All tagged Musical Comedy
Joy - one of the ingredients that used to make for a successful Broadway musical and the one that is chiefly missing in today's musical theatre writing. Nowadays, shows have to be biting, sarcastic, topical, cynical and revolutionary, but to just be a conduit of happiness, melody and merriment doesn't seem to cut it anymore.
We all love to laugh. There is nothing better than a deep, gut-busting release to make us feel a little bit better about the world we live in. Broadway musicals, especially those written in the Rodgers and Hammerstein format, usually had a serious lead couple and then a supporting pair who were there for comic relief. There are a lot of funny roles in musical theatre that performers would give their eye teeth to have a crack at. Today, I celebrate the “Top Ten Best Comedy Roles in Musical Theatre”.
Musical comedies: full out, "make them laugh" musical comedies peppered Broadway seasons in abundance from the 1920s through the 1960s. They were everywhere and just about everyone was writing them. Sure, there were always musicals of deeper substance and that had a darker edge making us think, but it was the big and brash musical, filled to the brim with colorful characters, lively music, and zany antics that, for many, became the epitome of what the Broadway musical was. Pure escapist fun like Anything Goes, Guys & Dolls, Damn Yankees, Bells Are Ringing, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and even lesser revered titles like Goldilocks, Wildcat, and I Had a Ball were the go-to for a joyous outing of theatre. Why are they just not as plentiful as they used to be?
