All tagged Mark Twain

Broadway Musical Time Machine: Looking Back at Big River

Broadway Musical Time Machine: Looking Back at Big River

Mark Robinson
Theatre Time Machine

The prospect of musical version of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn had to have been, at one point, ridiculous to imagine. Thinking about it, one might have expected lessons in history and literature, high school tedium brought to life onstage. Also, a story that is largely locked to a space the size of a raft isn’t exactly going to lend itself to the song and dance treatment. Indeed, when such a musical arrived on Broadway in 1985, people balked at the idea and critics weren't exactly enthusiastic. Interestingly enough, Big River turned out to be the hit of the season, running 1,005 performances and winning the Tony Award for Best Musical

"To Keep My Love Alive" - Getting to the "Hart" of the Matter

"To Keep My Love Alive" - Getting to the "Hart" of the Matter

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

There are many great lyricists to celebrate throughout the history of Broadway: Sondheim for his complexity and deep understanding of character development, Porter for his sparkling wit and his wizardry with internal rhyme, E.Y. Harburg with his subtly subversive whimsy, Ira Gershwin for his sophistication, and of course Dorothy Fields for her bold, realistic characterizations. Still, I have always been partial to Lorenz Hart who could marry all of the above with an ease and smoothness that elevate the song to greatness without drawing attention to itself. In other words, it is natural. A Hart lyric glides, flows and illuminates.