What's Next Musical Theatre

Popular Music and the Musical

2010-07-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

When people talk about the musical theatre, they fittingly talk about the music and what it does in telling a great story. As composers added musicals into the canon, a "musical theatre sound" emerged with contributions from Richard Rodgers, Frederick Loewe, Jerry Bock, Leonard Bernstein and many others. This sound became the Broadway brand. This music crossed over into the world of popular music and people from Frank Sinatra to Barbara Streisand would take songs from Broadway musicals and make them even more popular as standards.

Today, this sound is almost looked at as pastiche. Many have said "They don't make them the way they used to." When The Producers came on the scene in 2001, the overwhelming sentiment was that this was the return to this musical comedy form. From my perspective, these people are referring more to how music is being used to tell a certain type of story. For example, Frederick Loewe came from a Viennese musical background, so his music for far-away places like Brigadoon and Camelot, fit his setting of waltzes and lavish ballads.

For years I've pondered this sentiment of "They don't make them like they used to." Other than I find it a bit insulting to the wonderful pieces of musical theatre recently added to the canon, I thought I needed to flip the question around and ask: what should audiences expect musically from today's musical? And, why doesn't the music on the stage for the most part not reflect popular music?

To search for answers to these questions I did something I hadn't done in years: listen to popular music on the radio. For years I've stayed away from music on the radio simply because I didn't enjoy the music. The music I listen to is so varied and I usually rely on friends to introduce me to interesting new artists and songs. For me, the radio has always been about playing the 15 most popular songs over and over without any air time for up and coming voices. So after months and months of listening to the radio, here are some observations and how they relate to the musical theatre.

1. Lyrics really don't matter. This is not a new idea, but I seem to remember a time when lyrics had a bit more substance and structure. Popular music lyrically has always been grounded in the fact that you are going to introduce one idea and talk about it for three minutes. You knew what you were getting when you heard "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "Just the Way You Are," "My Own Worst Enemy." Today, as long as language fits into the musical setting or beat, it seems as if the lyrics are almost just placeholders for accents.

One artist that seems to be a prime example of this, whose music continues to hurt my brain is Ke$ha. No, that is not a typo. She apparently chooses to have a dollar sign in her name as a means of expression. This lack of basic phonics is repeated in her song titles; most famously the hit "Tik Tok." Once again, she consciously chooses to misspell in the title, for no real apparent reason other than to be different. If you actually take two minutes to read the lyrics to this song (which I went against doctor's orders and did), it's fascinating to see what counts as a sentence or a phrase these days. It also fascinates me how bloated and trivial the imagery becomes on the page. Take this for example: "Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack, Cause when I leave for the night, I ain’t coming back." I give her a half a point for rhyming, but what the hell kind of image is that? Brushing your teeth with Jack Daniels? Is that supposed to be provocative or sexy? It sounds pretty stupid and a bit of an exaggeration. Even funnier is the musical setting of the lyrics, with most coming on the opposite beat, thus "scanning" in an awkward way. "Drop-toping, playing our favorite c-ds, Pulling up to the part-ies. Trying to get a little bit tip-sy." Having awkward emphasis on the wrong syllables yields an awkward result and you can almost feel the songwriters shoehorning these lyrics into the melody.

2. Lady Gaga is pretty much the only icon in relation to popular music. I seem to remember a landscape where several artists shared the spotlight in a given year. As a counter cultural icon whose music is actually interesting, I'm surprised more artists are not succeeding to find their niche in the popular music world today. From what I've gathered, the artists who are elevated to stardom are the teenagers like The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber.

3. A song that people can dance to has a better chance of being a hit. Although this is also not a new idea, it seems that pretty much every hit song has some sort of primary beat that is unique and recognizable. Lately, I've heard songs like "Sexy Chick", "In My Head", "Down", "Break Your Heart" and many more that use a dance beat as a way of propelling the intention of the song.

4. I'm impressed by the amount of collaboration in today's popular music. Today's charts are filled with artists who come together from two different backgrounds and create diverse music. Some interesting songs I've heard were Jason Derullo mixing Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" in with his song "Whatcha Say" or Katie Perry collaborating with Snoop Dogg on "California Gurls" (Again with the spelling?) Each of these pieces succeed in creating something different for these artists by combining their efforts for an alternative purpose.

These are just a few of many observations I have made in the past couple of months. So how does this relate to the musical theatre? Basically, I feel the musical theatre is doing its best at reflecting our musical culture, but because today's popular music is so varied and frankly without much substance, people don't realize the challenge and how some artists have already bridged this gap. After these past few months of listening to this music, I'm even more enamored with the craftsmanship of compsers like Duncan Sheik & Steven Sater, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and others who are on the front lines of creating relevant contemporary musical theatre. They have the unenviable task of adapting a form that is not grounded in conveying multiple ideas and uses contemporary technology and have to tell a clear and concise story. This is a tough job that unfortunately gets unrewarded a good amount of the time.

Another way I see it relating to the musical theatre is from one of my popular music observations: the importance of collaboration. This idea has been at the cornerstone of all great musical theatre, but collaboration for the musical theatre is starting to change in an exciting way. I think a big part of the future of the musical theatre could come from artists in the popular music collaborating with theatre artists on new works for the stage. With musicals like American Idiot, Memphis, Taboo, Spring Awakening, and more, these collaborative musicals are yielding interesting stories that are being told in new ways. This is a trend that is growing and can only lead to more interesting pieces. Some pieces I'm excited about are Tales of the City, which brings together Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q, Bring It On) and Jake Shears & John Garden (From the Scissor Sisters) to adapt Armistead Maupin's iconic novels, as well as Beauty, a new adaptation of the Sleeping Beauty story being written by Tina Landau, Michael Korie and Regina Spektor and of course, Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark by Julie Taymor and Bono & The Edge. These collaboration's success could lead even more popular artists to consider telling large stories on the musical stage.

I could go on for days about this topic, but I think you can see that adapting popular music on the stage is a huge challenge and I think writers will get better at it the more they examine it. Think about what the musical landscape would be like without a writer like Jonathan Larson, a composer who made it his mission to reflect popular music on the stage. He laid the groundwork and many others have followed. I'm excited to see what's next and do my part in supporting this process. It can only lead to interesting nights at the theater.

Let me know what you think? Am I dead wrong? Leave me some comments.

2010 Tony Award Wrap up

2010-06-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Tony Awards brought another season on Broadway to rest. It was a fun evening that although there weren't many surprises, the evening was a wonderful celebration of the season.

I'm beginning to realize that every year when I write my picks, I'm usually depending too much on what I want to win and not about what is going to win. This year, in regards to musicals, I did very well in the design area, pretty well in the performance categories, but missed on the top prize for the second year in a row (last year I picked Next to Normal). For the second time, the voter's interests outweighed the artistic achievement of Fela and even American Idiot. This doesn't mean that I though Memphis was a bad show. It means that it's familiar plot and music made the production safe for voters to get behind. Without the critics being allowed to vote, a piece like Fela could not gain enough votes to grab the top prize. Either way, I think Fela and American Idiot received a lot of good advertising that night to hopefully have a nice run through the beginning of next year.

The biggest criticism I hear from the community is that the Tony Awards "went Hollywood" this year. Actors like Hunter Foster have started a Facebook group to "Give the Tonys Back to Broadway" to echo this sentiment. They spout this negativity because they feel that "theater actors" are not as represented as they used to and that the voters are mobilizing to give awards to stars so they'll be more inclined to come back to Broadway. I cannot disagree more. Whenever producers and casting directors start their process, they have a list of prospective actors they would want to play each role. Can you blame these people if both Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman say yes to doing A Steady Rain? This new American play would have never seen the Great White Way without these two stars agreeing to do it. Do you really think the powers that be would say, "I know these big stars would be ok in the roles, but these other actors would be better in the roles so lets just use them?" That's crazy. The truth is that many film actors (a lot who had their start in theater) love to take time to do plays because it gives them a chance to play characters that are different from the type they play on the screen.

A great example is Scarlett Johansson, a wonderful screen actress who because she is gorgeous, has been typed to play gorgeous people. She was bold and took on an opposite character, Catherine in A View From the Bridge and knocked it out of the park. It didn't matter that she was a star. She was a professional actress who kept up with Liev Schrieber and Jessica Hecht eight shows a week. I reject the notion of people looking down on producers for being bold, getting people with names to do a Broadway production, and creating a successful production. The definition of success on Broadway today is wide open, and the community needs to embrace this type of casting and realize it is good for the future of Broadway.

Lastly, I find it extremely ironic that in a year where everyone is chatting about the "Hollywoodization" of Broadway, that Memphis, a musical that had developmental production after developmental production and has as many above the title producers as a small third world country, won the top prize!

2010 Tony Award Picks!

2010-06-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

Alright ladies and gentleman, it is now time for my official 2010 Tony Award Picks! (I really should just call this the Lowy Awards!) This has been an interesting season on Broadway with a lot of twists and turns. If you would have told me in August that Brighton Beach Memoirs wouldn't run two weeks or The Miracle Worker wouldn't run a month, I would have laughed in your face. That being said, there were many wonderful productions on Broadway and I'm looking forward to celebrating them Sunday night. So on to the picks:

Best Book of a Musical
Everyday Rapture, Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott
Fela! Jim Lewis & Bill T. Jones
Memphis, Joe DiPietro
Million Dollar Quartet, Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux

Winner: Everyday Rapture. A trend I'm going to start immediately is that I will not reward average work (Memphis) throughout my picks. Everyday Rapture is a fun enough book for me to think it could win this year. For me, I think Tony Voters forget what this category is really meant to judge. It should be judged on the plot and story and how the evening of theater is shaped. I mean, lets face it, Cats won the Tony for Best Book, which was credited to T.S. Eliot, who died in 1965, never dreaming his book would be a musical. That being said, there's no doubt in my mind that Fela! should win. Lewis and Jones have created a well-crafted evening of theater that is head over heals superior than the other three.

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Addams Family
Enron
Fences
Memphis

Winner: Unfortunately I have to reward mediocrity here and go with Memphis. Although I actually do enjoy the score, it wouldn't even be in the category in other seasons.

Best Orchestrations
Jason Carr, La Cage aux Folles
Aaron Johnson, Fela!
Jonathan Tunick, Promises, Promises
Daryl Waters & David Bryan, Memphis

Winner: Aaron Johnson's tall task of recreating the arrangements of Fela Kuti's very improvisational style should win this award. If you've never heard what the original music sounded like, listen to this.

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Marina Draghici, Fela!
Christine Jones, American Idiot
Derek McLane, Ragtime
Tim Shortall, La Cage aux Folles

Winner: Christine Jones created a very interesting visual world for American Idiot that should be recognized. The integration of media within this set was pretty remarkable and really helped fill a very large space.

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Marina Draghici, Fela!
Santo Loquasto, Ragtime
Paul Tazewell, Memphis
Matthew Wright, La Cage aux Folles

Winner: La Cage has a wonderful design that should take this category. It's splashy, but not overly tacky, which with this type of production is essential.

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, American Idiot
Donald Holder, Ragtime
Nick Richings, La Cage aux Folles
Robert Wierzel, Fela!

Winner: Much like Jones' scenic design, Kevin Adams' lighting design created a whole visual world for this piece that never ceased to aid the storytelling. It seems that every time he teams up with Michael Mayer he creates magic.

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Jonathan Deans, La Cage aux Folles
Robert Kaplowitz, Fela!
Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen, A Little Night Music
Dan Moses Schreier, Sondheim on Sondheim

Winner: Kaplowitz has created a wonderful aural world for Fela! that needs to be recognized. Enough said!

