The Broadway Scene

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Robert Preston, The Music Man

The Music Man starring Robert Preston as Harold Hill and Barbara Cook as Marian Paroo made Preston a major star. Along with being the first musical by Meredith Wilson, for which he wrote the music, lyrics, and book, the massive Broadway hit won five Tonys, won the first-ever Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album, and in 1962 became a major motion picture with Preston reprising his Broadway role. Although Barbra Cook ...

Countdown to Broadway

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Broadway Reopening & Covid Protocols

Updated August 3, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTXHJlGpMa0 Broadway is reopening this fall. People are once again thinking about the excitement of live theater. Not all shows are opening at once, but productions are announcing their show returns daily. As a part of the efforts to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters will be instituting practical, but reasonable, covid-safe protocols. These range from up-scaled theater-cleaning & refitted air systems, ...

On This Day: April 21st

We’ve heard of turning comics into films or even comics into musicals. Your first thought of an example is probably Spiderman Turn Off the Dark or any of the DC and Marvel films being released in theatres. However, there is a non-superhero story in Broadway history that made musical canon in 1977. Little Orphan Annie went from a comic strip, to a radio show, to a musical at the Alvin ...

The Autism Theatre Initiative

As a high school student, I got to direct theatre for children and adults with disabilities. That experience gave me so many skills and helped me get an internship with the American Repertory Theatre in their Education Department. During the internship, I was asked to help market a sensory friendly performance of The Light Princess. I ended up doing a lot of research into sensory friendly works as a result. ...

Broadway On This Day: January 19th

On January 19th, 1971, a revival of Vincent Youman’s No, No, Nanette opened on Broadway starring Ruby Keeler (42nd Street), Jack Gilford (Save the Tiger), Bobby Van (Kiss Me Kate), and Helen Gallagher (Pal Joey). It’s original production in 1925 was one of the most successful musicals of the era. The show plot was lovingly mocked in the well-known musical, The Boyfriend, for its sing-song quality with big, showy dance ...

The Fight Against Discrimination in the Theatre Community

In light of the preparation of BroadwayCon, an event whose proceeds go wholly toward the fight against AIDS with Broadway Cares, co-creator Anthony Rapp is right to believe that the Broadway community is the best to turn to in that fight. Generally, the theatre community is the most accepting of all gender and sexual identities. Shows like La Cage aux Follies, Kinky Boots, Rent, Cabaret and Priscilla Queen of ...

Transmedia Storytelling with Waitress the Musical

My car rides to work have been filled with the iTunes release “What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress ,” Sara Bareilles’ performance of the songs she wrote for the new Broadway musical. I was compelled to purchase the album because I had seen the original production at the American Repertory Theater in September, and loved it. The release of her songs from Waitress on iTunes is a real first for all of us musical theatre fans ...

Jaw-Dropping Musicals

Nowadays it seems like everything is being made into a musical. In learning of new possible titles, I’ve narrowed it down to two responses: the curious “oooh” on upward intonation or the heart dropping pause followed by a “what.” I don’t feel entirely prepared for upcoming musicals on Broadway, but maybe I can prepare you for some of the big titles headed to The White Way. Anastasia This musical, based on the ...

Hello Bette

The Broadway scene is buzzing with news of the Hello Dolly! revival that will be starring Bette Midler! The Wind Beneath My Wings star is sure to put a spell on you in this role coming to Broadway in the spring of 2017. Playbill is posting congratulations announcements including an incredibly funny skit of all the “other” auditioners who tried for the role and didn’t get it. But let’s take a look back ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Developing Broadway Shows the Old-Fashioned Way

In the late 1970s and early 1980s an American theatre artistic process changed forever. The process, which was dedicated to developing plays and musicals, had become too costly, and producers opted for other ways to find and refine shows for Broadway. It was common from the early twentieth century to the early 1980s for shows to go on the road. This allowed producers and those creating the show to test it ...

