| re: Jerome Robbins' Broadway at the Muny: a lost Broadway comes back again | |
| Posted by: Britannia 09:22 pm EDT 06/21/18 | |
| In reply to: Jerome Robbins' Broadway at the Muny: a lost Broadway comes back again - mikem 09:20 am EDT 06/19/18 | |
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| I am not equipped to respond to everything in your post--I certainly agree that it would be wonderful to see shows with mega-choruses again. I would disagree that few Broadway stars are strong dancers--I saw belters Stephanie J. Block and Rachel York tackle a ton of dancing in "Anything Goes" in a production where the role was originated by another amazing dancer, Sutton Foster. Laura Osnes, Patina Miller, Laura Bell Bundy, Brian D'Arcy James, Rob McClure, Santino Fontana, Ben Fankhauser are all names that come to mind of stars who have danced (though I know Ben Fankhauser isn't a bankable name). If I wasn't at work, I could think of more. It was Harold Prince who said (in the bonus interviews on the "Broadway: The American Musical" DVD) that in the old days the stars could sing a little, dance a little (then acknowledged that their were big exceptions), but many of the stars back in the day were not triple threats. I think there is this glossy memory of old Broadway that, in some ways, couldn't hold up to our standards today. When watching old footage of shows, and it seems like some of the actors can hardly act or the singing chorus seems to be standing around awkwardly. What I think we should be nostalgic for is the WRITING; how many shows from the past twenty years can touch "Oklahoma!," "The Pajama Game," "The King and I," "Hello, Dolly!", "Fiddler on the Roof," and others from the Golden Age. A number of shows from the past twenty years can match those shows, but not enough of them. We have some phenomenal talent on Broadway these days, and I hate to see them discounted when compared to a version of history that probably doesn't hold to the way things really were. But yes, I too would love to see great dancing on Broadway again and huge choruses. |
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