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Kevin Chamberlin, The Addams Family
Robin De Jesús, La Cage aux Folles
Christopher Fitzgerald, Finian's Rainbow
Levi Kreis, Million Dollar Quartet
Bobby Steggert, Ragtime

Winner: In probably the least talented category this year, I'll pick Kreis because that's most people are picking. I hear Steggert was wonderful in Ragtime. Personally, although I wanted to run out of the St. James this fall during Finian's Rainbow, Christopher Fitzgerald was wonderful and probably deserves this award for making this dated show seem lively for the moments he was onstage.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Barbara Cook, Sondheim on Sondheim
Katie Finneran, Promises, Promises
Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music
Karine Plantadit, Come Fly Away
Lillias White, Fela!

Winner: The forgone conclusion is Katie Finneran and good for her. I love me some Angela Lansbury, but her mantle isn't going to be crying if she doesn't win her 6th.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Kelsey Grammer, La Cage aux Folles
Sean Hayes, Promises, Promises
Douglas Hodge, La Cage aux Folles
Chad Kimball, Memphis
Sahr Ngaujah, Fela!

Will Win: Douglas Hodge has all of the momentum after his wonderful performance as Albin. He definitely deserves this honor, although this category also includes Sahr Ngaujah.
Should Win: If the first night press were still Tony Voters, I think Sahr Ngauja would win this award. He has been the critical darling since this show started at 37 Arts and he would have been the lock. Unfortunately, his performance hasn't been in the recent memory of most Tony Voters, so he will probably be forgotten.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kate Baldwin, Finian's Rainbow
Montego Glover, Memphis
Christiane Noll, Ragtime
Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture
Catherine Zeta-Jones, A Little Night Music

Winner: This is a toss up between Jones and Glover. I am bias in that I think Montego Glover is the next big musical theatre star, but Tony Voters might want to give this to Jones in hopes that she'll come back to Broadway sooner than later. This will be interesting.

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Promises, Promises
Bill T. Jones, Fela!
Lynne Page, La Cage aux Folles
Twyla Tharp, Come Fly Away

Winner: This is one of the most competitive categories this year. Some say that Lynne Page's choreography in this minimalist production should grab the nod. Others say Twyla Tharp's work, although not recognized in most other categories, will take this award as a vote of confidence in that show. As it probably doesn't surprise you, I think Bill T. Jones should win this award. The movement in Fela is perfect. It is pretty much the language of the piece and makes the piece all the more enjoyable.

Best Direction of a Musical
Christopher Ashley, Memphis
Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Ragtime
Terry Johnson, La Cage aux Folles
Bill T. Jones, Fela!

Winner: Being that the 2003-4 La Cage revival didn't run very long, Johnson's refreshing look at this musical should take the prize. Although, I won't be surprised if Jones wins this award, especially is Tharp win best choreography.

Best Revival of a Musical
Finian's Rainbow
La Cage aux Folles
A Little Night Music
Ragtime

Winner: Easy: La Cage Aux Folles becomes the first musical to win the Best Revival Tony twice.

Best Musical
American Idiot
Fela!
Memphis
Million Dollar Quartet

Winner: I started this list saying I would not reward an average musical, so I can't. I think that Tony Voters will look at that ballot and vote their heart, meaning FELA! Although the out of town Tony voters want Memphis because they think it's a better touring property (which is ridiculous), Fela! is clearly the best musical of the year.

For good measure, here are my picks for the play categories:

Best Sound Design of a Play
Will Win: Acme Sound Partners, Fences
Should Win: Scott Lehrer, A View from the Bridge

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Will Win: Brian MacDevitt, Fences
Should Win: Mark Henderson, Enron

Best Costume Design of a Play
Will Win: Catherine Zuber, The Royal Family
Should Win: Martin Pakledinaz, Lend Me a Tenor

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Will Win: Christopher Oram, Red
Should Win: Santo Loquasto, Fences
An art studio is favored to win best scenic design? Really? Loquasto's vision of Troy Maxon's world is a new and exciting way to see this play.

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Will Win: Stephen McKinley Henderson, Fences
Should Win: Stephen McKinley Henderson, Fences

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Will Win: Jan Maxwell, Lend Me a Tenor
Should Win: Scarlett Johansson, A View from the Bridge
Voters will want to give Jan Maxwell a Tony this year, and Viola Davis is a lock for Best Actress. Scarlett winning would not be a surprise though

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Will Win: Denzel Washington, Fences
Should Win: Denzel Washington, Fences
Some believe Alfred Molina will steal this, but I don't think he is even in the same conversation as Denzel and Liev.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Will Win: Viola Davis, Fences
Should Win: Viola Davis, Fences

Best Direction of a Play
Will Win: Gregory Mosher, A View from the Bridge
Should Win: Gregory Mosher, A View from the Bridge
So many people believe Grandage is a lock for this category. I have no clue why people make this assumption after seeing the play. Mosher brought more out of Miller's text than any director I've ever seen.

Best Revival of a Play
Will Win: Fences
Should Win: A View From the Bridge (If this was still running it would have been an interesting two show race)

Best Play
Will Win: Next Fall
Should Win: Time Stands Still
I must take a second to talk about this category. The frontrunner in this category is John Logan's Red, a play that honestly is pretty boring and very preachy. It seems that in the past Tony Voters have loved plays that talk about art and it's struggles and love that kind of pat on the back. That being said, my choice will shock most people. Although I think Next Fall is a wonderful play that people really should go see; to me, the best play of this season was Time Stands Still. This funny, well-crafted and timely play I think should have been the runaway hit of the season.

So there are my picks! Leave some comments to let me know what you think about the picks and I hope you enjoy this year's award ceremony!

A Broadway Video Game?

2010-06-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

It was officially announced mid week that Nintendo Wii was coming out with a new video game called Dance on Broadway. The game features a hit parade of songs from musicals where up to four people can dance and sing along. Meant as a follow up to their game "Just Dance," this game says a lot about how the public views the Broadway Musical.

First of all, the game uses Broadway solely as a brand. If you look down the list, many of the songs are actually from musical films or songs from the stage that were made popular on film. It's interesting that the creators use the word "Broadway" to give this product a bit of cache. From my view, this shows that even though many think Broadway is not with the times, there is still something vibrant and hopeful about the Broadway brand that makes it a marketable commodity outside of just the actual productions happening in midtown Manhattan.

Looking at the list, it must have been an interesting and challenging job to create this game. Examining the musical theater catalog for songs that feature dance are numerous and selecting the right songs would make a game like this great. The songs they chose to use are actually pretty surprising to me for the most part. Songs like "Time Warp," "We're In the Money," "All That Jazz," and "You Can't Stop the Beat" make perfect sense for a game like this, with signature choreographed movement that can be done with great precision. I found it funny that two songs from Hair were included in the game, being that the show's choreography is more free form and precision isn't really relevant or welcome. I don't know about you, but when I hear "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Mucus (yes, mucus), I'm not really looking for the choreography.
I also found it interesting that they feature a few trio songs, including "One Night Only," and "Little Shop of Horrors," which obviously feature movement, but the songs were written to focus more on the lyrics and vocal energy.

As much as I'm always happy when Broadway transcends into popular culture, it seems like this game could have used a few more theatrical minds in the room. I think they missed the opportunity to feature the work of the many famous choreographers that helped shaped the Broadway dance style. The most notable omission is any song from a Jerome Robbins musical! How could there not be one dance from West Side Story, Gypsy, Fiddler On the Roof, etc.? Or how about a Bob Fosse song that is not from Chicago? They have "Cabaret", which is another example of a song that relies on the lyrics more than the movement. Were they scared to put material from The Pajama Game, Sweet Charity, or Pippin? They luckily put a couple of songs choreographed by Gower Champion, but where's Agnes deMille, Michael Kidd, Michael Bennett, George Balanchine, Tommy Tune? And where are the contemporary choreographers like Susan Stroman or Kathleen Marshall (Jerry Mitchell's Hairspray work is included)? For me, this seems like a missed opportunity to package the Broadway dance brand in a way that shows the full breadth of the history of Broadway movement.

Maybe some of these suggestions will come alive in a subsequent game if this one is a hit! In the meantime, watch the trailer for the game below and let me know what you think! Also, leave a comment letting me know if there are any songs that you think should be in this game!

Back and Better Than Ever!

2010-05-31T06:46:00.000-07:00

After a long four month hiatus while I focused on some of my other responsibilities, I'm ready to jump back in this Memorial Day to provide some commentary on an interesting season for the musical theater. With the Tony Awards less than two weeks away, there is tons to reflect on and even more to look forward to.

Although I haven't been writing much the past few months, I have been reading and thinking about a lot of different issues that I want to address on this blog. Here's a preview to some upcoming blogs:

This season's Off Broadway musicals' success
Popular Music's relationship to Musical Theatre
Tony Award Predictions
Theaters as living museums
What is the contemporary musical?
Who outside of the musical theatre world should write a musical?

These topics and more will be addressed in the coming weeks. Let me know if there are any topics that you are curious about. Leave me a comment and I'll be happy to give my perspective.

So stay tuned and check back frequently, as this will be a great place to have a healthy conversation about what's next for the musical theater.

A Wicked Way to Advertise

2010-01-30T07:50:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are not particularly familiar with my opinion of the musical Wicked, in a nutshell, it’s not on my favorable list. That in itself is a conversation for another time. That being said, I am very excited when any musical does something that pushes the envelope in regards to advertising. Wicked is a show that is special in that it has been such a success that the producers are more willing to experiment and gamble with how to best package their product.

Recently I took a train out of Penn Station and noticed something I’ve never seen before. Posters, images, review quotes, etc. for the musical Wicked are plastered everywhere in the main terminal of Penn Station. You might be thinking: “Everyone does paper advertising and posters in various places.” Yes, but they have chosen a very specific place to flood information to their potential ticket buyers.

Let’s say you are coming in from the front entrance below Madison Square Garden. You go down the escalator where you are greeted with a staircase that is now dressed as the Wicked cover art. As you keep walking, you see columns that are completely surrounded by images of Glinda and Elphaba, as well as review quotes. You then enter the main Amtrak lobby where there are two gigantic displays on either side that feature cover art. As you’re walking, every clock in the place has the small Wicked title treatment next to it. Basically, if you have two eyes and a pulse, you are going to see a lot about Wicked in Penn Station.

Needless to say, I think this is a brilliant move. The producers have decided that during the toughest time of the year to bring in audiences (January-March), they would go right to the crossroads of where their newest potential ticket buyers, tourists, will be looking for how to spend their time in New York City. With the whole place being decked out in green and black, how does a tourist not want to see a show that is pretty much being billed as the only show in town? The viewer isn’t seeing a selection of shows to choose from to get a whole sense of what stories are being told on Broadway. They are being presented with the show they believe is the must see it and by the time they walk back into Penn Station, they can say that they saw the musical that everyone is talking about.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Of course, it’s easier to make bold choices when your show grosses over a million dollars a week. At the same time, they are finding new ways to bring audiences into the Gershwin Theater. In addition to Penn Station, they have an aggressive radio campaign to target older audiences who might want to bring their families to the show, as well as a new trend of having instant translation of the musical into many languages. This device brings an international audience into their show because of this wonderful instrument of access.

It’s pretty remarkable that a book musical (regardless of my personal opinions) has been such a box office hit in this marketplace. Add on the fact that the musical is housed in one of the largest venues on Broadway, the Gershwin Theater, and it’s even more impressive. Can Wicked be the next Phantom of the Opera and become the longest running show on Broadway? I don’t think so, but I bet it will be one of the longest running shows by the end of its original Broadway run. Kudos to those producers who dared to put on an enormous production on Broadway and made sure they found a wide-ranged audience.

Exciting Musicals for 2010

2010-01-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

Looking forward towards a new year of musical theater is a pleasant thought these days. There's so much to be excited for in the coming year. I thought a great way to kick off this new year would be to talk about a few musicals that I am excited to see. What follows is a description of the piece, taken from the press (in quotations), as well as my own thoughts.

