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Monthly Archives: June 2020
2020 Dora Award Winners
Last night, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts presented the 41st annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards in a virtual edition, written by Diane Flacks and directed by Ed Roy, on its YouTube channel. (watch here) Though the 2019-20 Toronto theater season … Continue reading
History of Musicals: Broadway Goes Bust
Broadway’s Roaring Twenties came to a roaring close with the rise of Hollywood’s “talkies” and the fall of the stock market. The subsequent exodus of talent posed a serious challenge for stage musicals. In 1929, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Americana, Anything Goes, As Thousands Cheer, Cole Porter, Ethel Merman, Ethel Waters, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, George Abbott, George Gershwin, Hellzapoppin, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, John Houseman, Kaufman & Hart, Knickerbocker Holiday, Kurt Weill, Marc Blitzstein, Marilyn Miller, Maxwell Anderson, Of Thee I Sing, Olsen & Johnson, Orson Welles, Otto Harbach, Pal Joey, Pins and Needles, Roberta, Rodgers & Hart, Schwartz & Dietz, The Band Wagon, The Cradle Will Rock, The Threepenny Opera, Victor Moore, Vivienne Segal, Walter Huston, William Gaxton, Yip Harburg
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2020 Antonyo Award Winners
Last night, Broadway Black, in association with the Black Theatre Society, presented the inaugural Antonyo Awards to recognize the achievements of black theater artists both on Broadway and Off-Broadway in the 2019-20 New York theater season. The virtual ceremony, hosted … Continue reading
Posted in Awards, Stage
Tagged A Strange Loop, Adrienne Warren, Antonyo Awards, Broadway Black, Camille A. Brown, Celia Rose Gooding, Chuck Cooper, Cyrano, Daniel J. Watts, Dharon E. Jones, Duncan Sheik, for colored girls, Jagged Little Pill, Jasmine Cephas Jones, LaChanze, Michael R. Jackson, Skinfolk, Susan Birkenhead, The Secret Life of Bees, Tina, West Side Story
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History of Musicals: Hollywood Beckons
Short sound films were a popular novelty in nickelodeons at the turn of the 20th century. One of the most successful systems was Cameraphone, created in 1907 by James A. Whitman. In the fourth floor studios above Daly’s Theatre, not … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged 42nd Street, Arthur Freed, Astaire & Rogers, Babes in Arms, Busby Berkeley, Irving Berlin, Jeanette MacDonald, Jerome Kern, Love Me Tonight, Rodgers & Hart, Shirley Temple, Snow White, The Broadway Melody, The Great Ziegfeld, The Jazz Singer, The Little Colonel, The Singing Fool, The Wizard of Oz, Top Hat
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2020 Drama League Winners
This morning, the Drama League announced the competitive winners of its 86th annual awards for the condensed 2019-20 New York theater season. The productions chosen by the nationwide organization of theater artists, industry professionals, and audience members for its top … Continue reading
Posted in Awards, Stage
Tagged Danny Burstein, Drama League Awards, Little Shop of Horrors, Moulin Rouge!
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2020 Drama Desk Winners
Last night, Frank DiLella of NY1’s On Stage hosted the 65th annual Drama Desk Awards (watch here), originally scheduled for May 31. Leading the nominations were the musicals Soft Power (11), The Wrong Man (9), and Octet (8), but only … Continue reading
Posted in Awards, Stage
Tagged A Strange Loop, Adrienne Warren, Christian Borle, Dave Malloy, Drama Desk Awards, for colored girls, Harold Prince, Jagged Little Pill, Larry Owens, Lauren Patten, Little Shop of Horrors, Martha Redbone, Michael R. Jackson, Moulin Rouge!, Octet, Sonya Tayeh, Stephen Brackett, Tina, Tom Kitt, West Side Story
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History of Musicals: First Golden Age
It’s been noted that the form of modern musical theater came from operetta, but its soul came from the music hall. This union of body and soul took place during the first two decades of the 20th century, beginning with … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Andy Razaf, Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, George Gershwin, George M. Cohan, Guy Bolton, Harry B. Smith, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Little Johnny Jones, Noble Sissle, Oscar Hammerstein, Otto Harbach, P.G. Wodehouse, Princess Theatre, Rida Johnson Young, Rodgers & Hart, Show Boat, Shuffle Along, Very Good Eddie, Ziegfeld Follies
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History of Musicals: American Roots
As I noted the other day, commedia dell’arte and opera are the dual threads that eventually spun into what we call musical theater. We’ve explored opera’s role, now let’s take a closer look at that first thread. Commedia dell’arte began … Continue reading
History of Musicals: European Roots
Commedia dell’arte and opera are the dual threads that eventually spun into what we call musical theater. Let’s take a closer look at that second thread and its journey toward early musical theater. As I wrote yesterday, in the 18th … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Franz Lehar, Gilbert & Sullivan, Jacques Offenbach, Johann Strauss II, Naughty Marietta, Oscar Hammerstein, Otto Harbach, Pirates of Penzance, Reginald de Koven, Richard D'Oyly Carte, Rose-Marie, Rudolf Friml, Sigmund Romberg, The Desert Song, The Merry Widow, Victor Herbert
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