The 1961 Broadway musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, follows an ambitious window washer’s ascent up the corporate ladder.  Along with “Coffee Break” and “It’s Been a Long Day,” another of the show’s memorable songs is “A Secretary is Not a Toy.”  In this scene, the company personnel manager gives a speech to the male employees; “Gentlemen. Gentlemen./ A secretary is not a toy/ No, my boy, not a toy/ To fondle and dandle and playfully handle/ In search of some puerile joy./ No, a secretary is not,/ Definitely not, a toy.” 

I have never felt it useful for actors to read their own reviews.  I did it as a young actor, as most do.  I was looking for affirmation but when I didn’t receive it, it was foolishly heartbreaking.  Of course any review is only one person’s opinion.  Whether that opinion should carry more weight than that of your director or producer or writer or mother is questionable.  But the bottom line is that actors don’t have the power to change anything.  

Cyber space is full of weird and wonderful conspiracy theories. Alongside the invasion of aliens, and thousands of top secret governmental plans, there have been proposed some fantastic ideas about popular theatrical productions. In this blog, I am going to summarise some of the best conspiracy theories that I could find based on the musical Hamilton (and these really are just about the musical; they have no historical grounding at all). Whether or not you believe them, these theories are definitely food for thought.

In August of 1955, about four months after Grace Kelly first met Prince Rainier III of Monaco while attending the Cannes Film Festival, an item about an optimistic group’s plan to put on a Broadway musical called Las Vegas appeared in The New York Times. Producer Melvin Parks described it as “a $250,000 musical…which will, of course, be about and take place in the Nevada resort.” Harold Karr and Matt Dubey had written the score, and Philip Burton, a British television and stage writer, and father of Richard Burton, had reportedly written the book. Parks expected “a famous Hollywood film mogul” to provide nearly all of the capitol. In December of that year, a month before Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III announced their engagement, another item appeared in the Times, announcing the temporary cancelation of Las Vegas, and the departure of the songwriting team, “by ‘mutual agreement.’”

I want you to do me a favor. The next time you see a Broadway show, or any show for that matter, I want to you pay very close attention the lead actors and I want you to consider this question, 

Could a fuller-figured performer play that role? Would it have changed your perception of the show at all?

The answers, if you're smart, should be yes and then no. 

BroadwayCon 2018 is going to be big, no doubt about that. With expected panels of the casts of Come from Away and the original cast of In The Heights to appearances of your favorite Broadway stars, a lot of going to be happening in the various venue spaces within the Javit Center. 

While I feel we are still years away from seeing what Lin-Manuel Miranda and Hamilton's influence will be on the future musical theatre, there's no doubt that it's a true catalyst in bringing more hip-hop musicals to Broadway. 

Anastasia the musical, is based on both the 1997 animated film by Fox and the 1956 version starring Yul Brynner and Ingrid Bergman. My normal MO is to read, listen and discover everything I can about the shows I’m seeing ahead of time. With this show, I read the opening night reviews and decided I’d rather be surprised than let myself become jaded from others viewpoints. I’m glad I did.