If you’ve gotten to read my “Meet the Bloggers” page, you might have stumbled upon my list of favorite musicals – and “favorite” is most certainly an euphemism here, as I am totally obsessed with those – which include A Chorus Line. There might be such a universal truth – especially to performers – conveyed […]
The post Lessons from A Chorus Line on its 40th Anniversary appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Last week in “Broadway School,” otherwise known as the MFA in Musical Theatre at San Diego State University, I was assigned the task of giving a partnered, two-hour presentation on Musical Theatre in the 1990s. I have to admit, I am on the younger side and all I could remember about musical theatre in that […]
The post 5 Forgotten Musicals of the 1990s appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Shows are indefinite. It is a universal truth that no matter how challenging, successful, or simply amazing a production is, it is no exception to the heartbreaking possibility of coming to a close. I guess part of the reason why is anchored to the fact that the world of theater constantly changes along with those […]
The post An MT Society: That Big Broadway Revival appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
As soon as I heard about the passing of Mike Nichols I knew who my last post for “Curtain Speech” should be about. For those who have not read his biography or obituary or seen his work, I highly recommend that you do so as soon as possible. His life, work, and wisdom have set […]
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Hal Prince was born on January 30th, 1928. He began as a producer on The Pajama Game and soon won Tony awards for his work on West Side Story and Damn Yankees, and he also produced the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello!. Prince’s career as a director did not start until later and began with a series […]
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There are milestone shows in musical theater that we all mark as definitive. Give or take a show or two, most will tell you that certain shows land on that list. Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Fiddler On The Roof, Gypsy, West Side Story, A Chorus Line, Company, Rent and In The Heights are pretty safe bets. […]
The post Quiet Revolution: 5 Reflections on the Impact of ONCE appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
I remember the first time I heard Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner rip through “Who Will Love Me As I Am.” When I finally took a breath, I wanted to find out all I could. At the time, I didn’t know a thing about Side Show, the 1997 musical from which the song originated, but […]
The post Step Right Up: 5 Reasons It’s The Right Time For The Return Of SIDE SHOW appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Joe Mantello began his career as an actor in Angels in America but soon moved on to direct major musicals on and off-Broadway including 9 to 5, Assassins (Tony Award), Wicked, Dogfight, and most recently The Last Ship. “As director, I’ve got to put aside any particular biases or prejudices that, as a moral human […]
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I thought about starting this blog with a play on a eulogy, mourning the loss of the overture a la La Vie Boheme, but I became so excited to talk about overtures I didn’t want to take the time for an intro. Let’s just jump right in. I love new musical theatre, as evidenced by […]
The post Let’s Bring Back the Overture appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Julie Taymor is widely known for her success in theatre and film with triumphs like The Lion King, Frita, Across the Universe, and The Magic Flute. She was the first woman to win the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 1998 for The Lion King. She has garnered a MacArthur Fellowship, a […]
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Nikki M. James, Keke Palmer, Norm Lewis, and Kyle Scatliffe all have one thing in common: they are people of color who are currently playing traditionally “white” roles on Broadway. Nikki M. James and Kyle Scatliffe play Eponine and Enjolras, respectively, in Les Miserables. Keke Palmer recently acquired the title role in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s […]
The post On Colorblind Casting and Diversity Onstage appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
I spend a lot of time with musical theatre writers. A LOT. And nothing could make me happier. To paraphrase Mary Flynn, “That’s what I wanna do, write! Oh, how does anybody write songs though? To me, that’s the gift of gifts.” As Director of Programming at 54 Below and as a Musical Theatre Historian, I feel very lucky […]
The post Richard Rodgers Was A New Musical Theatre Writer appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
“CURTAIN SPEECH” is a recurring series where I will focus on a Tony Award-winning director from the last 25 years and examine how their work has shaped the NMT landscape. Today: Diane Paulus! Diane Paulus won the Tony Award in 2013 for her work on Pippin and in 2014 was listed as one of TIME […]
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Like a lot of theatre people I know, I grew up on the Rogers and Hammerstein classics my parents would play on movie nights: South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Carousel, not to mention Cinderella staring Brandi (anyone else still obsessed with that classic?). But occasionally thrown in among the R+H oldies was the other […]
The post Writing Your Own Territory appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Remember when I said I was going to investigate “whether the numbers in which original, underdog musicals make it to Broadway are actually changing for the worse”? Well, I did, and I’m back to share some fascinating charts with you. In my last post on this topic, I was looking at data based on the […]
The post Recent Broadway Musical Trends, or Fun With Charts! appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Every time you open a new play, or an old play in a new way, you run the risk of failure – and at the same time, the only chance of a creative success. A look back at the 2013-14 Broadway season might make you think that someone said that in response to the dearth […]
The post Hallie Decreed that Theater was Essential: 4 Lessons from the Federal Theatre Project appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
