Confessions of a Theater Geek

Finally, to wrap up our Kiss Me Kate feature, the most recent  @roundaboutnyc  Broadway revival was enjoyable and outstanding but that is if you have not seen the 1999 revival. On its own, it’s not an improvement to what was done in the past and because of the prevalent  #metoo  era of the new century, the material in my opinion, suffered rewrites that I feel was unnecessary given that this was a tale of the taming of the shrew. Changing its intentions and attack lost its original essence. However, it caters to a whole new generation. The change of the finale to I’m ashamed that “people” are so simple did not have the same effect. However, anything that showcases the glorious soprano of  @kelliohara  and a role on Broadway for Will Chase is always  welcome.  #kissmekate  2019  #revival   #broadway   #NYC   #musical   #OCR   #originalcastrecording   #musicalcomedy   #musicaltheater ...

Kiss Me Kate 1999 Broadway Revival recording for me is a definitive preservation of this classic. It gave us the lush brassy Kate of the wonderful Marin Mazzie and the baritone of baritones of Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell. The sound has changed from the old fashioned to one of modern Broadway. The tempo is faster and the dance numbers had an extra ounce of energy added to them. Marin Mazzie gave Kate a husky cabaret seductive layer especially in her rendition of So In Love. Stokes can sing the phone book and give us power but luckily he gets to use those pipes to sing Porter standards. This production I was fortunate to see with its original cast on Broadway. A near perfect revival directed by Michael Blakemore & choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. It was a very athletic production with energetic dancers, new orchestrations and an indelible Michael Berresse scaling the set with acrobatic prowess as Bill Calhoun and a winning Amy Spanger as Lois Lane. Of course, that scor...

The King & I - 1952 - Best musical - Another Rodgers & Hammerstein masterpiece. Listening to the original cast, it sounds as grand as it’s supposed to be with that glorious score, a commanding king by Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrende as Anna Leonowens portraying a teacher torn between duty, fighting for her rights and love for the king. I may sound ignorant but these early recordings have a distinct classic sound to them in the way Ms. Lawrence performed her “Getting to Know You” and “Hello Young Lovers”. I would have loved to see this in person with a mostly non Asian cast that was probably the norm during that era. It is worth noting that  @baayork  Lee is princess Ying yao Lak in this production where she later on been an original cast of A Chorus Line as Connie Wong. The musical cuts in this version are just the major songs. The love songs I Have Dreamed and We Kiss in a Shadow are beautifully performed by Doretta Morrow as Tuptim and Larry Douglas as Lun Tha....

Guys & Dolls - 1951 - Frank Loesser - Best Musical  A beloved musical based on short stories by Damon Runyon. This musical has long been a staple in the musical theater canon with hits such as Adelaide’s Lament, Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat, Luck Be a Lady, Sue Me among others. This is one of the classic musicals of the era filled with gangsters, sinners and the Salvation Army!  #guysanddolls   #broadway   #NYC   #musical   #theater   #bestmusical   #theater   #OCR   #originalcastrecording   #frankloesser   #tonyaward

South Pacific - 1950 - Best Musical - Rodgers & Hammerstein. Lone before R&H musicals were considered classics, I believe they revolutionized the Broadway musical with their writing of Oklahoma! As for South Pacific, it is groundbreaking not just for its beautiful score but because of its difficult subject matter. It dealt with war and its consequences, of love but also of racism. It’s leading lady Nellie Forbush played by the incredible Mary Martin had beautiful songs immortalized like Wash that Man and A Wonderful Guy but had to say lines that were dripping with racism. Ezio Pinza, an opera singer gets to sing Some Enchanted Evening with his strong baritone. Juanita Hall, an African American originated the role of Bloody Mary, a Tonkinese lady who engineered her way to make money from American Soldiers. She won a Tony Award for her role and got to sing the haunting Bali Hai. South Pacific is a musical that was filled with hit after hit song which became standards at that tim...

Since we cannot physically be at the theaters. I will take this time to go back to the old way of appreciating musical theater and that is through listening to the original cast recording and having your own version in your head. I will devote the next month or two to at least one recording a day and exploring the #tonyaward winning musical since the @thetonyawards began and maybe including their revival counterparts or versions. First up is Kiss Me Kate, winner of the very first best musical in 1949. It boasts of a soaring score by Cole Porter with beautiful vocals by Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison as Fred and Kate. This recording has the classic yesteryear sound to it and it brings you back to how they used to do musicals. Old fashioned and grand.  #musicals #broadway #OCR #originalcastrecording #kissmekate #coleporter #theater

It has been almost a month since Broadway and all performing arts venues shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.  What we are left with in the meantime are our memories. Today, mid April should have been the peak of Broadway activity with shows opening left and right to make way for the culmination of the theater season leading to the Tony Awards of 2020. Yet, all theaters remain shuttered in New York City, the West End in London and across the globe.  We are all left with non-stop online broadcasts and benefits to satisfy our artistic needs and we know it's not the same.  Here's hoping and praying that the pandemic will end and Broadway will come back to normal where everyone can share the same space in a darkened theater in a center part of town where all have paid a great deal to get in. Stay strong! Above is a photo of an empty 47th street facing east where SIX was supposed to open on the day the shutdown was announced. The Show will go on! Hopefully soon!