Three People in the 20th Century Who Changed the American Theatre

In our continuing series on those who changed the American Theatre we consider a playwright, designer and director/choreographer. Here’s a look at playwright Susan Glaspell, scenic and lighting designer Jo Mileziner, and A Chorus Line “creator” Michael Bennett. Susan Glaspell Although Susan Glaspell’s name is often said in connection with her husband George Cram Cook, she stands alone in her career and contributions to the American theatre. With Cook, she created the ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: A Chorus Line

A Chorus Line was one of the biggest musical hits Broadway had and has ever seen. It was a backstage musical about Broadway’s gypsies, the dancers who work and battle so hard to win a part in a show on The Great White Way. This very different idea for a musical seemed to come out of nowhere. When it closed on April 28, 1990, it established the new long-run record on ...

How Theatre Unions Changed Broadway Forever

Sometimes unions are cited as being the reason for rising ticket prices on Broadway. Although Broadway union contracts are the most generous in the business, it’s not accurate to say that they alone are responsible for the price of tickets to shows on The Great White Way. There are numerous other factors that come into play when one considers the expense of attending a Broadway show, including high real estate ...

10 Best Broadway Book Musical

The Golden Age of Broadway and the Broadway Musical is said to have run from approximately the 1920s through to the 1960s. There were book musicals of a sort written after the 1960s, but overall the traditional book musical was transformed into something quite different with such shows as Hair, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Tommy, and others. Book musicals, such as Fiddler on the Roof are quite ...

Three People Who Changed the American Theatre

There are hundreds of people, perhaps thousands, who in some way have changed the American theatre. This blog concerning that subject is in no way exhaustive. In fact, this is the first of many posts that Broadway Scene will offer focusing on those who in some manner have altered the American theatre. This first column looks at three people from the 18th and 19th centuries, before the long run, the ...

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama: A Winning American Tradition for Close to 100 Year

In 2017, the Pulitzer Prizes will mark the beginning of their second century of giving prizes for Letters, Drama, and Music. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was one of seven original Pulitzers established in 1917. During its 99-year history, the dramatic prize has been awarded 84 times, leaving 15 years when no theatrical piece received the award. It’s purpose is the recognize the best theatrical stage work produced in the ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Arthur Miller’s Life and Art

Playwright Arthur Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) left us a body of work that includes what many consider to be some of America’s most important and poignant works for the stage. There could be an argument made that he was the most significant U.S. playwright of the second-half of the twentieth century. His plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A ...

Maxwell Anderson

Playwright Maxwell Anderson was an amazingly successful dramatist who grounded his work on Aristotle’s lecture on tragedy known as The Poetics. Anderson did not translate the Greek philosopher into English, but, rather, he studied The Poetics and then created his own theory, transposing the great philosopher and teacher’s theories of the art of tragedy into a method for creating effective plays for the modern theatre in a capitalistic society. In ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Those We Lost in 2014

We have compiled a list of 10 individuals connected to the American professional theatre who passed away in 2014. They will all be missed greatly. Mike Nichols Nicholas was a consummate director who first hit it big on Broadway by winning the Tony for best direction three straight years. Hw won the award in 1963 for his first Broadway directorial effort, Barefoot in the Park, and another in 1964 for his direction ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Betty Comden and Adolph Green

The writing talents of Betty Comden and Adolph Green created some of Broadway and Hollywood’s best-known characters, stories, and lyrics. Their Broadway musicals include On the Town, On the Twentieth Century, and Applause, while their Hollywood credits, which are numerous, include what many consider to be the best movie musical ever produced, Singin’ in the Rain. The team started working together in the 1940s and continued to do so into ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Mike Nicholas Director Extraordinaire

The passing of Mike Nichols last week at the age of 83 was significant in many ways. Nichols, who at first carved a career as a comedian with Elaine May, became one of Hollywood’s and Broadway’s most respected directors and producers. He is one of the few to have won a Grammy, Emmy, Oscar, and Tony. His totals include one Grammy, one Oscar, four Emmys, and nine Tonys. He also ...

The Broadway Musical: America’s First Important Broadway Composers

Long before Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, or Richard Rodgers composed a single musical phrase for a Broadway show, and light years before Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, and Fred Kander, and many others, there were numerous native composers writing for the Broadway and American stage. They were not writing the types of musicals that we are so familiar with from the 1920s through to the present, nor did they ...

History of the Broadway Musical: Musical Theatre Entertainments

Broadway musicals have a language all their own. Over more than 150 years the American musical has defined and redefined itself. Here are some musical theatre terms that have been used to identify specific types of entertainments seen on European and American stages that have involved the use of music. Opera and Related Works When the American musical was born it was in the form of musical comedy. Prior to musical comedy, ...

Broadway History: Victor Hugo Broadway Hit Maker

Victor Hugo was a French writer who was best known for creating plays and novels. He was instrumental in the early 19th century for changing French theatre forever, and, also, for transforming much of the theatre around the world. Hugo was a revolutionary who possessed radical ideas about art, and became a leader of a movement that challenged rules about art that the French Academy had established and enshrined in ...

Broadway Remembered: When Sunday Nights Brought Broadway into Your Living Room

It was the 1950s and early 1960s that Americans welcomed Broadway into their living rooms each and every Sunday night. Families gathered around black and white console televisions to popular programs, including The Ed Sullivan Show and What’s My Line? The Ed Sullivan show gave America a glimpse of what was presently running on Broadway, while What’s My Line? Often included Broadway talents on the panel and as their mystery ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Lauren Bacall Two Time Tony Winner

Although she was a screen legend, Lauren Bacall never won an Oscar. She did receive an honorary award from the Academy in 2010, but the actress never won one outright. On Broadway ,she faired better as the actress captured two Tonys and played in various other shows. Bacall’s brash, no nonsense personality often carried over into her roles. Her eyes were penetrating lazars, and they served her well in film. ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: George Abbott from the 1950s on, Part IV

By the time the 1950s came along, George Abbott had already had a career as a major Broadway producer, director, and writer. Abbott had been involved in numerous hits and innovative shows, including in the 1940s Pal Joey, On the Town, and High Button Shoes. It seemed as if he could do no wrong, or at least, very little, wrong. The New Decade Abbott kicked off the decade of the 1950s by ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: George Abbott Part III, The 1940s

Although George Abbott had established himself as a preeminent director, writer, and producer by the 1930s, the Broadway professional still had a long way to go before he would finally retire. The next three decades were exceptionally rich for Abbott, as he offered Broadway audiences hit shows and innovative theatrical creations. Abbott seemed to have a penchant for pushing the envelope, especially in terms of redefining the Broadway musical. To that ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: George Abbott Part II, The 1930s

At the age of 26, George Abbott appeared in his first Broadway show, entitled The Misleading Lady. It was 1913. It would be a dozen years before he’s see his first play on Broadway. It was called The Fall Guy. The next year, he directed his first Broadway show, Love ’em and Leave ’em, which he also wrote. This was just the start of a 70-year career as a Broadway ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: George Abbott a Masterful Theatre Artist, Part I

George Abbott lived a long and creative life. Born on June 25, 1887, Abbott appeared in his first Broadway show, The Misleading Lady, in 1913. He was 26. In 1994, he took his final bow on Broadway as he worked on the revival of Damn Yankees, revising the book, which was his original creation, and acting as a consultant. He died the next year on January 31 at the age ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Julie Harris

Actress Julie Harris passed away on August 24, 2013, at the age of 87. During her long career as an actress, she had won five Tonys, three Emmys, a Grammy, and had been nominated for an Oscar. She grew up in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and after attending various elementary and high schools, spent a year at Yale studying theatre. Her career would span eight decades, and much of her time ...

Broadway Disasters: Flops of Mythical Proportions, Part II

Broadway has seen many amazing triumphs and quite a few flops. As there are a few shows that achieved greatness, such as Fiddle on the Roof, Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and a few that have been recorded in the annals of infamy. In an early blog, we looked at two such shows, Dude and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Today we consider two others. One is ...

Broadway History: Florenz Ziegfeld Makes His Mark

Florenz Ziegfeld was one of America’s best-known and most successful producers. Responsible for some of the greatest light entertainment, the Ziegfeld Follies, and most serious, the musical Show Boat, Ziegfeld left his mark on The Great White Way. In 1910, he broke the color line on Broadway by hiring the highly popular black comedian/singer Bert Williams to perform in his show, despite the fact that many of his white acts ...

Broadway Disasters: Two Broadway Flops of Mythical Proportions

The history of Broadway is littered with shows that closed after a short run of a few months or a couple of weeks. Broadway also has a list of what might be called absolute turkeys. A “turkey,” in the parlance of Broadway, is a show that is a real loser from start to finish. There’s absolutely no saving it. (Irving Berlin in “There’s No Business, Like Show Business” has the ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Philip Seymour Hoffman

The untimely passing of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman makes one stop and think about many things. The ironies of success, what it is to be human, especially the frailty in each of us, and the brilliance of which some are capable. Hoffman reflected the essence of each of these aspects just mentioned and so much more. His time was relatively short, as he died of a drug overdose at the ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Last season on Broadway, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with a stellar production that starred Tracy Letts (George), Amy Morton (Martha), Madison Dirks (Nick) and Carrie Coon (Honey). The production, which was directed by Pam MacKinnon, open on October 13, 2012, exactly 50 years to the day when the play first premiered on Broadway. The Original Production When Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? it made ...

Olive Thomas: Broadway’s New Amsterdam Ghost

Olive Thomas was a Broadway chorus girl, a strikingly beautiful Broadway is filled model, and a film actress. She is also said to be the ghost of the New Amsterdam Theatre, which is presently operated and owned by Disney, and which was the venue for the celebrated Ziegfeld Follies. The ghosts of those who have worked in various jobs on The Great White Way are said to still walk its streets ...

Broadway History: The Amazing Theatre Career of Producer David Merrick

David Merrick, who was born David Lee Margulois in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1911, was a lawyer who in 1940 turned to theatre, becoming one of the most successful producers that Broadway has ever seen. Bombastic, savvy, and cunning, Merrick was a master of publicity, generating positive news and spin about his shows even when they had received negative reviews. Merrick was a one-of-a-kind showman, who saw the producer’s role ...

Broadway History: The Magic of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse

Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse were a dynamic theatrical team. Known primarily as comedy writers, they created a number of hit plays and musicals, produced others, and, as play doctors, helped rewrite innumerable shows when they were on the road to Broadway. They also set an important high water mark in Broadway theatre history. Anything Goes, Really! One principle of comedy is that humor is often born from a spontaneous observation, and ...

Broadway History: A Forgotten Smash Hit, Record-Breaking Broadway Show

The long run show is the dream of every writer, composer, producer, actor, and just about anyone else in the theatre. Long run, recording breaking shows not only translate into big profits and long term employment, they are prestigious and a part of theatre history. Standard Long Run Shows What’s a long run on Broadway? These days the standard is 1,000 or more performances. To reach that goal a show would have ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: The Sexual, Cynical Styling of Bob Fosse

Bob Fosse may have been Broadway’s most influential choreographer-director of the second half of the 20th century. From the 1950s through the 1980s, Fosse choreographed and/or directed-choreographed some of Broadways biggest hits. He started out as an actor-dancer in the early 50s, but by the mid-50s, Fosse was choreographing for stage and film. The Trifecta In 1973, Fosse did something no had ever done before or since, winning the Tony, Oscar, and ...

