Broadway Blip: Blood Brothers

Broadway Blip: Blood Brothers

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

It is the very rare occasion that a musical has a book, music AND lyrics all by the same person. Meredith Willson did it all three for The Music Man, but even he had help from Franklin Lacey on the book. No, it takes a very special talent to navigate all three of these components. That’s why Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers has always been a fascinating musical for me. It is all of one voice, and the epic tale of the Johnstone twins is a thrilling soap opera steeped in superstition, pop music, tragedy and humor. 

Flahooley: The Broadway Musical that Dared to Be Too Honest

Flahooley: The Broadway Musical that Dared to Be Too Honest

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

Now here is a musical flop that I simply adore, as much for its audacity as for its simply enchanting score. Flahooley, which may have many of you wondering at its bizarre title, opened on Broadway in 1951 at the Broadhurst Theatre. The musical was expected to be a hit, enjoying an enthusiastic out of town tryout. Even theatre caricature artist Al Hirschfeld, who often visited shows in their tryout cities to begin his artwork, was certain that the show would be an enormous hit in New York. Sadly, the show ran for only 40 performances, closed, and faded into obscurity. 

Broadway Blip: Up in Central Park

Broadway Blip: Up in Central Park

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

Here is a musical that used to be immensely popular in this country, but has faded into obscurity. Featuring a lush score by Sigmund Romberg and clever lyrics by Dorothy Fields, Up in Central Park was one of the last hangers-on of the operetta style while also embracing the more contemporary sound of the Rodgers and Hammerstein style that had become the rage two years earlier with Oklahoma!. Opening on Broadway in 1945 (the same year as Carousel), the musical was particularly well known for the lovely song “Close as Pages in a Book,” an oft-recorded love song that still holds up today (check out Barbara Cook’s enchanting recording). 

Broadway Blip: 70, Girls, 70

Broadway Blip: 70, Girls, 70

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

In the spring of 1971, a musical was readying to open on Broadway that featured a cast of older performers, singing and dancing, looking back on life, many exploring regrets and old memories shaded by the perspective of time. This musical would go on to become one of Broadway’s greatest classics of all time. That musical was Follies. 

Opening within ten days of Follies was another musical that featured a cast of older performers, singing and dancing, exploring memories but focused on an entirely different set of circumstances. 70, Girls, 70, with a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb and a book by Norman L. Martin and Ebb, is not a musical you hear much about these days, though it does deserve a second look and listen.

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