Breaking a Bad Day: The Showtunes That Make Me Smile (Sometimes for the Wrong Reasons)

Breaking a Bad Day: The Showtunes That Make Me Smile (Sometimes for the Wrong Reasons)

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

Sometimes, you are just having a bad and you turn to musical to help you overcome your situation. I realized, the other day, when I was feeling a bit crabby, that I began searching through my showtunes for certain songs that always guarantee a smile-inducing listen. I thought it would be fun to share some of those songs with my readership, with the hope that you will chime in with some of the songs that are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I cannot wait to hear what you share. Until then, here are mine.

Collabro: Road to the Royal Albert Hall — Album Review

Collabro: Road to the Royal Albert Hall — Album Review

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

I cannot get enough of the band Collabro. From the moment I first heard them sing “Stars” on Britain’s Got Talent, I felt plunged into a joy of theatre music delivered in an angelic way that has never been equally captured through four-part harmony. Not long after my introduction to Collabro, I had the fortune of interviewing the four young men that make up the group.  I soon learned that Michael Auger, Jamie Lambert, Matthew Pagan and Thomas J. Redgrave are not only extremely talented, but generous of spirit, kind, industrious, eloquent, and dedicated to their art of making showtunes sing with a special flair. It was a honor to speak to them and if their musical hadn’t already won me over, this interview would make me a fan for life. The announcement of their new album “Road to the Royal Albert Hall” was exciting news to me, but would it live up to expectations? 

Broadway Blip: The Boys from Syracuse

Broadway Blip: The Boys from Syracuse

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

Rodgers and Hart musicals always included a delicious sense of fun and their 1938 comedy The Boys from Syracuse was no exception. Based on William Shakespeare’s 1594 play (his shortest) The Comedy of Errors, The Boys from Syracuse features one of Rodgers and Hart’s most-enduring score with such gems as “Falling in Love with Love,” “Sing for Your Supper,” “This Can’t Be Love” and “What Do You Do with a Man” as standouts. 

Remembering the Princess Musicals

Remembering the Princess Musicals

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

Have any of you heard of “The Princess Musicals”? I am not speaking of the Disney musicals on Broadway featuring princesses as the show’s heroine, but rather a short-lived series of musicals that played at Manhattan’s Princess Theatre between 1915 and 1919. These intimate musical comedies would prove to be influential in shaping the future of musical comedy on Broadway. Taking a step away from the big-budget spectacles, musical revues, and operettas that were popular in the day, The Princess Musicals would take a different approach: youthful, exuberant musicals performed on a much smaller scale, manageably-sized to fit the 299 seat venue and its limited stage space. They would also be an early attempt at integrating the score with plot, though not as effectively as would be achieved with musicals such as Show Boat, Pal Joey, Lady in the Dark, and Oklahoma! further down the road. 

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