When I first started my weekly column "Broadway Musical Time Machine", I decided I would hold-off on writing about my favorite show of all-time until I found that the time was right. However, The Irish Repertory Theatre is preparing a revival of that very musical in the near future, so I can no longer keep my deep and undying love for Finian's Rainbow a secret. In fact, no other show delights me as much lyrically, melodically, thematically and cleverly.
With Lin-Manuel Miranda poised to host Saturday Night Live, our nation’s most well-known and enduring sketch comedy show, I thought it might be interesting to suggest a few other faces from the Great White Way who would make fabulous hosts of the show. Broadway stars so seldom get the opportunity to show off their comedic talents to a larger viewing audience than the mere numbers a Broadway theatre can hold. Many great television and movie comedians of yesteryear have also spent time on Broadway AND appeared on SNL. But who of the contemporary theatre world would be good for a night of riotous laughter and a great opening monologue? Though it is very unlikely to happen to many (Hamilton is, after all, a national phenomenon and pop culture anomaly that has lifted Miranda and Hamilton into the stratosphere of iconic stardom), here are a few Broadway stars who I think would be up to the challenge:
Live from New York, it’s Saturday night… starring…
With Autumn officially underway, I thought it would be fun to celebrate some of the Broadway songs that celebrate and evoke themes of harvest, the fall, and generally that contemplative, reflective period that comes when summer ends and Christmas is just a few months away. Here are some songs that will help you get into a mood for back to school, bonfires, changing leaves, and the fall holidays.
Falsettos debuted on Broadway in 1992 when the world was a very different place in how it received gay relationships, recognized marriage, and reacted to the disease AIDS. We jump ahead 24 years and find a revival of Falsettos once again playing on Broadway but in a very changed world. Set in the early 1980s, will a story of a Jewish family and the challenges it faced hold-up with a contemporary audience? The United States, for sure, has evolved stretched and changes, as has the definition of family, so is Falsettos just going to seem antiquated after almost two-and-a-half decades? Hardly.
