Tag Archives: Pal Joey

In Memoriam: Joan Copeland

Broadway veteran Joan Copeland died January 4 in Manhattan. Born Joan Miller on June 1, 1922, in New York, “from the time I was a little girl I had the stage bug,” she told The New York Times. Copeland graduated … Continue reading

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Broadway Birthday: Siân Phillips

Happy Birthday to Tony and four-time Olivier nominee Siân Phillips, born May 14, 1933, in Bettws, Wales. At 11, she won the Welsh National Eisteddfod and began working for BBC Radio Wales. While attending University College in Cardiff, she continued … Continue reading

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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

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Essential Musicals: Oklahoma!

I called Show Boat the most influential American musical, but historian Thomas Hischak argues, “Not only is Oklahoma! the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theater.” … Continue reading

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