Vaudeville: America’s Vibrant Art Form with a Short Lifetime

Vaudeville has a lifespan in the U.S. and Canada of about 50 years, starting in the 1880s and ending in the 1930s. It became the place where entertainers from around the world could make it big with 10 minutes of stage brilliance, buffoonery, or bombastics. Singers, dancers, jugglers, magicians, musicians, actors, comedians, dog and pony shows and specialty acts of all kinds were welcome. Origins Vaudeville is descendent from variety, which occurred ...

Broadway Theatre: 10 People Who Changed Broadway, Part II

In the first of our two-part series focusing on those who changed Broadway, we looked at five influential people from the first half of the 20th century. They were George M. Cohan, Florenz Ziegfeld, Eugene O’Neill, Oscar Hammerstein II, and the Shubert brothers. In the second part, we consider five more important theatre people who in some way had a major influence on Broadway. Loraine Hansberry Playwright Loraine Hansberry gave us one ...

Broadway Theatre: 10 People Who Changed Broadway, Part 1

One question that has been of interest to historians is why do great changes in cultures, societies, and nations occur? Are they the result of certain circumstances coming together and colliding, and in the heat that’s generated something new is created or do important events occur, major changes happen, and new movements developed as a result of unique individuals who in some way influence and create great change? For the sake ...

Broadway History: Great Composers of the 1930s: Part V Rodgers & Hart

In the 1930s, Rodgers and Hart were a premium writing team with Richard Rodgers composing masterful melodies and Lorenz Hart writing some of the most clever and at times ephemeral lyrics Broadway audiences would ever hear. Rodgers provided tunes that helped define mood, character, and situation, while Hart offered poetic lyrics that transformed into poetry. The team was hugely popular. Hits Galore The writing team had no lack of hits. “Falling in ...

The Broadway Musical: The Sound of Music Becomes a Musical

It may be hard to believe but The Sound of Music was not originally seen as a musical. The tale of Maria Augusta von Trapp, which was based on her book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, was to be a play. Here’s how this iconic musical came to be. The Original Idea Stage director Vincent J. Donehue came up with the idea that the story of Maria von Trapp would ...

Broadway History: Great Composers of the 1930s, Part IV The Gershwins

Brothers George and Ira Gershwin were a formidable team, creating music and lyrics for Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. Although George Gershwin was classically trained, he managed to utilize American idioms such as jazz in his music. His first hit was “Swanee,” which sold over a million copies of sheet music and became the anthem for one of America’s greatest performers Al Jolson. “Swanee” serves as an example of George ...

Broadway History: Eugene O’Neill Brings American Drama to Maturity

Perhaps no other playwright is responsible for American drama becoming respected by the rest of the theatre world than Eugene O’Neill. O’Neill, who was the son of actor James O’Neill, is credited with having advanced dramatic literature in the U.S. to a point where our theatre and playwrights were finally seen as reaching an age of maturity. Like any artist, O’Neill was a product of his times and like any ...

Broadway History: Great Composers of the 1930s, Part III Irving Berlin

He was born Israel Isidore Beilin but became known as Irving Berlin due to a printer’s error. When Israel Isidore Beilin first song was published (“Marie from Sunny Italy”), the sheet music gave credit to “I. Berlin” and Beilin, who was born in Russia and emigrated to the U.S. as a child with his family, liked and adopted the new identity. Soon all of America would know the amazing talent ...

Broadway History: Great Composers of the 1930s, Part II Jerome Kern

Where did Broadway show music start? Many believe that it all started with Jerome Kern. Kern, who would write more than 700 songs which would be heard in over 100 musicals, was one of the most important popular composers of the 20th century. Kern was born in New York City on January 27, 1885 and grew up on east 56th Street. His mother, who was an accomplished musician, taught him ...

