Since I last posted my life has turned upside down. In the best way- my daughter arrived 8 weeks ago. Now that I'm starting to understand this new normal I can finally write again. One of my previous articles discussed the songs and musical soundtracks I made baby girl listen to in utero. This first article back highlights my Broadway baby's lullabies!
Read MoreClassical theatre, whether a musical or straight play, comedy or drama, is one of the most vital parts to today’s more contemporary theatre. Right now, many people gravitate more towards new things that are playing on and off Broadway because it’s new and exciting and something people probably haven’t seen yet, and I think that’s great. In fact, I think many of the productions on Broadway right now are completely brilliant and fun. Personally, I even have a list of the ones I want to see. I think it’s important to appreciate newer theatre and try to find something you can relate to within it because this is the direction theatre is now going in and there is nothing wrong with it.
However, it’s important not to let the new stuff overpower everything that came before it because without it, we wouldn’t have what we have now.
Read MoreFor a medium built on community, collaboration, and connection, I fear I am experiencing and witnessing a lot of scarcity minded behavior in the theatre. As I travel and direct around the country I am seeing more and more artists, myself included, being asked to work for less and less compensation. Worse so than that what often people report to me or I hear from potential employers is that as much as they would like to hire someone, they just don’t have the resources. “We accept volunteers!”
Read MoreAs with most shows that close early on, months before the award season starts, they are typically forgotten by award voters. I certainly hope that isn’t the case for Head Over Heels.
While I don’t expect it to break into the Top 4 for a Best Musical nod, I do think it will get some love in the design categories. But most of all, I’m hoping Tony voters don’t forget about Bonnie Milligan’s incredible performance as Princess Pamela. Because it was one of the best performances I’ve seen in recent years.
Read MoreThe title of the song, Monster, is the word that Elsa uses to describe herself over and over again. In the first chorus, she sings, “Is the thing they see, the thing I have to be? A monster, were they right? Has the dark in me finally come to light? Am I a monster, full of rage? Nowhere to go but on a rampage. Or am I just a monster in a cage?” It is a song that resonates with a lot of people. Everyone, at some point in their life, can relate to Elsa’s questions of “am I a burden to people?” or “How badly am I hurting this person?” Everyone has moments where they don’t know who they are. But is this song a good song for a musical whose main demographic is young children?
Read MoreSo frequently in my rehearsal rooms, or in my classrooms, I hear theatre artists decry politics. There seems to be an idea that one must learn their craft in a hermetically sealed bubble, lest the influences of the banal and mundane workings of the outside world impose themselves upon the art. In the theatre, though, nothing could be farther from the truth.
The fact is that ALL theatre is political. The Public Theatre’s Oskar Eustis has said that it can be no coincidence that theatre and democracy were invented in at the same time. He says “I think that theater is the democratic art—it's no mistake that they were invented in the same city in the same decade. It's the proper place to exercise democratic virtue, for the contesting of different points of view, identifying with other people, what citizens need”.
Read MoreI think 2018 will go down as a “mixed bag” type of year for Broadway. We saw some extreme lows and not very many highs. We saw panic in the streets of the old guard who were worried that 42nd St was becoming to commercial. At the same time, we saw shows that attracted new audiences to their theatres and others that told stories that deserved much needed attention.
So rather than try to rank what I feel were the “best” shows of 2018, I want to tell you what were my favorites. These were shows that might not have been critic/award darlings, yet made me laugh, cry, ponder and inspired. These are in no particular order and I’m breaking into plays and musicals. Furthermore, these are shows that opened in 2018.
Read More‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ Broadway, not a holiday musical was playing, save Ruben & Clay. The tickets were bought at box offices galore, in hopes that audiences would soon beg for more. At least, this has been the case in more recent seasons concerning Broadway musicals focused on the holidays. Think about the catalog of Christmas shows alone that have graced Broadway stages in seasons past: A Christmas Story, Holiday Inn, Elf, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. Now don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against American Idol magnates Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken coming together peacefully over the 2018 holiday season for a little AI reunion, but where are the tried and true Christmas Broadway musicals that we have held so dear in past seasons? The choice to bring back such musicals (all of which were also hit box office smashes in their own right) seems to be almost a no-brainer. So why the lack this year? In fairness, there are possibly two exceptions, neither of which is technically in a Broadway house however: Dr Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas (starring Tony Award-nominee Gavin Lee in the title role) at the HULU
Read MoreMovie musicals: They have been around for nearly as long as sound has been a part of film. Naturally, many of the most notable of them have been adapted from Broadway musicals, and a good portion of them tend to be commercially successful. However, those of us who are used to seeing the real thing – and even some who aren’t – tend to be disappointed once we see these musicals come to the silver screen.
Why is this?
Read MoreAs I walked into the theatre, I eyed the swirling pink frosé machine. “No, no,” I mutter to myself. “No need to get college-coed tipsy. I shall review this ice-cold sober.” And wonder of wonders, I actually enjoyed the show!
Read MoreIn the last few years I’ve noticed an explosion of Broadway musicals making their way to the big screen. And not as an adaption the way they tease us with Wicked or In The Heights. I’m talking about filming the Broadway (or West End) production in the theater, live, the way it is meant to be seen. And then releasing it in cinemas for those of us who couldn’t make it to NYC/London in time or who want to relive the magic all over again. Now I’m saying, “release the DVD!” If it’s on film, it could and needs to be released in DVD form. Here’s why.
Read MoreThis isn’t click bait. I’m actually asking this question seriously. I’ve seen plenty of instances of children appearing in Broadway productions but I’ve never heard of a live baby being cast in a show, until now.
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