Broadway Will Dim Lights For One Of The Greats!

The Broadway community mourns the loss of beloved performer, pioneer, and Tony Award® winner Diahann Carroll, who passed away on October 4, 2019 at age 84. To commemorate her life and work, the Committee of Theatre Owners will dim the lights of the American Airlines, Broadhurst, Helen Hayes, Hudson, Marquis, New Amsterdam, Samuel J. Friedman, St. James, and Vivian Beaumont Theatres in New York for one minute on Wednesday, October 16th at exactly 7:45pm.

“Much has been made of Ms. Carroll’s groundbreaking role shattering racial barriers in film and on Broadway,” said Thomas Schumacher, Chairman of The Broadway League. “That she was a pioneer is undeniable. But she was first and foremost a gifted, Tony-winning actress of enormous warmth and charm. She made just three visits to Broadway – in two musicals and a turbulent drama – but the breadth of those roles is a measure of her range and craft.”

On Broadway Ms. Carroll appeared in Agnes of God (1982), No Strings (1962), and House of Flowers(1954). Winner of the 1962 Tony Award for Best Actress in A Musical for her performance in No Strings, she was the first African-American woman to win this award. On the road, Ms. Carroll toured with the production of Same Time, Next Year (1977) and starred as Norma Desmond in the Toronto production of Sunset Boulevard (1995).

Ms. Carroll, well known for her groundbreaking starring roles in the television series “Julia” and “Dynasty,” had an extensive television and film career with credits including: “White Collar;” “Diary of a Single Mom,” “Grey's Anatomy,” “Soul Food,” “Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story,” “Sally Hemings: An American Scandal,” “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years,” “Eve’s Bayou,” “Touched By An Angel,” “Lonesome Dove: The Series,” “Evening Shade,” “A Different World,” The Five Heartbeats, “The Colbys,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” “Roots: The Next Generations,” “The Love Boat,” Claudine, Paris Blues, Porgy and Bess, and Carmen Jones among many others.

Nominated for various entertainment industry awards throughout her career including an Oscar in 1975, Ms. Carroll received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Biography / Auto-biography (2009), the TV Land Groundbreaking Show Award (2003), the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (1975), and the Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star – Female (1969).

Her full Broadway biography can be found on the Internet Broadway Database: https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/diahann-carroll-34679#Credits

A Wild, Raucous, Laugh-Filled Carnival Ride With Music!

I knew next-to-nothing about Beetlejuice before I saw the new Broadway musical of the same name.
I never saw the movie. At the time, the film really didn't interest me. It seemed silly -- ridiculous, pure and simple.
But in the past, I've gone to see musicals based on movies or books or even TV shows I knew nothing about and I often found myself enjoying them in a way that others who were more familiar with the material could not.
Well, Beetlejuice was created by Tim Burton so you know it's dark and peppered with abnormal characters.
For those of you who don't know by now, the story goes something like this: After Barbara and Adam (a wholesome young couple) die in an accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their new country residence, unable to leave the house. When the unbearable Deetzes and teen daughter Lydia buy the home, the ghost/former residents attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts soon attract Beetlejuice, a rambunctious, outrageous character whose "help" quickly becomes dangerous for all involved, especially Lydia.
Playwrights Anthony King and Scott Brown have now brought Beetlejuice to Broadway's cavernous Winter Garden theater with music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect and they've created a show that unfounds like a carnival ride meandering through a hall of mirrors, fun house and parachute drop all rolled into one.

The costumes by William Ivey Long are beyond imaginative; the sets by David Korins are three-dimensionally beguiling and wonderfully animated; the special effects byJeremy Chernick are nothing less than eye-popping and the direction by Alex Tmbers is crisp and snappy.

But, of course, none this would work without the actors And Beetlejuice is blessed with a great ensemble cast. In the title role Alex Brightman is outrageous, vulgar, insulting, profane and altogether delightful. He's simply irrepressible. He will not be denied his opportunity to be downright assaultive.

And let us add that Sophie Ann Caruso as Lydia is every bit Brightman's equal. Plus there are also send-up performances by the appealing Rob McClure as Adam and the menacing Leslie Kritzer as Delia. There are more than 20 in this energetic cast and they're all wonderful.

We heard that Beetlejuice had serious problems on the road. In fact, the show was mostly panned by the DC critics. But somewhere along the way torn edges were mended, loose ends were tightened, paths were unblocked so the show could flow smoothly and, perhaps most importantly, the timing was perfected so that every funny line (and there are plenty of them) could pop like a firecracker.

And yes, Beetlejuice is thoroughly preposterous, mostly inane and often ludicrous.