Broadway History: Great Composers of the 1930s, Part I

In the 1930s Broadway saw some of its greatest composers create some of their finest music. It was a time of transition as Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, and Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart scored hit after hit. The 1930s was a time of major transitions on Broadway as the stock market crash, the Great Depression and the talking and singing motion picture. There were ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

In 1959, just on the eve of the Civil Rights Movement in American, Lorraine Hansberry saw the history-making premiere of her drama A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway. A Raisin in the Sun, which was based on Hansberry and her family’s own experiences, offered audiences a stellar cast that included Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee. It was a play that no one wanted to produce. At least at first ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Elaine Stritch, Company & The Ladies Who Lunch

Elaine Stritch, who created the role of Joanne in Company (1970) has been performing on Broadway since 1946 when she appeared in Loco. Her career includes over 20 Broadway shows, numerous West End productions and various national tours. Although she prefers the stage, she has also appeared on various television shows and in movies. Stritch has had an amazing career and continues to be a force on the stage and ...

Broadway History:The Golden Age of the American Book Musical, Part 8 End of an Era

The golden age of the American book musical came to an end in the 1960s. It had started with Show Boat in 1927 and ended almost forty years later with the premiere of Fiddler on the Roof. What would follow would be a new type of musical. Although the new musical still usually had a book and the characters were still often grounded in some sort of reality, the stories ...

Broadway History:The Golden Age of the American Book Musical, Part 7 Fiddler on the Roof

With Fiddler on the Roof the golden age of the American book musical came to an end. It wasn’t that book musicals were no longer written. There were still plenty to come. But the great ones, those that had solid, literate books with deeply motivated characters and in which everything flowed from the story and the characters, would no longer be written. What happened to the book musical and why ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Nobody Bert Williams the Soulful Comedian

Egbert Austin “Bert” Williams (November 12, 1874- March 4, 1922) was a black performer unlike any other of his generation. He took the stereotypical black character, which had roots in T.D. Rice’s 1830’s Jim Crow creation, and while playing comedy managed to create a pathos that was born from the racial bigotry, prejudice and inequalities that blacks faced in America. Williams’ characters were not based on racial stereotypes and his ...

Broadway History: The Golden Age of the American Book Musical, Part 6 My Fair Lady

With My Fair Lady we take a step backwards from West Side Story. Not in terms of artistic accomplishment, but in terms of time. West Side Story was part of the 1956-57 Broadway theatre season while My Fair Lady was the major hit of the 1955-56 season. It opened on March 15, 1956 and would run for 2,717 performances. It was nominated for 10 Tonys and won six, including Best ...

Broadway Theatre Design: Architect George Keister

  George Keister was an architect in the early part of the 20th century who eventually became a specialist in designing theatres. One of his first theatrical commissions was the Stuyvesant (Belasco), which he designed for producer David Belasco in 1907. He would go on to design a dozen more NY theatres, including the historic Apollo Theatre (1914), which was then called Hurtig & Seamon’s New Theater. Although many of the ...

Broadway History: The Golden Age of the American Book Musical, Part 5 West Side Story

West Side Story brought together the creative talents of some of the finest artistic minds on Broadway, including Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim. It would be a reimagining of the American book musical featuring a contemporary American story and setting, a dynamic orchestral score, insightful, multilayered lyrics and choreography that would redefine and reinvigorate musical theatre. But West Side Story was a musical that was slow ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Ethel Merman as Reno, Annie Oakley and Mama Rose

Ethel Merman was one of the biggest stars to ever tread the Broadway boards. On Broadway, Merman created the roles of Reno Sweeney (Anything Goes), Annie Oakley (Annie Get Your Gun) and Mama Rose (Gypsy). Merman, who was known for her big, bigger, biggest voice, was not only an astounding performer but, as she proved in Gypsy, a brilliant actress. If there’s one person who defined Broadway musical theatre talent ...

