All tagged Derek Hough

The Grandest of Hotels: Pondering a Revival of Grand Hotel

The Grandest of Hotels: Pondering a Revival of Grand Hotel

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

With the announcement by Encores! that Grand Hotel will be a part of their 2018 season, it has the wheels of my brain turning about a possible Broadway revival of this magnificent, but challenging, piece of musical theatre. It has been almost three decades since Grand Hotel premiered on Broadway. That production was, in itself a reimagining of a failed attempt to musicalize Vicki Baum’s 1928 novel (and subsequent 1932 film) called At the Grand (1958). That version of the show featured a score by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with a book by Luther David. Many of those songs and parts of the book made it into the 1989 Broadway production of Grand Hotel which would garner many Tony Awards and run for 1,017 performances.

Broadway Musical Musings – Hairspray Live!: Will It Hold its Curl?

Broadway Musical Musings – Hairspray Live!: Will It Hold its Curl?

Mark Robinson
Broadway Musical Musings, Tube Tied

Generally, I am a proponent of the trend in producing musicals “live” on television, with the proviso that they are done well and that they don’t besmirch the reputation of musical theatre. The renaissance of live musicals started a few years ago with The Sound of Music starring Carrie Underwood. It was an underwhelming effort to say the least, but it was popular enough with audiences for NBC to turn live musicals into a perennial event. Peter Pan came next and that was even more painful than The Sound of Music, especially with an under-rehearsed Christopher Walken wending his way through the role of Captain Hook. Then something miraculous happened: Musicals Live! suddenly came up with a great idea and chose a musical that didn’t already have a beloved film version and then cast it with powerhouse talent. The Wiz Live! was a exciting, bursting with energy and heart, and was also just plain good.

Broadway Top-Ten Wishes for 2015

Broadway Top-Ten Wishes for 2015

Mark Robinson
Top Ten

2014 has been both an exciting and disappointing year for me in regards to Broadway musicals, with shows I deeply loved closing quickly and others that I felt lacked content and artistry plugging away. For me, the hardest thing to digest was the premature departure of The Bridges of Madison County, a piece I found both musically haunting and arresting in its simplicity. We move ahead, however, and file productions like "Bridges" in our hearts and memories, to recall when we are faced with the next big musical machine void of nuance or real emotion.

With Christmas just a few days away and the New Year poised to ring in, my Top-Ten List for this week is an itemized list of my wishes for 2015 and what I hope it will hold in terms of musical theatre.