1. The Burnt Part Boys -
Book by Mariana Elder
Lyrics by Nathan Tysen
Music by Chris Miller

"The Burnt Part Boys is set in West Virginia in 1962. The musical follows a group of teenagers whose fathers were killed ten years earlier in a tragic coal mining accident. When they learn that the mine will be reopened, they set out secretly in the hopes of seeing the site, and keeping it closed. A deeply moving and powerful odyssey, The Burnt Part Boys is an unforgettable coming of age tale, set to a haunting and distinctive bluegrass and pop inspired score."

This musical has been in development for a while and cannot wait to see the outcome of all that hard work. You have to appreciate a musical that is co-produced by three non-profit theaters (NY Stage & Film, Vineyard, & Playwrights Horizons).

2. The Kid -
Book by Michael Zam
Lyrics by Jack Lechner
Music by Andy Monroe

"This musical is based on the true story of what happens when sex columnist Dan Savage and his boyfriend decide to start a family. Winner of the 2009 Jerry Bock Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre, The Kid is The New Group’s first musical since 2004’s Tony-winning production of Avenue Q. Winner of the 2009 BMI Foundation Jerry Bock Award for Outstanding New Musical, The Kid is The New Group's first musical since 2004's Tony-winning production of Avenue Q."

It's very exciting that the New Group has taken the challenge of producing this musical. So many wonderful musicals are written at the BMI Workshop and I'm looking forward to supporting the work of new musical theatre writers.

3. The Scottsboro Boys
Book by David Thompson
Music & Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb

"From the legendary songwriting team of KANDER & EBB (CABARET, CHICAGO, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN), THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is a stirring new musical that explores the infamous 1930’s ‘Scottsboro Case’, in which a group of innocent African-American teenagers are falsely accused of a terrible crime — ultimately provoking a national outrage that sparked the American Civil Rights movement. With a book by DAVID THOMPSON (STEEL PIER), Tony Award-winner SUSAN STROMAN (THE PRODUCERS) directs and choreographs a stellar cast led by Tony-winner JOHN CULLUM (URINETOWN), BRANDON VICTOR DIXON (THE COLOR PURPLE), and COLMAN DOMINGO (PASSING STRANGE) on The Vineyard’s intimate stage. Do not miss your chance to see the next major American musical from the Tony Award-winning VINEYARD THEATRE."

Just when you thought there weren't anymore new Kander and Ebb musicals, The Scottsboro Boys provides their canon with a very different entry. I'm very curious to see what Susan Stroman creates this spring. Kudos to the Vineyard Theatre for developing this piece and giving it a home in New York.

4. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Written by Alex Timbers
Music & Lyrics by Michael Friedman

"Following a sold-out run at last year’s Public LAB, BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON returns! BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON audaciously redefines America’s seventh president, the man who invented the Democratic Party and doubled the size of our nation, with a raucous blend of outrageous comedy, anarchic theatricality and an infectious emo rock score. "

After a successful development production of the musical, I'm ecstatic that the Public chose to produce a full production. The writers, who frequently work with The Civilians, have created a musical that is destined to have a cult following. I really hope that this becomes a hot ticket downtown.

5. Million Dollar Quartet
Written by Colin Escot and Floyd Mutrux

“MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is the new smash-hit musical inspired by the famed recording session that brought together rock 'n' roll icons Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley for the first and only time. On December 4, 1956, these four young musicians gathered at Sun Records in Memphis for what would be one of the greatest jam sessions ever. MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET brings that legendary night to life, featuring a score of rock hits including "Blue Suede Shoes," "Fever," "That's All Right," "Sixteen Tons," "Great Balls of Fire," "Walk the Line," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Who Do You Love?," "Matchbox," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Hound Dog" and more.”

This musical was a smash hit out in Chicago and begins its Broadway run this spring at the Nederlander Theater. In my eyes, this musical will either be a huge smash or might not find its audience. It also might be overshadowed by the fact that Memphis has many similar attributes. At the same time, I'm really looking forward to seeing what the book writers did to create a story that uses these great songs to elevate the circumstances of the plot.

6. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Book by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger
Music & Lyrics by Bono and The Edge

"Drawing from over 40 years of Marvel comic books for inspiration, Spider-Man spins a new take on the mythic tale of a young man propelled from a modest rowhouse in Queens to the sky-scraping spire of the Chrysler Building, the bustling offices of the Daily Bugle, through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan, to new vistas never before seen. The musical follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down — literally — when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek — suddenly endowed with astonishing powers — soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains test not only his physical strength but also his strength of character. Spider-Man's battles will hurtle the audience through an origin story both recognizable and unexpected — yielding new characters as well as familiar faces — until a final surprising confrontation casts a startling new light on this hero's journey."

It doesn't get anymore of a toss up than this webbed musical. Of course, by now you've probably read about all of the troubles this musical has gone through this year. For me, I'm just happy they now have a plan to move forward and get this piece onto the stage of the Hilton Theater. If there is one thing on this earth that is true, it is that whatever Julie Taymor touches is always interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing this piece come to life.

7. In Transit -
Written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan and Sara Wordsworth

"In this fresh take on the modern musical, seven performers take on multiple roles and create every note with their own voices for a rich theatrical experience unlike anything you've ever seen (or heard) on stage before. Inspired by the rhythms and sounds of life on the subway, In Transit follows an aspiring actress, a fledgling financier, a street-savvy beatboxer, a cab driver, and others as they find their way in New York City. The result is a vivid tapestry of characters and music in the City that never stands still."

I cannot tell you how excited I am that this musical is getting a New York City Premiere! It has all the elements to be a successful fan favorite Off-Broadway. This story, told through a capella music and a beat boxer, weaves a wonderful tapestry about New Yorkers that is original and full of fun and heart.

8. American Idiot -

Book by Billy Joe Armstrong & Michael Mayer
Lyrics by Billy Joe Armstrong
Music by Green Day

"Green Day won two Grammys for its multi-platinum album American Idiot, which sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. Now those searing songs seize the stage with the director behind Spring Awakening, the groundbreaking musical that earned eight Tony Awards and enthralled audiences around the world. American Idiot follows working-class characters from the suburbs to the city to the Middle East, as they seek redemption in a world filled with frustration. This high-octane show features every track from the album, plus several new tunes from Green Day’s newest release, 21st Century Breakdown. With an on-stage band and a cast of 19, American Idiot will take you on an exhilarating journey borne along by Green Day’s electrifying songs."

Since this project started its development, I have been camped out for its inevitable New York Premiere. One of my biggest hopes for the musical theatre is that popular music artists will have a story to tell on the musical stage. Paired with collaborators from the theatre world, I think this type of storytelling can be electric. We've seen through pieces like Passing Strange and Spring Awakening that there are stories that are meant to be told on the stage by people who aren't your typical writers. There's a place for all of these pieces in the canon. I'm so excited that Billy Joe Armstrong decided to be bold and work with Michael Mayer and Tom Kitt to bring their story to the stage.

So that is what I'm excited for this year. What excites YOU about the musical theatre for the new year? Leave your comments and vote on the poll.

Best Broadway Musicals of the 2000s

2010-01-01T10:19:00.000-08:00

As we say our goodbyes to the first decade of the new millennium, I thought it would be fun to look back at the musical theatre of the past decade. For me, I thought there were many groundbreaking pieces that have stretched the expectation of what a musical can be.

That being said, here is my list of the Best Broadway Musicals of the 2000s:

15. The Producers - this musical won the most Tony Awards in Broadway history and proved that a "Golden Age" book musical can be a success on Broadway today.

14. Taboo - You might be surprised that Taboo made my list, but I actually saw this show twice! This wonderful musical was overshadowed by the media going after Rosie O'Donnell. If you don't believe me, just think about how in an interview at the end of that season, Stephen Sondheim thought Taboo was the most underrated show of the year!

13. Urinetown - I don't think I ever laughed so hard in a theater as the night I saw Urinetown. I always wonder how much longer the show would have run if it wasn't forced to close due to the demolition of Henry Miller's Theater. Since it closed, I don't think this show has had the kind of life that I would have hoped. I think that many community theatres and colleges haven't acknowledged the satirical nature of this show and hope that some high profile regional theaters will right this ship.

12. Xanadu - I will never forget going to see Xanadu in the second week of previews because I heard it was awful and I wanted to see the damage. Little did I know that I would absolutely LOVE this musical. Douglas Carter Beane did the seemingly impossible: take a terrible film, give it some dramatic relevancy, and create a wonderfully crafted musical.

11. [title of show] - the little musical that could got its shot at Broadway and am so happy that this musical had a future life after its production at the Vineyard.

10. The Drowsy Chaperone - showed audiences that an original musical that is in the style of the classic musical can be a smash hit. It was such a thrill for me to see audiences of all ages enjoy such a positive musical.

9. Passing Strange - From me, this was one of the most exciting musicals I've seen. From the moment the story begins, you are treated to a completely different type of musical storytelling. One of the biggest movements I support is artists coming in from the "outside" and share their musical stories and Stew started a trend I hope will catch on with other artists.

8. Caroline, Or Change - Kushner and Tesori wrote one of the most powerful musicals in the canon of the musical theatre. I will never forget seeing this show early in its Broadway run and finding so much to connect with.

7. Next to Normal - One of my favorite scores of the past decade, I was so inspired by this musical when I saw it at Second Stage. It was so excited to see a contemporary story being told in a perfect contemporary musical style.

6. In the Heights - In the same vein, In the Heights is remarkable for using contemporary Latin rhythms and melody to tell its beautiful and fun story. I remember seeing the show at 37 Arts and telling friends that day that it will win the Tony for Best Musical when it transferred.

5. Avenue Q - One of the biggest thrills of any of the Tony Awards this past decade was when Avenue Q took the prize for Best Musical. It absolutely was the best musical of that year and gave the musical theatre cannon a very different entry.

4. Hairspray - To this day, I still think that Hairspray is one of the best musicals of the past 25 years. When I saw it early previews, I was sold in the first 10 minutes that this was going to be a smash hit. There are moments, like the song "Welcome to the 60s", that I think are among the best pieces of musical theatre dramatic writing that we have. Unfortunately, the movie version is not very faithful to the stage version and most people's perception of the musical is now skewed.

3. The Light In the Piazza - This is the only Broadway musical I ever saw twice in the same month! I was absolutely floored by the beauty and craftsmanship of this musical. I am still so disappointed that this musical didn't take home Best Musical after winning six Tonys! (The top honor went to Spamalot)

2. Spring Awakening - When I saw this musical early in previews, I didn't know what to think of it. I said to myself: I either didn't get what I just saw, or that was one of the most brilliant pieces of musical theatre I've ever seen. I saw the show again the week of the Tony Awards and realized that my opinion was more akin to the latter. The way the authors use contemporary music to tell a story in a timeless way was so well crafted. It was such a thrill to see teenagers and parents in the theater experiencing this musical and being able to have a mature conversation about the nature of sexuality. I can only hope that this piece stays alive in the canon and can be a conversation starter for generations to come.

And the Best of the Best Broadway Musicals of the 2000s goes to..........Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party

1. The Wild Party - This selection, to those who know me, is made without any hesitation. I am absolutely enamored with the craftsmanship and artistry of the musicals of Michael John LaChiusa. I think that he is the preeminent contemporary musical theatre artist who has the best toolkit to write in a mature way, but connect with a wide audience. With The Wild Party, he does everything I hope for in a new musical. He challenges standard form, he creates a whole aural world, he dramatically integrates every character to have a specific purpose, and he creates an entertaining way to tell us something about our present state. I can only hope that he will grace Broadway again with another wonderful musical.

So there we are! I hope that you've enjoyed my posts for 2009 and hope that you will join me in this new year to get some perspective about the musical theatre. That being said, why don't you take a moment and click the link that says "Subscribe" to make sure you never miss a post.

Thank you and happy new year!