But it also announces itself as a show about death and, in a raucous way it forces you to confront the absurdities of life including your own mortality and whatever may or may not lie beyond.

For example, there's a great song called "The Whole Being Dead Thing . . . " and that's right at the top of the show.

Go. See. And laugh at the often wretched conundrum we call life.

A Captivating Tune, Lost In A 'Failed' Show . . .

In 1997 I saw the musical Steel Pier on Broadway with Gregory Harrison, Karen Ziemba and Daniel McDonald. It was a beautiful show with an unusual story. It was melodic and nostalgic and romantic. And it was a Kander and Ebb show, so the music was terrific. Since the story revolved around the marathon dances of the 1930s, the dancing was also first rate.
One particular song, Dance With Me/The Last Girl stayed with me over all these years. Here's how it was performed on the Today Show while Steel Pier attempted to attract an audience during what was a very busy year for musicals, as I recall. Titanic won best musical that year while Chicago took best revival of a musical. In fact, Chicago and Titanic dominated the awards while Steel Pier was left in the dust. It closed after a relatively short run.
But this number remains as fresh and captivating as the moment it was first performed!

Top Dozen Stage To Movie Musicals

Broadway now seems addicted to turning movies into musicals.

But what about the other way around? How successful has Hollywood been at turning musicals into movies? To be sure, some non-musical movies became Broadway musicals and then their musical versions later became movies again. 

In any event, for a musical, the transition from stage to film has never been easy. But when it works, the movie can become a blockbuster hit. In fact, some of these have not only become some of the biggest grossers of all time but have also garnered scads of Oscars.

In no particular order, here are a dozen of the best:

Chicago

The longest-running American musical of all time became a dazzlingly memorable movie with the twist of major characters imagining some of their musical numbers. It worked!

Sweeney Todd

The movie was way, way better than its reviews and it should have garnered more traffic and a fair number of awards. But, the subject matter was difficult, to be sure.

The Sound of Music

A instant classic, it endures because the timing was right, the story remains inspiring and its big screen debut was nothing less than breathtaking.

West Side Story

Not a particular favorite of ours but the transition to the screen seemed seamless and the show never seems to lose its appeal. In fact, it's headed back to Broadway and a new screen version is in the works.

Dream Girls

In many ways the screen version was a bigger hit than the stage musical. The story just seemed right for the screen and the cast was splendid.

Grease

Another example where stage and screen versions seem to actually feed off one another. Without Grease, where would the 50s be?

Fiddler on the Roof

Yes, we missed Zero Mostel. But could the big screen really contain him? In any event, the story adapted beautifully and proved universal.

Les Miserables

This was a huge challenge. And there were many naysayers right from the start. But Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne exceeded all expectations.

My Fair Lady

Positively sumptuous! Sure, Audrey Hepburn wasn't really singing but Julie Andrews still got the Oscar so it all worked out in the end -- and so did he movie.

Cabaret

Under the able direction of the quirky, manic, difficult, demanding Bob Fosse, this became an updated classic. And Liza Minelli was nothing less than stratospheric. It's still compelling!

Oliver!

It literally pops off the screen with musical numbers that envelop the audience and a classic (though nonetheless complicated) story that touches the heart. Added plus: a powerful social message.

Little Shop of Horrors

What is it about this show? We don't know. Maybe it's just the allure of the nerd. A "small" story with a big impact. It's the exception to the rule, we suppose.

Now, go ahead -- add and subtract to and from the list at your leisure.

All ideas and suggestions welcomed!

How The Tonys Got This One All Wrong!

Broadway has changed.
And those changes were  much in evidence during the recent Tony Awards telecast.
But not all of the changes have been for the better. New, smaller, supposedly more intimate musicals eschew big sets, strong production numbers, glitzy show stoppers and anything even vaguely resembling choreography. And they've been joined by more jukebox musicals that chuck original compositions for a rehash of already popularized top-charting standards in tribute to some performer, group of performers or noted tunesmith.
The latest of these, Ain't Too Proud actually snagged the best choreography award simply for recreating the synchronized moves of The Temptations.
In opting for Ain't Too Proud, the Tonys committed an unforgivable sin. They snubbed the best-choreographed show to hit Broadway in a long time -- Kiss Me, Kate.
In fact, nothing tops Kiss Me Kate's irrepressibly high-stepping numbers including Tom, Dick or Harry; I Hate Men and, above all, Too Darn Hot. If you saw the Too Darn Hot number on the Tony telecast you know it was absolutely breathtaking.
Kiss Me, Kate closes at the end of June but as far as we're concerned it deserves to run forever because it's one of the best revivals to hit Broadway in years -- far better than the 1999 revival which we also saw.
This grand, witty Cole Porter musical has not only been lovingly recreated by the Roundabout Theater Company but it's also been updated just enough with superb direction by the masterful Scott Ellis, music direction by the legendary Paul Gemignani and choreography by Warren Carlyle.
This is a big, bawdy, roughhousing backstage musical that requires perfect timing for all its rapid-fire jokes, clever asides, physical antics and tongue-in-cheek sentimentality. It's tuneful, raucous, romantic and highly theatrical, sometimes all at once.
Kelli O'Hara is not only the perfect Lilli/Kate but she's matched moment-for-moment by Will Chase as Fred/Petruchio. They are this season's Broadway Dream Duo. O'Hara excels with So In Love and I Hate Men. And Chase soars with Were Thine That Special Face and Where Is The Life That Late I Led.
But let's not forget Corbin Bleu without whom the haunting Bianca and the rousing Too Darn Hot would not exist.
The program states that with this production, Kiss Me, Kate "comes back to masterful life with intensity, passion, delight -- and perspective."
We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
This is/was the season's best revival of a musical!

