All in Guilty Pleasure
We all know the classic Broadway musical titles: Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly!, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie and the dozens of others that show up in regional theatres, high schools, community theatres and even make their way back to Broadway from time to time. However, there are easily hundereds of Broadway musicals that were deemed unsuccessful and have, for the most part, been forgotten by the theatergoing community despite the fact that they have much to recommend.
Before I go into my "Guilty Pleasure" for the week, I first wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading. Additionally, I very much enjoy reading your comments, feedback, and suggestions and would love to receive more. Please let me know what you like, don't like, agree with, disagree with, and most of all share your perceptions on the songs I've chosen to analyze. I do not want to write in a vacuum. We all have a common interest: the Broadway musical and why not have the intellectual and passionate discussions about this unique art form we share? Also...if you like what you are reading (or at least find it informative), please share "The Music That Makes Me Dance" blog with friends and fellow enthusiasts. Again, I thank you for your readership and your help.
Don't hate me in advance. I have never been an enormous fan of the musicals of Frank Wildhorn. I found the original Broadway production of Jekyll and Hyde to be sometimes tedious, stodgily staged, and mostly laughable. I said "don't hate me." There were, however, two bright spots in that production: the glorious voice of Linda Eder (especially singing "Someone Like You), and Robert Cucciolli's soaring rendition of "This Is the Moment," my guilty pleasure for this week.
"Jubilation T. Cornpone" may do nothing to further the plot or to give us a deeper understanding of a character, but you simply cannot hear this song without tapping your toes and getting caught up in the hillbilly hoopla of this guilty pleasure. It's showstopping fun and in the hands of showstopper extraordinaire Stubby Kaye, the number was the highlight of the 1956 musical Li'l Abner.