Best Musicals of 2009

2009-12-30T12:35:00.001-08:00

As the year winds down, I would be wrong to not include my Best of 2009. This was a great year for the New York theatre scene and here are, in no particular order, the Best Musicals of 2009:

Next to Normal
Rock of Ages
Memphis
Fela
Rooms: a rock romance
The Toxic Avenger
This Beautiful City

This is my list, but I want to hear what YOU think! Comment with your best of this year and call me out on my list!

Check back on New Years for my Best of the Decade!

2009 Theater Year In Review

2009-12-24T09:53:00.000-08:00

With 2009 winding down, I thought I’d make my first post in a while a wrap up of this past calendar year. Obviously, these lists are usually not the most relevant because the theatre year goes from Tony season to Tony season. At the same time though, there was some wonderful moments for the musical theatre this year that deserve to be tied up in a nice little bow.

1. Even the most popular “Golden Age Musicals" can flop in today’s market.

When I heard there was going to be another revival of Guys and Dolls, I was less than excited. I didn’t see a reason why audiences needed to revisit this masterwork today. There was a wonderful revival in 1992 that breathed new life into the work and made it accessible to contemporary audiences. This new revival took the entire spectacle out of the musical by relying on projections to create the visual world. Theatergoers have spoken: do not give me projections as the primary visual outlet (As if The Woman in White wasn’t enough proof). I hope that the next revival is produced in 2025, the 75^th anniversary of its creation and we can once again compare the musical theatre of our time to the “Golden Age”

2. Casting can deter even the most marketable of musicals

When Roundabout announced it was producing a revival Bye Bye Birdie, the theatre community was genuinely excited to see the first Broadway production since the original. When the casting was announced, people started to get skeptical. In many situations, people are pleasantly surprised by the actors they doubted and take back their criticism. Then there are times when the performances just don’t gel. Although I haven’t seen this revival, from my sources I can conclude that some of the casting choices might not have been the best fit for such a high profile revival. I think it’s a really shame that it couldn’t open the new Henry Miller’s Theater with more fanfare.

3. Small musicals on Broadway are a tough sell

I commend the producers of The Story of My Life for taking the chance of putting this musical on Broadway. They did many things right, including booking it into the Booth Theater; a house with a manageable amount of seats. They cast two wonderful musical theatre actors who could give such shape to a beautiful story. Unfortunately, the economics of producing this type of work on Broadway are astronomical. This is going to be a challenge for young writers and producers who are trying to get the best visibility for a work: How can you produce a small musical on Broadway without star casting under an economic model that isn’t doomed from the first preview.

4. Hair will always be in style

I am enamored with the popularity of Hair, a musical that in form is so out there, yet so accessible to many generations. It is remarkable that this production has once again brought theatergoers in wartime (I think we forget this) together. I hope this revival can run at least one more year on Broadway and then book a national tour; maybe even an international tour.

5. Rock of Ages might have started a new trend of Compilation Musicals

As much as many musical theatre lovers might hate this idea, the idea of a compilation musical is nowhere near new. The example I think of is a form between ballad opera and comic opera called the “pasticcio,” a dramatic work where the writer selects music from various famous composers to tell their story. The most popular example of this is John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Although today in the age of copyrights this would be considered illegal without permission, this form was key to getting people who didn’t usually go to the theatre to enjoy seeing a story by way of integrating familiar songs. There seems to be a similar trend today. People enjoy familiarity and sometimes that is what is going to bring them into the theatre. From my point of view, there is a place for this in the musical theatre canon along with standard musical theatre fare. I also don’t think this type of work will ever replace what we deem “standard musical theatre” because most people clamor for a musical story that is told through conventional and unconventional avenues.

6. Sometimes the biggest musical is going to win the Tony Award, no matter how hard a disagree

It is no secret that I believed that Next to Normal should have won the Tony Award for Best Musical. I thought this piece was the rare original contemporary musical that explored something new in the human condition. Billy Elliot has wonderful choreography and tells a remarkable story that many connect with. At the same time, if you’re deciding which of the two you were going to vote for, I don’t see how Next to Normal doesn’t get the nod, but I digress.

And for some quick hits in the play world:

7. Movie stars ruling the straight play world might not be the worst idea

I recently read a quote by a producer who said in regard to this trend that basically: maybe we like putting movie stars in straight plays because they were our dream choices for the roles. I bet when A Steady Rain was produced in Chicago, Keith Huff never would have dreamed that Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig would star in the play on Broadway. What a tribute to a writer. I think it’s pretty remarkable when stars come to Broadway and embrace the challenges of a grueling rehearsal process and eight shows a week. I know I gain more respect for them by doing so.

8. Neil Simon is no longer money in the bank.

A year ago, if you asked me, “I want to do a revival of a Neil Simon play that would make me the most money,” without thinking, I would tell you to do Brighton Beach Memoirs. It would be a no-brainer. Every community theatre on the planet sells out when they produce it and there hasn’t been a Broadway revival. A year later, I am still shocked that the revival didn’t last two weeks. There are many ways to look at this, but I think the fact that their advertising deal with The New York Times, which didn’t allow the producers to do extraneous advertising like direct mail, really hurt the building of a core audience. I also think it was hurt by the fact that the Yankees were in the Playoffs and World Series during this period, which made some theatergoers (including myself), wait to see it. At the same time, you’d think a Neil Simon play would be a home run in itself. It is also tragic because I was very excited for a revival of Broadway Bound, which I’d never seen.

So there you have it: a year in review. I am proud to say that even in tough economic times, the musical theatre has given us a lot to be happy about this year. Not including in this piece were the countless developmental readings and workshops of future musicals that will hopefully be changing the landscape sooner than later. That is what I’m truly most excited for this year. Nothing makes me happier than to see a writer put pen to paper and catch a break.

Feel free to comment with your favorite moments in theatre for 2009. That being said, stay tuned this week to my Top Ten Musicals of the Year, as well as the Best of the Decade. Thanks for reading!

Theater Is Sports and Sports Is Theater

2009-11-09T18:13:00.000-08:00

Today there was a press release about a Broadway-bound play based on the life of Vince Lombardi. For those of you who are not sports fans, Lombardi is one of the greatest football coaches of all time (the Super Bowl trophy is named after him). You might be asking, why is this play of any significance? To me, pieces like this are a part of why I love the theater.

For many years, I have straddled the line between my passion for theater and sports. In most circles, this would seem like the most idiotic and oxymoronic combination of interests. For years, people have laughed at the sight of me writing or doing research about the musical theatre while watching whatever sporting event was peaking my interest.

Many people are led to believe from an early age that a person cannot be a fan of both the arts and sports. This is probably due to school's segmenting kids into specific activities. Certain kids will play football, basketball, etc. while some kids will be in the school play and sing in choir. For most people, this distinction is pretty commonplace, if not involuntary. This is especially apparent in high school, where students are told to choose their interests wisely with college applications looming sooner than later.

Luckily for me, I was blessed to always have both in my life. I started out as an athlete, but as I started doing theatre and realized that that was where I wanted to put my focus. At the same time, I didn't leave sports behind. I still followed my favorite teams, even though I had much less time to devote to it.

As years go by, I realize more and more why I have both of these interests: theater IS sports and sports IS theatre. The fundamental element of both is conflict. In fact, the origins of theater go back to the Greeks where festivals of plays were produced as contests. Central to each of the plays was the "agon" or battle. For years, people would come to plays in the same way they would attend sporting events: to see a battle.

Has this impulse changed? I don't think so. Sports can even be considered the ultimate theater. When we don't know how A-Rod is going to perform in the playoffs, that's theater. When an underdog takes the field, fans are hoping that they will show up and shock the world. Although it is hidden underneath the players salaries and numerous endorsements, any sport is still a conflict between two entities. In the same vein, a good piece of theater is grounded in dealing with conflict.

So I ask you: why not sports and theater together? It's worked before! Of course there's the hit musical, Damn Yankees, which uses baseball as its backdrop. We also see sports play a role in musicals like The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, All American, Wonderful Town, Ragtime, etc. One of the best non musical examples of sports as theater is Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out. This play deals with homosexuality as it relates to the sports world. This play was a huge hit and brought in a very different type of audience into the Broadway theater.

I can only hope that I will be lucky enough someday to contribute something to the theatrical canon that relates to sports. Hopefully, Lombardi will be a success and lead to many more sports/theatre crossovers! Who knows, maybe I can be a special theatrical guest analyst for ESPN someday!

Is Carrie the Musical Making A Comeback?!

2009-10-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentleman, today it was announced that the famed flop Carrie the musical is having an exploratory workshop in mid-November. This musical has been known as the gold standard for musical flops unfortunately. In my wildest dreams, I had always thought that Carrie would have a revival through Encores somewhere down the road. Now that there are producers willing to give it a second life, I'm happy to hear that over 20 years later, the writers are going to be able to take another stab at this musical. If you haven't read the article yet, click here!

Daddy's Home: My Return to the BC/EFA Flea Market

2009-09-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Today, after four years, I was able to return to the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market. This event was pretty much an annual holy day for me before I went to college and was happy that this year's event wasn't rained out.

Each year, my primary focus is supplementing my Playbill collection. Some people collect stamps, some people collect coins, I collect Playbills. It's something I've done since I saw my first show on Broadway (1994 revival of Grease). For me, a Playbill is the fundamental record of a production. Reading any Playbill tells you so much about the history of this art form.

This year, I ended up purchasing 107 Playbills. Here are some highlights of some of my favorite finds:

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - Being that this was Alan Jay Lerner's last show, I've been searching for this one for a while. This piece was meant to be a celebration of the bicentennial, but never really amounted to anything desireable. At the same time, any Leonard Bernstein score is worth a listen!
Bobbi Boland - This play, starring Farah Fawcett, lasted about 5 days of previews before the producers shut down the production. This playbill has a stub for the closing night!
Assassins (Playwrights Horizons) - For some reason, I never acquired this one until now!
Bells Are Ringing - 1958 - Original cast with Judy Holliday. A wonderful show that needs to be produced with more regularity.
Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public - You have to have pity for any musical sequel. This show lasted 16 performances.
Celebration - I have a soft spot for this musical that just doesn't work.
Destry Rides Again - Always interested in this Harold Rome musical from 1959 that was staged by Michael Kidd.
Do Re Mi - Original cast with Phil Silvers
Follies - For some reason I never had a Playbill for the Original Broadway production!
Goodtime Charley - One of many Grossman/Hackady scores.
The Happy Time - An underrated Kander/Ebb score
How Now Dow Jones - Interesting musical from 1968
I Can Get It For You Wholesale - I recently read this musical and would love to see a great book writer take a stab at updating it.
Kean - 1961 musical starring Alfred Drake that deals with actor Edmund Kean.
King David - This concert musical, written by Alan Menken and Tim Rice, opened the New Amsterdam Theater in 1997.
Oh, Calcutta! - Another show I couldn't believe I didn't have. With its racy content, I'm suprised there hasn't been a production of this by a daring theatre company.
On A Clear Day You Can See Forever - A show that absolutely needs a revival. The Lerner/Lane contains some of the most gorgeous music you'll ever hear.
One Two Three Four Five - I had never heard of this musical until today! Opening in December 1988, the musical was written by Maury Yeston and Larry Gelbart. My new quest is to find out what became of this musical!
A Party With Betty Comden and Adolph Green - This concert is classic Comden/Green.
The Red Shoes - This musical version of the classic story boasts a score by Jule Styne and Marsha Norman. The show was an $8 million flop that ran 5 performances.
Sail Away - Elaine Stritch starred in this classic Noel Coward musical.
Stop the World, I Want to Get Off - Although many would consider Anthony Newley's vision of musical theatre dated, I think that with the right director, this musical could be extremely relevant.
Sweeney Todd - Although I've had other Playbills from this production, I was happy to have one from previews!
Take Me Along - This adaptation of O'Neill's Ah Wilderness! boasts a Bob Merril score.
Two By Two - This musical, with such brilliant minds (Richard Rodgers, Peter Stone, Martin Charnin), never amounted to very much. In fact, star Danny Kaye was forced to continue performing in the show from a wheelchair after he broke his leg!
The Unsinkable Molly Brown - Always wants to learn more about this musical, written by The Music Man's Meredith Wilson.
Via Galactica - This musical, which lasted 7 performances, featured a score by Galt MacDermot (Hair).
Welcome To The Club - Here's another musical I'd never heard of (Michael Mooney to the rescue). Featuring a score by Cy Coleman (here co-writing lyrics for the first time), this musical opened in 1989 and lasted 12 performances.
Encores Playbills - The Apple Tree, The Boys From Syracuse, Carnival, Chicago, Golden Boy, House of Flowers, & No Strings.

