With all the talk about A CHORUS LINE’S 50th anniversary, let’s remember that without this excellent 1975 musical, there wouldn’t have been an excellent 2001 musical. A CLASS ACT. It told of Edward Kleban, A CHORUS LINE’s lyricist, whose work netted him the Tony, Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, as well […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
Returning to the original cast album of REDWOOD had me recalling a column that was once a go-to feature in Ladies’ Home Journal. Starting in 1954 and continuing for several decades, this magazine would ask an expert counselor and its readership, “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” And that became the question I had for REDWOOD’s […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
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07.29.25| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
Congratulations to Rocco Landesman, Kenny Leon, Kathleen Marshall, Paul Tazewell, Richard Thomas, Tom Viola and – posthumously – Rebecca Luker. Earlier this month, they were voted into The American Theater Hall of Fame. Soon their names will be emblazoned on a wall in the Gershwin Theatre lobby. And while we’re congratulating, let’s give shoutouts to […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
Let’s go back to November 15, 1956, when two very different events occurred in entertainment history. And yet, in one strange way, they were related. On this date, Elvis Presley’s recording of “Love Me Tender” was released. Meanwhile on Broadway, LI’L ABNER opened at the St. James Theatre. So, what could possibly be the commonality? […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
There aren’t all that many documentaries that bring back actual memories, but Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story was one that did for me. I first encountered Ms. Minnelli when I sat in my first-row orchestra seat (my favorite place in a theater) during the Boston tryout of FLORA THE RED MENACE. I could […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
Sometimes, scattering those postcards around town does pay off. That’s how I discovered a play called Thank You, Don Ameche. Lawrence A. Heman’s new comedy runs this week at The Sargent Theatre on West 54th Street. The title was enough to spur me to play the three cast albums on which Ameche can be heard: […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
“Maybe it was a compliment. I’ll never know.” So writes Thomas Z. Shepard in his most informative memoir, Recording Broadway: A Life in Cast Albums. He’s referring to the leading character in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Franklin Shepard, the composer who turned out to have feet of the hardest clay, has a last name spelled […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
Sony Masterworks Broadway, along with producers Eva Price, Caroline Kaplan, and Loudmouth Media are pleased to announce the digital album release of Redwood – A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) on May 13, 2025 and available for pre-save here. The recording features vocals by Tony Award-winner Idina Menzel, Tony Award Nominee De’Adre Aziza, Grammy […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
A century ago this month, people who read Liberty magazine were talking about Ring Lardner’s newest short story. “Haircut” involves a barber who talked and talked while serving a customer sitting in his chair. The 13-page story starts off blithely enough but soon devolves into a dark tale of severe sexual situations and murder. The […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
“Has anyone noticed how many R&H works have kids in them?” Ethan Mordden asked that question in his 1992 book Rodgers & Hammerstein. “The answer,” he then told us, “is nine out of eleven.” True. Only OKLAHOMA! and ME AND JULIET don’t feature children. You might argue that ALLEGRO doesn’t, either, but it does start […]| The Official Masterworks Broadway Site
