Rodgers and Hart
Richard Rodgers is perhaps the greatest American musical composer. His greatest fame came with his work with Oscar Hammerstein II and the many musicals they were involved with in the mid 20th Century. The Sound Of Music, Oklahoma, South Pacific and many more. But Rodgers had been a successful composer long before his work with [...]
The Schnozzola
Nearly everyone knows him as the voice of the narrator of the classic Christmas cartoon Frosty the Snowman. Jimmy Durante was the voice and at the time he was near the end of a career that lasted for nearly 70 years. James Francis Durante was born on February 10, 1893 in Brooklyn, New York. Durante [...]
About the Musical Rent
The music Rent is back on Broadway after being absent for nearly three years. 6 things about the musical Rent was first posted on July 25, 2007 and has been slightly updated Rent, written by Jonathan Larson is based on Giacomo Puccini’s classic 1896 opera, La Boheme. It tells the story of struggling young artists [...]
The Broadway Tradition
The first American Theatre Wing award to celebrate excellence in the theatre were held on Easter Sunday April 6, 1947. Eleven awards were presented in seven categories. There are presently 25 categories of awards, plus several special awards. The award was named for Antoinette Perry, an actress, director producer and the wartime leader of the [...]
A Dancer is Born
Robert Louis Fosse was born on June 23, 1927 in Chicago. He was the youngest of six children. Fosse moved to Hollywood with the ambition of being a dancer in movie musicals. In 1953 he found himself choreographing a sequence in Kiss Me Kate. Because of premature balding he was limited in the roles he [...]
Do You Think You’re What They Say You Are?
The story of the last seven days of Jesus was turned into a musical by the team Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The soundtrack, sometimes called a Rock Opera, appeared on an album originally, in part because the producers were afraid to take a chance on producing in on stage due to the subject [...]
The Final Collaboration
Prior to his collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers worked with Lorenz Hart. Their final collaboration was the revival of their A Connecticut Yankee. The show included six new songs by the team and opened on November 17, 1943. The show ran for 135 performances closing on March 11, 1944. The show was based [...]
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