Author Archives: boz

2020 OBA Awards

Posted on May 19, 2020 by boz

On April 28, journalist Michael Musto announced the nominees for the 10th annual Off Broadway Alliance Awards, including an honorary award to book writer and lyricist Gretchen Cryer as one of OBA’s Legends of Off Broadway. This morning, Charles Busch and Julie … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Essential Musicals: Sweeney Todd

Posted on May 18, 2020 by boz

“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. He served a dark and a vengeful god.” With that, the title character introduces himself and prepares us for a macabre musical about obsession, revenge — and cannibalism. Composer Stephen Sondheim has called Sweeney … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Essential Musicals: A Chorus Line

Posted on May 16, 2020 by boz

At an audition, 18 dancers vie for eight openings in the chorus line of an upcoming musical. The director invites them to step forward, one by one, and tell him something true about themselves. And they do. That’s the simple … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tiger King: The Musical

Posted on May 16, 2020 by boz

Murder, mayhem, madness — and music? Composer Andrew Lippa is a self-confessed “Tiger Cub,” a die-hard fan of the Neflix documentary Tiger King, having spent hours binge-watching the show during quarantine. On March 28, he tweeted, “I’m making the musical … Continue reading →

Posted in Online, Shows | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Essential Musicals: Cabaret

Posted on May 15, 2020 by boz

In 1929, novelist Christopher Isherwood took a spring trip to Berlin and was so taken with the city that he moved there six months later. For the next four years, as Hitler rose to power, he kept a diary chronicling … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Essential Musicals: Fiddler on the Roof

Posted on May 14, 2020 by boz

Novelist Philip Roth called it “shtetl kitsch,” and writer Cynthia Ozick said it was an “emptied-out, prettified romantic vulgarization” of Sholem Aleichem’s work. Even if it wasn’t entirely true to its source material, Fiddler on the Roof did tackle the … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Essential Musicals: The Fantasticks

Posted on May 13, 2020 by boz

As the size (and cost) of Broadway productions began to grow in the 1950s, several theater-makers left Times Square and settled in Greenwich Village, fashioning intimate playhouses out of bars, brownstones, and abandoned cinemas. By 1954, the Off-Broadway movement had … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Essential Musicals: Gypsy

Posted on May 12, 2020 by boz

New York Times critic Ben Brantley believes Gypsy “may be the greatest of all American musicals.” He is not alone. Previous Times critic Frank Rich considers the show to be “Broadway’s own brassy, unlikely answer to King Lear.” The Lear … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2020 Outer Critics Circle Honorees

Posted on May 12, 2020 by boz

Yesterday by video feed, Kristin Chenoweth, Bryan Cranston, Patti LuPone, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Patrick Stewart announced the 70th annual Outer Critics Circle Award honorees for the 2019-20 Broadway and Off-Broadway season. In lieu of selecting traditional nominees and one winner in each category, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Essential Musicals: West Side Story

Posted on May 11, 2020 by boz

When West Side Story premiered in 1957, it marked a turning point in American musical theater — “a provocative and artful blend of music, dance, and plot,” as one critic noted — but getting the work to Broadway had not … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment