Springtime for….

Peter Pan used to tell children that if they wanted to fly, they must think “Happy” thoughts.  Well I’m applying the same logic to staying warm this winter, and so my thoughts are turning to the new crop of Broadway shows opening in March and April.  Below are the productions I’m most excited to see on Broadway this spring!

Pippin – We’ve Got Magic To Do!

Music  Box Theater – Opening Night April 25^th

The revival of this 1972 musical is about a boy prince hoping to find his way in the world.  Throughout his travels, he goes on to basically do ‘sex, drugs and rock n’roll’ all in the hope of discovering fulfillment in life.  With a score by Stephen Schwartz (better known to millenials as the composer of Wicked) this production couldn’t better timed.  With too many millenials still questioning traditional social values after the 2008 financial collapse, hopefully they’ll learn from Pippin’s example about how to make life extraordinary.

Cinderella – A New Rodgers & Hammerstein Musical?

Broadway Theatre – Opening Night March 3^rd

“How can this be,” you’re asking yourself!  “I saw this same musical on television with Julie Andrews?”  True, Cinderella was originally a television musical with Julie Andrews.  In fact R&H wanted to work with Andrews so badly they wrote Cinderella just for her.  The music however has never been heard on the Broadway stage, till now.  Featuring an updated and elongated book, this production of Cinderella will be the first time these R&H songs have been heard on the Broadway stage in a legitimate production.

Matilda – A Non-Spectacle British Musical?

Shubert Theatre – Opening Night April 11^th

It’s fascinating to me watching the transformation of the British musical.  In the eighties it was all spectacle with shows like Starlight Express and Miss Saigon.  Now, with shows like Billy Elliot and Matilda, the musicals are becoming more character driven.  That being said Matilda, a musical based on the beloved Roald Dahl novel, is coming to American via the Royal Shakespeare Company and a lot of theater buzz.  It will be exciting to see whether this shows turns out to be like London productions that had a lot of buzz and flopped (Chess) or still have their marquee burning bright (Phantom).

The Last 5 Years – My First Time…

2^nd Stage Theatre – Opening Night March 7^th

I’ve never been off-Broadway, but if there was ever a reason to go, it would be to see a production of the heart-breakingly beautiful musical The Last 5 Years.  This two-person show is about a couple and the story of their marriage.  The husband and wife alternate singing every-other-song, with the wife starting at the end of the marriage and the husband starting after their first date.  They respectively go forward and backwards, only meeting once and that’s in the middle of the show at their wedding.  This show had a brief off-Broadway run a decade ago, but has since become a modern classic.

As for what makes a show an off-Broadway show?  Off-Broadway are theaters that can house 100-499 seats, thus making them smaller then Broadway theaters.  Many off-Broadway also tend to be out of the realm of the theater district in mid-town Manhattan.

A Valentine’s Day Mixtape

I grew up as a product of the 1990’s, which meant that when you really liked someone, you gave them a mix tape.    Although the older I get, the more I realize that relationships and love aren’t as black-and-white as they first appear.  This Valentine’s Day, whether you’re single or in a relationship, I’d like to give you a mix tape featuring some of the best romantically-themed songs from Broadway that address the complexity of love.

I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You – Evita

It’s probably the most unconventional pick-up line in a musical, but let’s face it, there are relationships built on exactly this notion – I’d be surprisingly good for you.  For Gen. Juan Peron, Eva’s proposition in Act I meant an entryway through which he could rally unions and the lower classes of Argentine society for his political career.  Nevertheless, Eva’s proposition gives definition to the notion that some relationships aren’t exactly built on love.

I Won’t Send Roses – Mack & Mabel

Flop musicals, like bad relationships, are painful to go through, but sometimes they yield unexpected joys.  Mack & Mabel may have only played 66 performances in 1974, but the show yielded one of the greatest romantic songs of all-time, the Act I heart-breaker, “I Won’t Send Roses.”  What’s striking is that so many songs are written to end relationships. This song makes it clear as to why the relationship can never happen to begin with.

Losing My Mind – Follies

Everyone has had heartbreak, but what makes “Losing My Mind” so dramatically beautiful is the honesty with which Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics.  Set late in Act II of Follies, “Losing My Mind” is sung by a woman who suddenly discovers that after 30 years, the man she first loved, doesn’t love her back and never did.  Throughout the song, she goes onto to explain what losing that love means to her.

Maybe This Time – Cabaret

We’ve all been on dates that have gone horribly wrong.  I remember one date where the girl proceeded to tell me how her psychiatrist medicates her so that she can fly on planes.  Still, after every bad date, we leave thinking, “Maybe this time, I’ll be lucky.”  Hence what brings up the Kander and Ebb song expressly written for Liza Minnelli and the movie version of Cabaret.

Sorry-Grateful – Company

This is Stephen Sondheim’s second appearance on this list, and yet a deserved appearance.  After the novelty of a relationship wears off, we’re all left wondering whether we’re sorry to be coupled-up, or grateful to have someone.  For men in particular, Sorry-Grateful puts both music and lyrics to exactly that feeling.

And yes, the actor singing the song in this video is Stephen Colbert

Shall We Dance – The King and I

Relationships are full of ambiguity, and “Shall We Dance” is a perfect interpretation of that feeling.  On paper, the song is literally about Anna teaching the King to dance.  By the sub-context reflects a song where the emotional, physical and sexual chemistry of the lead characters click at the right moment.