 300,000 years ago.

“Learning about the earliest humans helps us to understand how we are connected to our human ancestors and puts us into a larger perspective,” Curtis said. “It helps us see the continuum of traits throughout human history and how modern humans have qualities of these ancient ancestors that are amplified or expressed in greater intensity. All of this helps us better understand who we are.”

Curtis will explain why mastering the control of fire was probably even more important to human evolution than the development of stone tools or later, combustible engines.

“With the controlled use of fire, you can change your diet, which helped expand the brain,” Curtis said. “You can support larger populations with everything from increasing fertility to creating softer foods. That means babies are weaned earlier. Cooking rocks made them easier to flake to create tools. You could preserve and dry things, create heat to live in colder climates. Many, many other things.”

To sign up for any or all of the OLLI sessions for Fall 2023, visit: https://ext.csuci.edu/programs/professional-community-ed/osher-lifelong-learning-institute/index.htm.