All tagged My Favorite Year

Larger Than Life: Showtunes About The Movies

Broadway musical fans tend to be fans of film (particularly those made in Hollywood’s heyday of the 1930s and 40s), or at least that is the impression I get. We like things bigger, grander, and larger than life, with an elegance and style that is seldom found in contemporary film. There is just something about those old film and the allure of Hollywood itself that speaks to many of us. That got me thinking: how about looking at some showtunes that celebrate the world of film? Here is a fun list that I cobbled together for you to enjoy movie classics through the lens of Broadway showtunes. I hope you enjoy.  

Ten Flop Musicals that Deserve a Second Chance on Broadway

It's always sad when a musical flops, especially when you consider all the time, talent, heart and cash that are poured into bringing a musical to Broadway. Every once and a while a musical that failed to ignite at the box office the first time around is given a second chance to show off its merits. Consider that the classic Candide was not a hit the first time around in 1956 but found great acclaim in a 1973 revival and the case is made that a revival of a failed property can be merited. Some other musicals have had this opportunity: a revival of Side Show, a 1997 flop that hoped to make a new case for itself with a 2014 revival, met with mediocre ticket sales and reviews. Some musicals are destined to be loved in concept only, never quite yielding in popularity what their proponents see as the hidden or untapped potential of its ingredients. This is okay. Not every revival of a once successful musical is a hit, so it stands to reason that not every first go around with a piece is going to be a success. Many components besides book, music and lyrics come together to make a production, so altering those ingredients (director, budget, performers, even the written material itself) can possibly add up to a new production that works. 

Here are ten musicals that I believe, with the right ingredients and a little hope, could add up to a hit if they were given a second chance.

Tony Award Wishes

It's Tony nomination time and I always feel a bit like a kid at Christmas as I wait to find out which shows will receive recognition, which ones will establish themselves as historical pieces of art, which will be also-rans, and which will be "egregiously overlooked." The Tony awards used to be an enormous deal for me, a chance to sit down for three hours and see the faces that made Broadway. How completely did I revel in the scenes from plays such as Lettice and Lovage with Maggie Smith or Fences with James Earl Jones? The myriad musical numbers that I committed to memory and then replicated to the best of my ability in our basement. I can even remember such moving speeches as Michael Jeter accepting for Grand Hotel or Andrea Martin hilariously making the most of her time to talk, winning for My Favorite Year.