Last but certainly not least, I also bought a Glory Days T-Shirt! Until I see a production of this musical, I will not believe that this show was an artistic failure, only a victim of it's late entry into the Broadway season.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and best of all, all of the proceeds went to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Let me know what you think of my purchases and let me know, if you were there, if you grabbed anything of note!

Avenue Q Moves Up to 50th Street

2009-09-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Since the last time I posted, an amazing thing happened that I must comment on!

The producers of Avenue Q (Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, The Vineyard Theatre and The New Group) announced that the Broadway production would transfer to Off-Broadway's New World Stages. If you haven't read about this yet, click here.

There are many reasons why I'm excited by this. First of all, Avenue Q is a wonderful musical that deserves to been seen by more audiences, even though it ran on Broadway for six years. I'm also so impressed that the producers didn't buy into the "Broadway or Bust" mindset. They made their money, but still think this production needs a further life and made it happen.

That being said, what I'm most impressed with is the producers courage to make this transfer happen for the right reasons. They still believed that they could sell this show, but filling a Broadway theater for another few years might be a tougher task. Now, once they transfer, they have a new target number: 499. Selling a house of 500 seats is very manageable when you transfer a Tony award winning musical.

As excited as I am about this transfer, I would be even more excited if this became a small trend. As everyone knows, it is so hard for a show on Broadway to recoup its initial investment. What if there was a business model where a new show could open ob Broadway later in the season, make most of its money back in a post Tony Award summer, and then transfer soon after to a smaller commercial Off-Broadway space? Now of course, there are many wrinkles in this scenario. It could take a long time to recoup certain shows and there are less and less commercial Off-Broadway spaces each year. I leave this suggestion in the hands of those who could figure out a fiscal way to do this.

Among other things, a model like this could help small musicals succeed on Broadway and be profitable. In the meantime, I will happily make my way to New World Stages to see Avenue Q return to Off-Broadway.

Musical Theatre Nerd Quiz #1

2009-08-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is to make fun, yet challenging musical theatre quizzes. Let's see how much you know about musical theatre history. This first quiz is similar to one I posted on facebook a while back, so if you have taken this before, I hope you remember the answers. Take a look at the questions and post a comment with you answers! I'll let you know your scores later on. Good luck!

1. What is the only musical that Richard Rodgers wrote music and lyrics for?

a. I remember Mama

b. Two By Two

c. No Strings

d. Rex

2. Which of these musicals did not win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama?

a. How to Succeed in Business…

b. Fiorello

c. South Pacific

d. Oklahoma

3. What musical did Danny Kaye perform months of the show from a wheelchair?

a. Let’s Face It

b. Rocky Horror Show

c. Two By Two

d. Lady in the Dark

4. Which Sondheim musical features a character written specifically to be African American?

a. None

b. Company

c. Sweeney Todd

d. Merrily We Roll Along

e. Follies

5. Which of these musicals did NOT run for one performance on Broadway?

a. Dance A Little Closer

b. Carrie

c. Glory Days

d. Kelly

6. What was the original title of Oklahoma?

a. The Farmer and the Cowman

b. Green Grow the Lilacs

c. A Prairie Home Companion

d. Away We Go!

7. Which musical does not feature any relation to sports?

a. Damn Yankees

b. Wonderful Town

c. Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

d. All American

e. The Pajama Game

8. Which one of these musicals did not play at New World Stages?

a. I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change

b. Toxic Avenger the Musical

c. Evil Dead the musical

d. Rooms

9. Which of these classic musicals did NOT feature Alfred Drake in the original production?

a. Kiss Me Kate

b. Kismet

c. Gigi

d. Oklahoma

10. What Sondheim musical did NOT win Best Musical at the Tony Awards?

a. Passion

b. Company

c. A Funny Thing Happened…Forum

d. Into the Woods

e. A Little Night Music

What Musicals Would I Go Back In Time To See?

2009-08-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked, "What one show would you go back in time to see if you had a time machine?" I immediately found this question easy to answer. For me, I always wonder what it must have been like to be at the New Haven Shubert Theater in the winter of 1943 to see the opening night of Away We Go (later renamed Oklahoma!). If only that audience knew what would be born that evening!

It got me thinking about some other productions I wish I could go back and see. Here is a list of 30 that got away (or I wasn't born yet to see!), in no particular order:

1. Away We Go - Opening Night at the New Haven Shubert Theater

2. Rent - New York Theatre Workshop - January 25th, 1996. This was the day after Larson's untimely passing. The cast performed a "concert" version of the piece for Jon's friends and family. For a full account of this evening, see Anthony Rapp's book Without You.

3. The Black Crook - September 12, 1866 - Niblo's Garden - Considered the first book musical, the combination of music, words and dance happened by accident. Click here if you've never read anything about The Black Crook!

4. Of Thee I Sing - Opening Night - This was the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

5. Merrily We Roll Along - Original Broadway - Although it only ran two weeks, I would have like to have seen the show before the creative team made those great changes in the early 1990s.

6. Brigadoon - Original Broadway - One of my favorite musicals, it would be a thrill to see the piece in its original form; complete with the Agnes DeMille choreography.

7. Showboat - Original Broadway - Florenz Ziegfeld chose to produce this musical for a reason.

8. Zombie Prom - Original Production Off Broadway at the Variety Arts Theater - A show I've been in and have admired, I would love to see how it was originally produced. With better marketing, this show could've been a big Off-Broadway hit!

9. On the Town - Original Broadway - At the time, Comden, Green & Bernstein were relative newcomers. How great would it be to see them in this production?!

10. Assassins - 1990 at Playwrights Horizons - Although I adore the 2004 Broadway revival, I would have loved to have seen the piece with it's original cast, in an extremely small space, with a sparce orchestration, and without "Something Just Broke."

11. Gypsy - Original Broadway - Who wouldn't want to see Merman in the role she was born to play?

12. Follies - Original Broadway & Paper Mill Playhouse - From everything I have heard, both of these productions were perfect.

13. Children of Eden - Paper Mill Playhouse - As a big fan of this show now, I'm sad that my parents never thought to take me to see this!

14. She Loves Me - Original Broadway - One of the most undderated musicals, I would love to see Barbara Cook in this classic musical.

15. 30/90/Boho Days/tick, tick...BOOM! - One of the workshops - I would pay a lot of money to have been sitting at one of these workshops where Larson sat with a band and performed all of the roles.

16. Glory Days - Original Broadway - I can't believe that this musical only ran one performance solely because of the content. It was announced late in the season and didn't have the proper amount of time to advertise. There had to be some great elements that would be worth seeing.

17. The Wild Party - Original Broadway - As it's one of my favorite musicals, sometime in my life I will make my way to the Lincoln Center library to watch this production!

18. Blood Brothers - Original Broadway/London - Although many people don't care for this musical, I find it brilliant. Although I've been in the show and have seen a few productions, I haven't been to the West End yet to see the original production!

19. Fiorello - Original Broadway - Another Pulitzer Prize winning musical, I haven't heard of many productions since the original.

20. Anything at Signature Theater in Washington, D.C. - I've admired this theatre for many years for premiering wonderful new works of musical theatre. Some include The Highest Yellow, Giant, The Fix, & The Withches of Eastwick.

21. Company - Original Broadway (1970) - Of course, I would love to have been there for opening night of this groundbreaking concept musical.

22. Love Life - Original Broadway - Although many consider Company to be the first concept musical, Love Life is technically the first musical to use these Brechtian elements in a Broadway musical. While doing some research a few years ago, I had the pleasure of reading a draft of it and hope that someday it will be revised and produced.

23. Paint Your Wagon - Original Broadway - For many years, I've been a huge advocate for this musical being revised and produced on Broadway. If you read the script and listen to the score, you would understand how much potential there is in this musical. Although there has been some revisions made over the past ten years, there unfortunately hasn't been a Broadway revival.

24. Starlight Express - Original Broadway/London - You're probably asking how this musical made my list. When I was younger and just started to examine the musical theatre canon, for some reason I was enamored with this score. I still would love to see it performed in it's all it's cheesy glory!

25. No Strings - Original Broadway - This was the only musical that Richard Rodgers wrote music and lyrics for (and won a Tony), but unfortunately it doesn't get produced much anymore.

26. The Flops of Rodgers & Hammerstein: Me and Juliet, Allegro, Pipe Dream. These three are considered flops, but the first two have a lot to examine. I personally think Me and Juliet has a fantastic book and deserves to have a revival. For many years, Stephen Sondheim has talked about how he's always wanted to fix the second act of Allegro (He was a Production Assistant on the original production). Maybe he'll adapt a new book...?

27. Carrie the musical - Original Broadway - No musical theatre list is complete without a mention of Carrie the musical. I think the authors should finally release the rights. Someone would do it; even if it's just a concert!

28. [title of show] - Original Broadway - I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't get to see this musical at the Vineyard or on Broadway (long story). Someday!

29. One Touch of Venus - Original Broadway - Immediately after the premiere of Oklahoma in 1943, One Touch of Venus validated many of the theatrical devices that Oklahoma used. It also cemented Agnes DeMille as the force for movement on Broadway, as well as featuring the wonderful Mary Martin.

30. As this list has gotten way too long, here's a listing of some other musicals I would love to have seen in their original production: Marie Christine, Parade, Aspects of Love, Thou Shalt Not, Floyd Collins, Sweet Charity, South Pacific, Amour, Anyone Can Whistle, As Thousands Cheer, & Call Me Madam.

Feel free to post a comment with some of your thoughts and your own musicals you would love to have seen!

A New P.T. Barnum Film Musical Where There Isn't A Sucker Born Every Minute

2009-08-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

After a brief hiatus (I guess I consider almost a month brief!), I'm back and ready to write about what's next in the world of musical theatre.

Today I'd like to touch on an article I read a few weeks ago that initially made me very excited, but after some thought, troubled me a bit.

Playbill.com reported that "Tony Award winner Hugh Jackman will play P.T. Barnum in a new movie musical for Twentieth Century Fox...Jennie Bicks ("Sex and the City") will write the script for the film, which will feature a contemporary score. The studio is currently in discussions with singer-songwriter Mika to pen the score."

When I first read the title of the article, "Hugh Jackman to Star in P.T. Barnum Film Musical," I was very excited to hear that Mark Bramble, Michael Stewart and Cy Coleman's musical Barnum was being adapted for the screen. Now that I read that it's going to be a completely new piece with contemporary music, it seems this piece might be heading down a tricky rabbit hole.

There is always a fundamental question when writing a score for the musical stage: what should the aural world of this story sound like? More specifically, if the piece is grounded in a certain time period or setting, does the music need to be faithful to that?

A great example of this great debate are the two adaptations of Joseph Moncure March's poem The Wild Party. When the rights for this property were released into the public domain in the late 1990s, both Michael John LaChiusa and Andrew Lippa jumped at the chance of adapting this poem for the musical stage. LaChiusa's view of the aural world was straight out of the Prohibition era of the poem's setting, while Lippa's score had a contemporary feel, complete with electric guitars. Which one serves the source material better? That's for you to decide.

