From the category archives:

Musical Theater

New York’s Phantom of the Opera Production Turns 23

February 24, 2011

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s venerable Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera marked its 23rd anniversary at the Majestic Theatre on January 26, 2011. After the anniversary matinee performance, New York’s Phantom Hugh Panaro gave a speech and presented a birthday cake in the shape of a 23. Hal Prince, Phantom’s director, also spoke about [...]

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SyFy Channel to Promote Spider-Man Musical

November 14, 2010

This recent post on the New York Times arts blog had me scratching my head. It’s not every day that the Syfy channel promotes a musical, but Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark isn’t your average Broadway show. Created by director Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”), the musical features a score by U2‘s Bono and the [...]

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Open Call Audition in Chicago for Arena Rock Musical ROCK OF AGES

May 14, 2010

I was watching the WGN Channel 9 news this morning, when I heard about an open audition for ROCK OF AGES. The show sounds like an 80s rocker’s dream: In 1987 on the Sunset strip, a small-town girl met a big city rocker and in LA’s most famous rock club, they fell in love to [...]

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Fela! Original Broadway Cast Recording about a Legendary African Civil Rights Activist to Be Released on June 8, Pre-Order Available April 20

April 19, 2010

Knitting Factory Records will release the original Broadway cast recording of Fela! on June 8, with pre-order available on April 20 at www.felaonbroadway.com. The musical is the story of legendary Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who defied an oppressive military government and devoted his life to the civil rights struggle for freedom and human dignity. Here [...]

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“Till I Hear You Sing”-Video of Single from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom Follow-Up, Love Never Dies

March 4, 2010

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, the companion piece to The Phantom of the Opera, will be opening in London at the Adelphi Theatre on Tuesday 9 March 2010 followed by New York on Thursday 11 November and in Australia in 2011. The musical takes place 10 years after the Phantom has left his lair [...]

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“You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught to Hate” Part 2 – Exploring Racism in the Musicals West Side Story, Hairspray, and Ragtime

December 9, 2009

This is the second of a two-part series exploring racism in musicals. The first post included Finian’s Rainbow, Showboat, South Pacific, and the King and I. This post will discuss West Side Story, Hairspray, and Ragtime. West Side Story West Side Story premiered on September 26, 1957, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by [...]

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“You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught To Hate” – An Exploration of Racism in the Musicals Finian’s Rainbow, Showboat, South Pacific, and The King and I

November 18, 2009

At the end of October, I heard a fascinating segment on NPR about the revival of the musical Finian’s Rainbow. The revival has been 60 years in coming, and a big part of the reason why is because of what many consider to be an outdated view of racism. This got me thinking about the [...]

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Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies – An Appropriate Continuation of Phantom of the Opera?

October 22, 2009

You may have read Contrapuntist’s previous post where he talks about his musical obsession with the tango. Well, I also have a musical obsession. Literally. Ever since I was 11 years old, I’ve loved Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Phantom of the Opera. I’m a terrible romantic, and I’ve always been fascinated by the plot. After all, [...]

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Is A Musical Renaissance Looming?

July 26, 2008

With the success of High School Musical along with the recent movie release of Mama Mia in theaters, makes me wonder if musical theatre is experiencing a bit of renaissance.  In the past several years, musicals have had a  bit of a resurgence with the success of Wicked, Rent, Nine, The Producers, and many others. [...]

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