Are These Classic Broadway's 15 Most Lushly Romantic Moments?

Broadway can go romantic from shy and subtle to double-decibel level rapture.
And that makes it's hard to choose classic Broadway's most romantic musical moments. But we've wattles our list down to 15 with the sincere hope that you'll remind us what we're missing so we can grow to 20, 25, 30, maybe even 50.
Most of our choices are lovelorn duets and we've tried to be representative with selections from Rodgers and Hammerstein (the masters of the genre) Frank Loesser, Lerner and Loewe, Cole Porter, Bernstein, Sondheim, Kurt Weill, Irving Berlin Llyod Webber and Meredith Willson.
So, here there are in no particular order:

Here I’ll Stay 

From Kurt Weill's Love Life, it's rarely heard these days but the musical is soon to be revived by City Center's Encores.

All I Ask of You 

A sweet and tender moment from Phantom of the Opera, it literally soars into a full-throated lovefest.
If I Loved You 

If, if, if  . . . if only we could bottle the magic of Carousel. A dreamy love-at-first-sight moment from a musical centered around a tragic figure.
Happiness 

Passion is hardly our favorite musical but [So Much] Happiness expresses the joy of young love via a mesmerizing melody in such a way that it had to make the cut.

The Last Night of the World 

Love amidst the horror of war in Miss Saigon. It brings hope in the midst of despair and a dash of light into a dark world.
People Will Say We’re In Love 

Meant to be sung as it was in the original, this song conjures up the innocence of new love on the fresh, open plains of Oklahoma! The most American of love songs.

Some Enchanted Evening 

From South Pacific and written for the operatic talents on Enzio Pinza, it's simply one of the most beautiful love songs ever composed.  You may see a stranger . . . . 

Tonight 

From West Sure Story, and again depicting young lovers, it's the perfect combination of the words of Sondheim and the music of Bernstein. Genius squared. "I saw you and the world went away . . . ."

A Heart Full of Love 

Here  we go again, love and war from Les Miserables. The lead up to the lovers' revelation is near excruciating but it's all miraculously worth it.

Make Believe 

Our personal favorite, from Show Boat, it's the grandaddy of them all-- the one from which all the others emerged. It reminds us that a breathless leap of love requires the suspension of disbelief.

I’ve Never Been In Love Before 

Not a big, soaring song but the sweet melody turns a tough guy tender; and his dreams and surprising sense of romance are universal in Guys n Dolls.

They Say It’s Wonderful

From Annie Get Your Gun, Irving Berlin takes a page from Rodgers and Hammerstein. then turns it into a song that's all about being in love and wanting the whole world to know it. 

Too Many Mornings 

From Follies, Sondheim explains that the "lovers" here are really engaging in a sham as they try to convince themselves that everything would have been wonderful if they'd only wound up together in the first place. From this folly emerges a nonetheless beautiful love song.

So In Love 

We just heard it again in the glorious Broadway revival of *Kiss Me Kate and in context it's haunting, bittersweet and altogether unforgettable. But it works just as well on its own. 

*Kelli O'Hara and Will Chase pictured above from the new production.

Till There Was You 

From  The Music Man, it reminds us of the transformative power of love. Indeed, Love changes everything. But, wait -- wasn't that a love song from the  musical of the same name? 😉

A few more? Ten Minutes Ago from Cinderella, My Heart Is So Full of You from The Most Happy Fella, On the Street Where You Live from My Fair Lady, If Ever I Would Leave You from Camelot, Song on the Sand La Cage Aux Folles, Married from Cabaret.

Oh, What An Abundance Of Riches!