Liza, Chita and The Rink

Liza, Chita and The Rink

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

In 1983, a musical prepared to open on Broadway that would star two of Broadway’s most-beloved and enduring talents: one a Tony-nominated (several times over) triple-threat known particularly for her electric dancing prowess, the other the daughter of Hollywood royalty (Judy Garland) who had carved her own exciting niche in entertainment outside of her mother’s shadow, having won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards. They were, of course, Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli, respectively. Together they would appear in the next Broadway musical by composers Kander and Ebb who had created scores for gritty musicals such as Cabaret and Chicago. Writing the original story was playwright Albert Innaurato, best-known for the comedic family-drama Gemini. Direction was to be by Arthur Laurents who had directed, among many other things, the original Gypsy. The musical that was shaping up to be the exciting event of the season was The Rink.

Movie Musicals On the Stage: Part Two – What Is the Recipe for Success?

Movie Musicals On the Stage: Part Two – What Is the Recipe for Success?

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance, Stage To Screen

In the last “Music That Makes Me Dance” column, we explored movie musicals that did not successfully transfer to the stage. From Meet Me in St. Louis to The Little Mermaid, there have been more than a few titles that failed to ignite when they ventured a life upon the wicked stage. We surmised that the art of looking at a musical through the lens of a camera is not the same beast as the art of filling a theatre auditorium with the same story, songs and characters. No, the stage requires a different recipe for success altogether.

Movie Musicals On the Stage: What Is the Recipe for Success? – Part One

Movie Musicals On the Stage: What Is the Recipe for Success? – Part One

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance, Stage To Screen

Those classic Hollywood musicals of the old studio system (particularly Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) were, for many of us, our glorious introduction to the musical form. Our affection for the iconic moments and memorable songs in these cinematic masterpieces makes them ripe for the picking to transplant to the Broadway stage. Whether-or-not doing so does them any justice is another question altogether. We are often disappointed by the result; how do you effectively take what was artfully and intimately captured through a camera’s lens and reimagine it in the wider, more distant picture of the stage?

Hair at 50 and The Women’s Marches

Hair at 50 and The Women’s Marches

Mark Robinson
Odds & Ends, Music That Makes Me Dance

This year, the musical Hair turns 50. Radical for its day with its unyielding assessment of 1960s America: civil rights, the Vietnam War, government corruption, its inclusion of LGB characters (the Q & T are inferred, I suppose), its embrace of rock & roll for the musical stage, it is interesting that its anniversary coincides so closely with the inauguration of “President” Donald Trump, and far more importantly, the historic Women’s marches that breathe a new hope into our hearts and resolve for change. Are we really, fifty-years-later, having to refight the battles of the 60s that are so represented as a powerful collage in the musical Hair?

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