For my money, I prefer LaChiusa's adaptation. I love when a musical that is grounded in a specified time period uses the sound of that era as an advantage for clear musical storytelling.

Which brings me back to the most important question about the new P.T. Barnum musical: Is the story of a 19th Century American showman like P.T Barnum best served being told through a contemporary score? When Bramble, Stewart and Coleman asked themselves that question in the late 1970s, they decided against telling this story with a contemporary score. The production ended up being nominated for 10 Tony Awards (winning 3).

I don't want to make it sound like I don't believe this new movie musical can be successful. In fact, I'm one of the biggest advocates out there for the creation of new musical films. I just think the studio might want to reexamine the source material and make sure they have the best aural world for their story.

(As a short side note, how great would it be if after the movie premiered, some Broadway producers put together a revival of Barnum starring Hugh Jackman? Seeing him perform "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute" would sell like a new High School Musical movie!)

What We're Doing For Love

2009-07-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

I recently came across an article that discusses statistics for compensation of people who major in certain areas. Of course, not surprising is the inclusion of theatre in the "bottom 10 majors", saying the starting median salary of someone studying drama is $35,000 and the mid-career median salary being $55,000.

As a recent college graduate, I must say that the first figure seems pretty ridiculous. I would be ecstatic to hold a job in the theatre right now that starts with a $35,000 yearly salary. Unfortunately, it has become tougher for people my age to get these kinds of jobs because theaters (rightfully so) have other priorities when it comes to staffing. My fear is that because there is a shortage of theatre jobs that pay a suitable wage, more or more wonderful theatre artists will gravitate towards television and/or film to make ends meat.

That being said, I hope that anyone who's in a similar situation to this remembers this struggle when/if they "make it" so we can all do something about this! In the meantime, reading statistics like this reminds me how much I love what I do and I will do what is necessary to be a part of the theatre community and expand the possibilities of our form.

Top 50 (or 55) Musical Theater Songs of the Decade

2009-07-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

For my first installment of musical theatre related lists, I decided to make a list of my favorite musical theatre songs from the past decade. This was inspired by the New Voices concert I'm working on at Paper Mill Playhouse.

Here were some of my guidelines for my selections:
1. No Jukebox Musicals Allowed - songs needed to be written specifically for the stage.
2. The list is a mixture of my favorite songs and songs I think are perfect for the moments they were written for.
3. The songs had to be from shows that were produced from 2000-2009.
4. They are in alphabetical order (any other order would take me days to complete)

Enjoy the list and make sure to comment with songs you think that need to be on this list or voice your disagreement!

1. A Man of No Importance - The Streets of Dublin

2. Altar Boyz – Something About You

3. Altar Boyz - We Are the Altar Boyz

4. Avenue Q - Purpose

5. Bat Boy – Inside Your Heart

6. Bombay Dreams - The Journey Home

7. Caroline, or Change – Lot’s Wife

8. Dance of the Vampires - For Sarah

9. Drowsy Chaperone, The - Accident Waiting to Happen

10. Drowsy Chaperone, The - Show Off

11. Elegies: A Song Cycle - Anytime

12. Frogs, The – Ariadne

13. Full Monty, The – Michael Jordan’s Ball

14. Full Monty, The - You Walk With Me

15. Hairspray - Nicest Kids In Town

16. Hairspray - Welcome to the 60s

17. Hairspray - Without Love

18. In the Heights - 96,000

19. In the Heights – It Won’t Be Long Now

20. In the Heights - When You’re Home

21. Last 5 Years, The - If I Didn’t Believe In You

22. Last 5 Years, The - Moving Too Fast

23. Light in the Piazza, The - Love to Me

24. Light in the Piazza, The - Say It Somehow

25. Light in the Piazza, The - The Beauty Is

26. Little Fish - Remember Me

27. Little Women - Some Things Are Meant to Be

28. Next To Normal – I Am the One

29. Next To Normal – Superboy and the Invisible Girl

30. Passing Strange – Come Down Now

31. Producers, The - We Can Do It

32. Roadshow – Talent

33. See What I Wanna See – Central Park

34. See What I Wanna See - Coffee

35. See What I Wanna See - Gloryday

36. See What I Wanna See - There Will Be A Miracle

37. Seussical - Alone in the Universe

38. Shrek The Musical - I Know It’s Today

39. Shrek The Musical - Who I’d Be

40. Spamalot - The Song That Goes Like This

41. Spring Awakening - The Bitch of Living

42. Spring Awakening – The Guilty Ones

43. Sweet Smell of Success – Welcome to the Night

44. Taboo - Out of Fashion

45. Taboo - Stranger In This World

46. Thoroughly Modern Millie - What Do I Need With Love

47. title of show - Two Nobodies In New York

48. Toxic Avenger, The - Hot Toxic Love

49. Urinetown - Run, Freedom Run

50. Wedding Singer, The - It’s Your Wedding Day

51. Wild Party, The - People Like Us

52. Wild Party, The - Queenie Was A Blonde

53. Witches of Eastwick, The - Dance With the Devil

54. Witches of Eastwick, The - Something

55. Zanna Don’t – I Think We Got Love

I'm Back and Ready to Write!

2009-07-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers!

I'm officially back from my time at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center and am looking forward to giving you all some great pieces over the the coming weeks. Some things to look forward to include:

-My first book review for Mainly On Directing by Arthur Laurents.
-Talk about some readings and new musicals being workshopped this summer.
-New Top 10 lists.

And much, MUCH, more. Thanks for allowing me a hiatus and look forward to hearing your comments!

How Long Should It Take Between Revivals?

2009-06-21T16:10:00.001-07:00

One of the more interesting pieces of news that came out the day after the Tony Awards was the announcement that the West End production of La Cage Aux Folles would be transferring to Broadway during the 2009-2010 season (this production won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival). This came as a shock since the show was already revived very recently, running from Dec 9, 2004 to June 26, 2005. That production, which starred Gary Beach, Daniel Davis and Gavin Creel, won Best Musical Revival in a relatively weak field. The production closed soon after the Tony Awards after playing 229 performances.

Now this is nothing against the show, which I think has a decorated place in the musical theatre canon, but do we really need another revival of La Cage right now? The last revival barely lasted seven months, which made it impossible for the production to return on its investment, even after winning the coveted Best Musical Revival Tony Award. I completely support the necessity of revivals of musicals for the purpose of guaging where we are as an art form. It's fun to see how a revival of one show "speaks" to the newest show around the block.

Another example of this is the recently announced transfer of the Kennedy Center's pro duction of Ragtime. Now as a disclaimer, Ragtime is one of my top 10 favorite musicals and I absolutely love every little moment of its three hours traffic. Given that, the original production of Ragtime ran two years, but still had trouble returning its investment and gain the respect of the theatre community at the time. Is 11 years really enough of a break for people to revisit this piece? Now you might be thinking, "you love this show! How can you say that you wouldn't want another Broadway revival?!" I say this because I respect the piece so much that I'm willing to wait another 10 years or more for a time where audiences can experience this wonderful exploration of the human spirit in a production more distant from the original.

My question is this: should the Broadway League do anything about this? Should their be a "rule" that any piece must wait at least 10 years to be revived on Broadway? As well as being an artistic choice, it is also a fiscal consideration. When a production takes one of the few vacant Broadway theaters, they are pledging that they will be able to make a smart investment. Having a 10 year rule would help ensure that revivals and new works that are on the track have available space when the time is right.

It's all a matter of opinion so who knows; maybe these revivals will be the hits of next season. For me, I'd rather see a new piece or a new revival than a show that needs more time to appreciate its place in the musical theatre canon. Example: the revival of Brigadoon that was postponed with revised book by John Guare!

Comment about what you think about these upcoming revivals!

Back At the O'Neill!

2009-06-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

Over the next few weeks, I'll be working at the National Music Theatre Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. Although I will not be blogging about the projects that are in development, being that these pieces are at various stages, I wanted to at least announce what projects they will be doing!

First up is Picnic At Hanging Rock, an adaptation of a Joan Lindsay novel with Book, Music, & Lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik. Joe Calarco will direct the reading (June 27-July 3) with musical director Deborah Abramson. The cast features Whitney Bashor, Charlie Brady, Matt Doyle, Jessica Grove, Veronica Kuehn, Hannah Laird, Anne Letscher, Anne Nathan, Lauren Nolan, Laila Robins, Sarah Shahinian, Nick Sullivan, Kate Wetherhead, Jessica-Snow Wilson, Lauren Worsham and Valerie Wright.

The other musical is Tales of the City, an adaptation of the Armistead Maupin novel. The piece features a book by Jeff Whitty and a score by Jason Sellards and John Garden, members of the Scissor Sisters. The reading will be directed by Jason Moore and musical directed by Stephen Oremus. The cast will include Mary Birdsong, Candy Buckley, Jeffrey Carlson, Diane Davis, Christopher J. Hanke, John Jellison, Steve Kazee, Jose Llana, Matt McGrath, Betsy Wolfe and Kristine Zbornik.

Both musicals will be given four performances and lots of rehearsal time to put the text on its feet. I can't tell you how exciting it is to be in the room when this magic happens!

During my time here, I will be blogging about lots of issues in the musical theatre world today and the future so keep checking back!

2009 Tony Award Wrap Up

2009-06-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

The 63rd Annual Tony Awards was a wonderful celebration of the 2008-2009 theatrical season on Broadway. With new producers at the helm, the telecast promised to be a little different than other years and succeeded in many ways:

1. The opening number gave even the more casual theatre fan some identifiable celebrities from other mediums to show how inclusive the Broadway community can be. Of course, it also gave viewers Bret Michaels getting hit in the face with a drop (which was one of my favorite moments of the evening; one I will enjoy on YouTube for years to come. In case you missed it...)

2. Congrats to Billy Elliot! Although I haven't had the opportunity to see this musical yet, it seems that across the board, the piece was rightfully recognized. It is nice to see a piece that won a suitable amount of creative and design awards win Best Musical. In some years, 2005 for example, a show can not win in those important categories and still win Best Musical, which I deem hypocritical.

3. Congrats Next to Normal! Although I picked this to shock the world and win Best Musical, I'm sure the creators were happy for Best Score and Orchestrations, as well as Best Actress for Alice Ripley. These honors should be an indication that audiences enjoy an original contemporary musical and producers can take more chances with contemporary material.

4. Neil Patrick Harris was a WONDERFUL host, with what he was allowed to do.

WHICH, brings me to my Tony "Thoughts For Improvement"

1. Why wasn't Neil Patrick Harris used more?! We have a wonderful song & dance comedian and he barely was allowed to do anything until the credits rolled and sang a great parody. A perfect opportunity would have been that opening number. What if he played a role in each segment, accessorizing to the current show, and then moved on to the next one? This would give him a tour de force moment that features the shows, as well as our host for the evening.

2. On a night that celebrates Broadway theatre, it's pretty surprising that the sound for the telecast was pretty terrible. With Elton John's mic being cut out of the beginning and Titus Burgess' mic freaking out during the introduction of "Sit Down, You're Rockin the Boat," they just couldn't get the sound right. Hopefully this will be remedied for other years.

3. I cannot tell you how dumbfounded I was that three touring companies were allowed to perform on the telecast while other important awards were assigned to the creative awards. With the 10-15 minutes that were wasted on showing us shows that are selling fine, they could have done a montage about touring shows, then presented at least two more awards. My suggestion would be Best Book and Best Choreography. In a medium that is grounded in storytelling, it is unbelievable that Best Book was not included on the telecast.

4. This is more of an observation, but wasn't it shocking that Best Play was announced at 10:15pm? I seem to remember when that would be the second to last award of the evening. It's miraculous how much our attention has turned to musicals and not look at the plays at the Tony's. As a musical theatre nut, you might be surprised for me to say this, but I believe that each medium of storytelling should have their moment on the telecast.