Broadway History: The Princess Musicals, Bigger Was NOT Better

With the advent of the Ziegfeld Follies in the early part of the 20th century and simultaneously the push on Broadway to present big musicals, the American stage was becoming known for its grandeur and opulence. There would be various reactions to this trend, including one that resulted in a downsizing of the Broadway musical and a new focus on craft, character development and story. The musicals that were created ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Helen Morgan as Julie in Show Boat

Helen Morgan was a singer/actress who played the role of Julie LaVerne in Kern and Hammerstein’s Show Boat. She created the role in the 1927 Broadway premiere and also played it in the 1936 film. Morgan, who was an alcoholic like the character she played in Show Boat, had a rocky career. Like some singers who would come after her, two who come to mind are Judy Garland and Janice ...

Broadway History: The Golden Age of the American Book Musical, Part 4 Oklahoma!

Although we’ve already written about Oklahoma! in an introductory blog to this series and also in a separate blog on how people doubted its viability, it would be negligent to eliminate an essay focusing on it as a book musical. That’s because it was Oklahoma! that started the trend towards book musicals. Ironically, it was the music and the dance numbers in Oklahoma! that were partially responsible for developing an ...

Broadway Disasters: The Astor Place Riot, Forrest Vs Macready

The Astor Place Riot, which occurred on May 10, 1849, was at that time the deadliest event of its kind in New York City. The riot took place outside the Astor Opera House and it was partly the result of a rivalry between American Shakespearean actor and tragedian Edwin Forrest and his English counterpart William Charles Macready. The riot was in essence a three-sided affair. At first it was a battle ...

Broadway Theatre History: The Black Crook, the Play that Was Not the First Musical

For quite some time The Black Crook was known for two things- being the first musical and being the first long run play in NY. But now it’s known as the first long run play. Historians no longer considered it to have been a musical. It was a phenomenal mix of play, dance, music and spectacle that became the rage when it premiered at Niblo’s Garden on September 12, 1866. ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Andrea McArdle Second Choice Annie Becomes First

Although many think of Andrea McArdle as being the first Annie in the hit musical by that same name, the fact is McArdle was an afterthought. Originally cast as Pepper, McArdle replaced the original Annie, Kristen Vigard, during the second week of the pre-Broadway run at the Goodspeed Opera House in August 1976. When Annie opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on April 21, 1977, McArdle was in the ...

Broadway History: The Golden Age of the American Book Musical, Part 3 Show Boat

Although many will argue that it was Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! that started the Golden Age of the American Book Musical, we’d be negligent if we didn’t acknowledge the major contributions Show Boat made towards the art form. In fact, you can argue that, yes, Oklahoma! does mark the start of the Golden Age because its popularity pushed so many other writers and composers in the direction of ...

Broadway History: The Golden Age of the American Book Musical, Part 2 Setting the Stage

There are numerous factors that led to the development of the book musical in America. If we can say that in 1927 Kern and Hammerstein created the first successful American book musical with the premiere of Show Boat, we can look back to some specific circumstances and instances that led and pushed the musical to that point. Here are five factors that set the stage for the birth of the ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Carol Channing is Dolly in Hello, Dolly!

If you ask someone what Carol Channing is noted for and they know anything about Broadway, they say that Carol Channing is best known for creating the role of Dolly Levi in the musical Hello, Dolly! The show premiered in New York at the St. James Theatre on January 16, 1964. Hello, Dolly! was produced by David Merrick and the musical was directed and choreographed by Gower Champion. It won ...

The Golden Age of the American Book Musical, Part 1 Defining the Genre

The Golden Age of the American book musical on Broadway spans about 40 years. It began with the 1927 premiere of Show Boat by Kern and Hammerstein and came to an end in 1964 with Fiddler on the Roof by Bock, Harnick and Stein. In this four-part series, we’re going to consider what defines the genre, what circumstances led to the development of the book musical, and what some of ...

Broadway Theatre Building Boom, Broadway Theatre Bust

Presently, there are 40 Broadway theatres in NYC. We have records going back to 1909 on the number of legitimate stages that graced Manhattan at various times. In 1909, there were 35. The fewest number of Broadway houses between 1909 and the present was 32. That was in 1940. After 1940, there was a slight increase in the number of legit theatres. In the ‘50s the number went to 36, ...

