All tagged Matthew Broderick
Most people who attend Broadway plays and musicals on a regular basis have established a certain affection for a particular venue. Maybe we had a wonderful experience at a particular theatre, or maybe we have had several. Perhaps a certain theatre is more comfortable, more conveniently located, or maybe it just glows with the wonderful ghosts of shows gone by? For me, my favorite theatre will always be the St. James, owned and operated by Jujamycn Theatre and the home of a long line of Broadway hits that have been ensconced within its walls on 44th street, between 7th and 8th Avenues.
The Music Man is a marvel for many reasons and I'm tired of all of the arguments that West Side Story was robbed of the "Best Musical" Tony that year (1957-58 season). I'm not knocking West Side Story. It's a special show full of artistry and it was certainly groundbreaking for its use of dance in telling the story. The Music Man, however, is a tightly constructed piece of original musical theatre, combining nostalgia, humor, musical pastiche, sentiment and a terrific concept. At the turn-of-the-twentieth-century, a con man masquerading as a traveling salesman sweeps into a small, uptight, midwestern town to sell the folks on the idea that they need a boys marching band. He hangs around just long enough to collect money for instruments and uniforms and plans to skip town. Along the way, he brings the town together, falls in love with the emotionally stunted librarian, and becomes a father figure to her little brother.