Overall though, I was ecstatic to hear that the ratings were up for this year's telecast. Although many will not agree with this, I believe that the popularity of shows American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars, and You're the One That I Want has increased exposure to the performing arts and it can only help the future of the musical theatre for these people to be watching the Tony Awards

Feel free to leave your comments on what you thought about the Tony Awards!

2009 Tony Award Predictions!

2009-06-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

It is truly the most wonderful time of the year: the Tony Awards. It's the one night where the country (or at least the educated sect of the country) turns their attention to celebrating the theatrical season on Broadway. In honor of this great night, here's my take on what I will win tonight in the musical theatre categories!

Best Scenic Design of a Musical:
Robert Brill, Guys and Dolls
Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Scott Pask, Pal Joey
Mark Wendland, Next to Normal

In a category that many deem up for grabs, I think people will gravitate towards this much utilized unit set.

Best Costume Design of a Musical:
Gregory Gale, Rock of Ages
Nicky Gillibrand, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical
Michael McDonald, Hair

Hatley, who also designed the set, gets the nod here for inventive use of costume throughout the piece.

Best Lighting Design of a Musical:
Kevin Adams, Hair
Kevin Adams, Next to Normal
Howell Binkley, West Side Story
Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot, The Musical

After winning the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Awards, it seems fitting that Fisher will complete the triple crown here. Look out for Kevin Adams to maybe steal this one though!

Best Sound Design of a Musical:
Acme Sound Partners, Hair
Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Peter Hylenski, Rock of Ages
Brian Ronan, Next to Normal

With it's rock band that turns up to 11, Hylenski gets the nod here for creating a full aural world.

Best Orchestrations:
Larry Blank, Irving Berlin's White Christmas
Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal
Danny Troob and John Clancy, Shrek The Musical

The combination of composer Kitt and orchestrator Starobin have created the blueprint for what a contemporary musical's sound should be

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical:
David Bologna, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5: The Musical
Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical
Will Swenson, Hair

Jbara gets his Tony after his second nomination. My personal pick would be Sieber for his wonderfully crafted performance in Shrek. Being on your knees for 2.5 hours has to count for something!

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical:
Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal
Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Karen Olivo, West Side Story
Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey
Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The Musical

In her Broadway debut, Gwynne grabs the Tony in a relatively weak category.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical:
David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish ‚ Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gavin Creel, Hair
Brian d'Arcy James, Shrek The Musical
Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages
J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal

Although many belive the 3 Billy's will nab this award, I'm of opinion that d'Arcy James grabs this award tonight. His performance transcends its original subject matter and brings a new humanity to the ogre.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical:
Stockard Channing, Pal Joey
Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical
Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical
Alice Ripley, Next to Normal
Josefina Scaglione, West Side Story

Ripley, a Broadway veteran, gets her Tony here for a beautiful performance in such a tough role.

Best Direction of a Musical:
Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Greif, Next to Normal
Kristin Hanggi, Rock of Ages
Diane Paulus, Hair

Although Paulus might steal this one, many believe that Daldry's direction will win tonight.

Best Choreography:
Karole Armitage, Hair
Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical
Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin's White Christmas

With its story grounded in dance, Darling grabs this award. Look out for Armitage to take this one though!

Best Book of a Musical:
Lee Hall, Billy Elliot, The Music
Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal
David Lindsay-Abaire, Shrek The Musical
Hunter Bell - [Title of Show]

In a much contested category, Hall is favored to win, with Bell being the dark horse.

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre:
Elton John & Lee Hall, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal
Dolly Parton, 9 to 5
Jeanine Tesori & David Lindsay-Abaire, Shrek the Musical

Kitt & Yorkey get their Tony for finding the perfect contemporary sound for a contemporary musical story.

Best Revival of a Musical:
Guys and Dolls
Hair
Pal Joey
West Side Story

Basically a forgone conclusion since it opened, Hair gets the Tony.

Best Musical:
Billy Elliot, The Musical
Next to Normal
Rock of Ages
Shrek The Musical
In the tradition of Avenue Q and Jersey Boys, I'm predicting a huge upset in this category. Although I think Billy Elliot will win many awards, I believe that Next to Normal is a better musical and that voters will agree with this.

Enjoy the awards and I look forward to talking about the outcomes in coming days!

Try your luck at this Best Musical quiz!

2009-06-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of the Tony Awards, which are coming up on Sunday, June 7th at 8pm, try your luck at naming all 60 winners of the coveted Best Musical Award. My score was a disappointing 43/60! (I forgot that shows like The Wiz won!) Try your luck and post your score as a comment!

http://www.sporcle.com/games/tonymusicals.php

I'll be posting my predictions and thoughts tomorrow!

The Brooks Atkinson Hosts A Party Called ROCK OF AGES

2009-05-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

This week, I had the pleasure of seeing Rock of Ages, which was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. I was especially interested in seeing this show, considering many think that 9 to 5 should be in their spot. For my money, I would pick Rock of Ages any day.

Upon walking into the Brooks Atkinson Theater, there was a different atmosphere than any other musical I’ve ever attended. There are waiters serving drinks, the theater is dressed as a concert venue, and the audience had such a fun and relaxed buzz. At the performance I attended, there were audience members who, at the start of a song they recognized and loved, would get up and start dancing. In most other pieces, you would be beaten back to your seat. At Rock of Ages, you are admired for being that bold!

Going in, I was skeptical that a musical using a pre-existing compilation of music from various sources could enhance any story. The way that book writer Chris D’Arienzo crafts his story, 80s music is the only suitable language for his characters. The musical takes place in the 1980s where a venue on the strip of LA is going to be shut down so that developers can remodel the community. Of course, at the same time, there is the love interest of a rock star and actress who are trying to make it big and fall in and out of love throughout the story.

Now as conventional as the story sounds, D’Arienzo never shies away from the simplicity. His characters understand that they are a part of a musical and with his narrator (Lonny) and the heightened campiness of the 80s music, he could do just about anything and get away with it. A lot of times, he doesn’t even use full songs; choosing to just use parts where the lyrics are helping the action of the moment. In other musicals, this just wouldn’t work. Given the context of this musical, it seems perfect.

The performances all around are very strong. Although he was very good in his role, I find it hard to believe that there wasn’t another performance worthy of the Best Leading Actor in a musical. As always, Amy Spanger gives a highly energetic and well crafted performance as Sherrie. It’s rare to find someone that is a true triple threat, but Spanger shines vocally, with her movement, and with the full exploration of her character. Other notable performances belong to Mitchell Jarvis as the narrator Lonny, who guides us through the story and plays a fun role within it and Paul Schoeffler, who plays the man who wants to demolish the Bourbon Room.

All is all, I recommend Rock of Ages for anyone who wants to have a less formal evening at a musical. Bring your earplugs (it’s really loud, but worth it) and a sense of humor and Rock of Ages will give you a great evening’s entertainment!

Broadway + 3D = Hmm...?

2009-05-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

Today it was announced on Playbill.com that at the Broadway League's annual Spring Road Conference, a company named Fugobi pitched the idea of filming Broadway productions to be shown on movie screens in 3D! Their hope is to "capture five 3D films of Broadway shows for international release within the next 18 months.”

Over the past couple of years, every time I saw a movie that was advertised to be shown in 3D, I must admit that I chuckled a bit. For many years, 3D had been present in smaller doses. Recently, we can see anything from Hannah Montana to Harry Potter in 3 dimensions. Why do we want this? Is there something we’re not getting from the film itself that we need to see in 3D to fully understand? Also, with the little experience I’ve had with 3D film, it seems that the choice of what elements are made 3D can be awkward, and thus distracts me from the plot.

The prospect of having Broadway shows filmed for distribution in 3D troubles me on many levels. First of all, nowhere in the article does it mention that they will explicitly only film musicals. Is there really a possibility that we might see August: Osage County or Blithe Spirit in 3D? Or how about Joe Turner’s Come and Gone or Waiting For Godot? Let’s just hope for our sake and our children’s sake that we don’t have to see 20^th century masterpieces seen in 3D.

So let’s say that they meant filming musicals. What musicals today would be enhanced or work at all in 3D? Maybe a piece like Hair could be aided by this. Since concert movies are continually made into 3D extravaganzas, maybe the scale of Jersey Boys might work. Other than that, looking at the current fair on Broadway, there doesn’t seem to be any other musical that could survive being shown in the distracting form of 3D.

We then have the next issue: how does the 3D medium serve the musical? A good musical is well crafted with many layers and dimensions without the extra visual extravagance. The reason a musical is written for the stage is that it’s meant to be performed in a theatrical setting. If a musical is written or adapted for the screen, the audience has an informed expectation and will not expect a theatrical experience.

Ok, given the problems I foresee with Broadway shows being seen in 3D, this is a great opportunity to discuss whether Broadway shows should be filmed for wider distribution. My answer is an emphatic YES, under the right circumstances.

First of all, I think it’s important that filmed versions of Broadway productions be seen AFTER their Broadway engagement closes. I was dumbfounded when I heard MTV was showing all of Legally Blonde the Musical before it had closed on Broadway. Although it did run for months afterward, you are giving a potential audience member a great reason for not spending $100 on seeing the show live, being that I can see it for free on television. Waiting until after the Broadway run becomes problematic for two reasons: 1. The original cast most likely will not be intact at the end of the run. Maybe there’s a way, after discussing this with Actor’s Equity, to get actors back into shows for them to be filmed. Maybe it can be done under a separate contract? 2. How would this affect the business of national tours? If an audience member in Philadelphia has the choice of seeing the national tour of Shrek at the Kimmel Center for $75 or the filmed version at the musical at the movie theatre for $10, in this economy people are going to choose the latter. This option might also be an advantage for shows that are not planning on launching a national tour. This gives them a way to maximize their profit and visibility of the musical around the country and around the world.

From a technical point of view, I think that the shows needs to be filmed with an audience and without. Having the audience there helps the viewer still have that sense of intimacy while watching the piece on the screen. At the same time, film gives us the advantage of getting close ups, something that audiences would want to see if we are watching a screen. This might be achieved by having the cast perform the show with no audience and have the director have the option of having cameramen on the deck and use cranes to get wider shots that might be distracting to mezzanine patrons during a regular performance.

There are many ways of packaging a Broadway show on film. One is having an initiative where every Pulitzer Prize winner’s New York production is filmed for distribution. These types of initiative work would especially benefit plays because it could potentially help a piece that would struggle to recoup its investment.

Lastly, here’s another thought. I would love to see this concept done in reverse as well. What if productions at major regional companies that are considered exemplarity and marketable are filmed and shown around country or in special engagements in large cities like New York and Los Angeles? Here’s an example: Signature Theater in Washington, D.C. (which suitably just won the Regional Theater Tony Award) is producing Michael John LaChiusa’s massive musical adaptation of the Edna Ferber novel Giant. Most likely, a musical of this scale will not be able to transfer to New York. So what if that production was filmed and shown in a special engagement in New York City? Since he’s had his work produced at Lincoln Center, what if on the dark night of South Pacific they showed Giant in the Vivian Beaumont?

There’s lots of ways to make filming Broadway shows profitable if inventive thinkers sit at a table and hash out the details. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts so please comment!

For more information, click this link to the Playbill.com article: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/129511-Will_Broadway_Productions_Be_Seen_as_3-D_Movies%3F

Why Altar Boyz Is A Great Musical

2009-05-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the pleasure of revisiting one of my favorite musicals of the past decade at the Bristol Riverside Theatre: Altar Boyz. This production is special, in that the original choreographer, Christopher Gattelli, and one of the composers, Gary Adler, were the Director/Choreographer and Musical Director respectively. Both natives of Bristol, PA, it is such a pleasure to see two very successful professionals go back to their roots and give their community a fantastic evening of musical theatre.