Broadway Show History: Oklahoma! The Musical that Many Doubted

In the history on musical theatre, Oklahoma! Is one of the most produced Broadway shows. Every day, this musical is being performed somewhere around the globe. Although today Oklahoma! may seem to be a bit creaky and old, when it opened on Broadway in 1943 , it was groundbreaking. Many people doubted it viability. Many people didn’t understand the power of what was the first collaboration between Richard Rodgers and ...

Broadway’s Controversies: The Theatrical Syndicate Controls US Stages

Before the Broadway long run, before George M. Cohan created the Broadway of myth and legend and long before hit musicals such as Phantom, Chicago and Matilda brought droves of people into New York much of America’s professional theatre was composed of road companies. The theatre travelled to America and it went to every corner of the continent. This is in the mid- to late-19th century when an actor/manager would ...

Broadway Theatre Design: Architect Herbert J. Krapp

    Herbert J. Krapp (1887-1973), who was born in New York City and studied at the Cooper Union Institute, is known for designing Broadway theatres and other buildings of note. Of the 40 Broadway theatres now standing, Krapp designed 13 and redesigned two. He also designed the Morosco Theatre, which was demolished in 1982. He was known for his ability to utilize space to the fullest degree, designing each theatre carefully ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Ben Vereen, Leading Player Pippin

  In, 1972, Pippin, which had its first Broadway revival about a month ago, was a Broadway hit for many reasons. One was the direction/choreography of Bob Fosse and another was Ben Vereen. Vereen, who had been nominated for a Tony as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his breakout performance as Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972, was cast as the Leading Player in Pippin. The musical ...

The Broadway Musical: Before the American Musical There Was Operetta

The Broadway musical is a relatively new genre. Also known as the American musical, this show has been in existence for less than a century. Scholars of the genre are reticent to agree as to which show was the first Broadway musical. Although some will go back to the 18th or 19th centuries to find the first musical, the show that contained all of the major elements that comprise this ...

Broadway Ghosts and Myths: Do Theatre Ghosts Really Exist?

Do you believe in ghosts? The theatre has a rich history of ghostly sightings. This is not only true for Broadway stages but for just about any and all theatres. Why is this the case? Is it because those in the theatre have active imaginations? Does it somehow pertain to the ghost light? Is it just part of the idea that theatre is “play” and actors bring forth and give ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle

The Broadway musical My Fair Lady is considered to be one of the greatest American musicals and Julie Andrews portrayal of Eliza Doolittle is what made her a star. My Fair Lady premiered on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre (it is now the inter-denominational Times Square Church) on March 15, 1956. Based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, My Fair Lady, which ran for 2,717 performances, featured ...

Broadway Long Runs: How New York Became Home to the Long Run

The Broadway long run is a relatively new phenomenon. It’s really a product of changes that occurred in the 19th and into the 20th centuries. There are a few developments that are responsible for the long Broadway run that can go one for more than a decade. In fact, one show, The Phantom of the Opera, has been on Broadway for more than two decades. Influences on Broadway Production Runs First, in ...

Broadway Ghosts and Myths: The Ghost of David Belasco

  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, impresario David Belasco was a major figure in the American theatre. He started out working in the theatre when he was a young man in San Francisco. Belasco was a disciplined stage manager, a gifted playwright and a solid businessman. By the end of his career, which ran from 1884- 1930, he was involved in about 100 productions in one way or ...

Broadway Scenes Remembered: Robert Morse How to Succeed

Ah,Youth! Robert Morse certainly proved that he knew how to succeed on Broadway when he played the lead in the original production of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. As J. Pierrepont Finch, the window washer on his way up in the world of big business, Morse became a star. Along with winning the Tony, Morse had a long run in the Broadway musical that opened on October 14, ...