Altar Boyz has played to packed houses at New World Stages for over four years. A product of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, the musical has also been seen in various productions from Chicago to Korea to Australia. Why has this musical been so successful? Here are some of my reasons:

1. The piece is performed in a non-musical theatre context. The authors frame the evening as a concert, with the Altar Boyz attempting to cleanse the audience’s souls over the next 90 minutes. The concert frame gives the audience a different expectation than coming to your standard book musical. In this day and age, people like a more intimate and personal theatrical experience. Altar Boyz’s success is with how the creators blur the line between musical and concert.

2. The content of the musical celebrates a trend (boy bands) that is far away enough from the public eye that people can enjoy the story and music they are telling in a more personal way. Boy bands combined with Christianity brings a large and different demographic to the musical.

3. Although songs are the featured moments in the show, the authors understand that the book of the musical is the key to bringing the piece together. Each book scene does a great job at giving us vital information or sets us up for the next musical moment.

4. The musical has an intimate and inherently theatrical feel. The piece’s success hinges on its relationship to the audience. It’s a piece that would not be the same on film. It needs that performer to audience relationship, thus making attending the show in a theater a necessity.

I look forward to seeing how future audiences respond to Altar Boyz. Do I think Altar Boyz is the next Fantasticks? Probably not. Either way, Altar Boyz is bringing people Off-Broadway and giving them a reason to see what else is playing besides the fare on the Great White Way. Congrats on four years and I hope to be writing about the show for years to come!

A HUGE Win For Theater

2009-05-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

I always believe it is important to celebrate big news in a big way. Today, we all need to go out and toast a hiring that could potentially play a significant role in the future of live theatre. The New York Times reported today that Rocco Landsmen, Producer and President of Jujamcyn Theaters, has been nominated as the next Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

For theatre artists and audiences, Landsmen’s hiring at the NEA poses the opportunity for the theatre to have a strong advocate on the national level. I have been following the potential hiring of this position since outgoing chair Dana Giola announced his resignation to continue his writing career. My hope was that the new chair would be sympathetic to theatre and lead the charge for a reimagining of the “contemporary model” for producing theatre in the United States. Landing a respected Broadway Producer like Landsmen immediately brings theatre into the forefront of the national arts conversation.

So as Mr. Landsmen will need ideas of what to strive for during his time in Washington, I figure I can suggest some ways that theatre can be aided on a national level.

1. National Theater: Although it has been discussed to death in various mediums, the United States absolutely needs to have a National Theater. How wonderful would it be if, for sake of argument, there was a national theater in residence at Lincoln Center that played 12-16 week runs of classic plays and musicals? The fiscal model would have to be developed so that unions would be happy, actors could be paid suitable to Equity standards, and that ticket prices would be extremely low. A good goal should be $10 tickets; or the same price as seeing a film. Even more interesting, what if the productions originated in New York and then put on NEA funded national tours? This would give an opportunity for the classics to be seen at reasonable rates all around the country. I’d love to hear some more comments from you all about what a National Theater should look like.

2. Development Program: How about a nationally run new play/musical development program? This would give writers a safe place to bring their work at various moments in development. The program could be multi-tiered, with pieces going from sit down reads, to music stand reads, to fully staged readings, to eventually workshop productions. This program could be a “stimulus package” to writers who need to make a living wage while creating new work.

3. Incentives Program: The NEA should fund “rewards” for theatre companies who are pushing the boundaries artistically and fiscally. Here’s an example: a theater like Paper Mill Playhouse should be rewarded for their new initiative of teaming up other arts organizations, like the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. The NJSO plays engagements throughout the year between productions, giving the Orchestra another venue to perform in and brings a different audience to Paper Mill. The NEA should award the vision of theaters that can share space and vision to complete their artistic goals. (For full disclosure, I frequently work in various capacities for Paper Mill so forgive me if this opinion seems biased. Their new model for operation seemed a fitting example.)

4. National Theater Events and Occasions: The NEA has reached great success with such programs as American Masters and Shakespeare in American Communities; initiatives that reward theaters for joining the NEA’s national agendas. Landsmen should introduce new and more specific initiatives that give theaters the opportunity to benefit from government support. Here’s the first one: Stephen Sondheim: Master of the Musical Stage- A Celebration of the Musicals of Stephen Sondheim in celebration of his 80^th birthday. Let’s challenge every theater that produces musicals to produce a Sondheim musical (and play. Yes, someone should do Getting Away with Murder). Imagine seeing everything from Saturday Night to Road Show hitting the marquees of theaters from San Francisco to New York. Let’s show the public the breath of a musical artists work. Other examples of themes could be initiatives by era (1950s musicals, George Abbot), Pulitzer Prize winning musicals, musicals originally produced Off-Broadway, NEW WORKS FESTIVAL, etc.

5. Your ideas! Comment to this post with your thoughts and revisions of my ideas and give me your ideas. I’ll take everyone’s thoughts and write a letter to Mr. Landsmen (remember when people wrote letters?). Thanks in advance for your input and look forward to reading your responses!

For more information about the hiring, please see the New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/theater/13nea.html?_r=1&ref=theater

Addams Family Musical Comes to Broadway

2009-05-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

Next spring, Broadway will see a very interesting musical: The Addams Family. Written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party at MTC), the musical will bow at a Nederlander theater to be announced on April 8, 2010.

Given that it is premiering almost a year from now, you might ask why I am talking about this now. Musicals have always got their subject matter from various sources. One source that is rarely tapped is television shows. This seems like a no brainer, being that most television shows are episodic and have too large a through line for musical adaptation. It takes an especially popular and marketable property to make a successful television to musical adaptation.

The most recent example of this was Happy Days the Musical. Based off the popular television show, Fonzie and the gang were elevated to the musical stage by series creator Garry Marshall and composer Paul Williams. Despite a lack of rave reviews, the show played two engagements at the Goodspeed Opera House and launched a national tour after a production at Paper Mill Playhouse.

The Addams Family is intriguing in that although it is best remembered as a television show, the characters are based off the sketches and drawings that Charles Addams submitted to The New Yorker. According to Playbill.com, the musical “is not based on past Addams Family properties, but uses characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. The Addams illustrations inspired a TV sitcom, a TV cartoon series and two live-action feature film comedies.”

So there are some big questions this musical is going to run into is: what characters are the audience going to expect? Do the authors feel a responsibility to treat the characters as television audiences experienced them? Even more interesting, will they attempt to redefine the perception of these characters by writing them in an original manner.

I’m sure hoping that they address the musical characters in the way my third question implies. Since they are not trying to adapt a specific episode or a specific Addams family tale, I hope that they will use the wonderful skeleton of these characters and give them new life in the musical form. They certainly seem to be on the right track, especially with casting talent like Nathan Lane, Terrance Mann, Carolee Carmello and Jackie Hoffman. Who knows? The success of this musical could lead to more television show characters being examined on the musical stage.

First Impressions of the 2009 Tony Nominations

2009-05-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

So now that we’ve had some time to think about these Tony nominations, I’ll be taking a look at the nominations and see what they are telling us. Today, let’s look at Best Musical.

The biggest shock had to be Rock of Ages being nominated over 9 to 5 in the Best Musical Category. This has significance on many levels. 9 to 5 opened right before the Tony Award cut off for nomination, leaving voters little time to forget the lackluster reviews the show received. Rock of Ages had the advantage of a successful (and recent) Off-Broadway run that showed that audiences and critics alike supported the show. The production also received rave reviews for the Broadway incarnation.

Another issue that can’t be avoided is the fact that Rock of Ages has introduced a new type of musical: a musical that features an original story with a “pasticho” of popular music. In this case, the content of the book dictates that the musical language be songs from the 1980s. Is this a new trend in the musical theatre? Will writers be looking towards songs by various authors to tell their musical stories? Who knows? We’ll see what the Tony Committee says in June.

Many were shocked when they first saw the list and saw that Billy Elliot had 15 nominations. This tied the record (with The Producers) for most nominations for a single production. Billy Elliot, despite sold out audiences and great reviews, has stayed pretty much under the radar since it started performances in October. The musical itself is a standard film to stage adaptation with a book by a newcomer and a score by Elton John. What are these nominations telling us? Is Billy Elliot really Producers good or is the show gaining from the fact that this is a weaker year for the musical? Have we elevated this piece to be the savior for this year? I don’t think so.

This is because there’s another musical that, in my opinion, will come away with the top prize this year: Next to Normal. After engagements at Second Stage and Arena Stage, Next to Normal seems to have hit Broadway at the right time. The Best Musical category contains two film to stage adaptations and one hybrid of a jukebox musical with a familiar story. Next to Normal gives voters the only option if they wanted to vote on the fact that this is the only original book musical. Given the category’s recent history, this seems to be where the trend is leading. Over the past five years, there has been one film to stage adaptation that won Best Musical, Spamalot. Even with that win, Spamalot only won two other awards (director and featured actress) with The Light in the Piazza winning six that year. Other than that, we’ve had two original musicals (Avenue Q and In the Heights), one jukebox musical (Jersey Boys) and one play adaptation (Spring Awakening). Each of these musicals has made signature contributions to the musical theatre form. Next to Normal would fit this pattern fittingly.

Over the next few weeks I’ll discuss the other musical categories so make sure to check back for more! Thanks for reading!

2009 Tony Award Nominations

2009-05-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

So let's all take a day to digest the Tony nominations and I'll make some initial comments tomorrow!

Best Musical

Billy Elliot, The Musical
Next to Normal
Rock of Ages
Shrek The Musical

Best Book of a Musical

Billy Elliot, The Musical
Lee Hall

Next to Normal
Brian Yorkey

Shrek The Musical
David Lindsay-Abaire

[Title of Show]
Hunter Bell

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Billy Elliot, The Musical
Music: Elton John
Lyrics: Lee Hall

Next to Normal
Music: Tom Kitt
Lyrics: Brian Yorkey

9 to 5: The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Dolly Parton

Shrek The Musical
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire

Best Revival of a Musical

Guys and Dolls
Hair
Pal Joey
West Side Story

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish ‚ Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gavin Creel, Hair
Brian d'Arcy James, Shrek The Musical
Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages
J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Stockard Channing, Pal Joey
Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical
Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical
Alice Ripley, Next to Normal
Josefina Scaglione, West Side Story

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

David Bologna, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5: The Musical
Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical
Will Swenson, Hair

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal
Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Karen Olivo, West Side Story
Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey
Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Robert Brill, Guys and Dolls
Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Scott Pask, Pal Joey
Mark Wendland, Next to Normal

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregory Gale, Rock of Ages
Nicky Gillibrand, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical
Michael McDonald, Hair

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, Hair
Kevin Adams, Next to Normal
Howell Binkley, West Side Story
Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Acme Sound Partners, Hair
Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Peter Hylenski, Rock of Ages
Brian Ronan, Next to Normal

Best Direction of a Musical

Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Greif, Next to Normal
Kristin Hanggi, Rock of Ages
Diane Paulus, Hair

Best Choreography

Karole Armitage, Hair
Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical
Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin's White Christmas

Best Orchestrations

Larry Blank, Irving Berlin's White Christmas
Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal
Danny Troob and John Clancy, Shrek The Musical

Information taken from Playbill.com: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/128922.html

Whats Next Musical Theatre

2009-05-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to What's Next Musical Theatre! This will be a place for me to write about what is going on in the musical theatre world. I hope to provide various types of commentary and information. Here are some examples of what future posts might contain:

A running “blog” type news feed as the home page.

Features on shows going into workshops

Spotlights on new composers

Spotlight world premiere productions

Commentary on the musical theatre as a whole

New Cast Recording/Book reviews

Recommendations for revivals

Production histories of upcoming revivals

Award Season coverage (Outer Critics, Drama Desk, Tony’s)

Features on instrumental figures in the musical theatre

This blog will also be a place for quizzes, Top #10 lists, and a forum for the pressing musical theatre issues that need to be discussed.

I hope you will continually join me as the musical theatre continues to give the world much to discuss!