All stories by Michael Portantiere on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Mary Poppins by Michael Portantiere

Film Soundtrack, 1964 (Buena Vista/Walt Disney Records) Disney’s Mary Poppins has been beloved from the moment audiences first saw the film in 1964, permeating our culture and becoming a h…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:18PM
Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Frozen by Michael Portantiere

Film Soundtrack, 2013 (Walt Disney Records) One of the most popular titles in Disney’s history, Frozen revolves around two royal sisters: Elsa, who has the power to conjure snow and ice bu…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 04:59PM
Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Aladdin by Michael Portantiere

Film Soundtrack, 1992 (Walt Disney Records) Following the immense success of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Animation firmly solidified what is now known as “The Disne…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:06PM
Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Inner City by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 1971 (RCA/Masterworks Broadway) Perhaps the source material was too obscure for audiences to really understand this show, which only ran on Broadway for 97 performanc…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:29AM
Friday, November 8, 2019

Pretty Woman by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2018 (Atlantic) 0 stars; not recommended. Movies that were popular in the latter part of the 20th century have become the go-to source material for Broadway musicals …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 01:30PM
Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Hadestown by Michael Portantiere

Studio Cast, 2010 (Wilderland Records) Though indie singer/songwriter Anaïs Mitchell always meant for Hadestown to be a stage musical, its first incarnation was in the form of this concept …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 05:45PM
Sunday, October 27, 2019

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical by Michael Portantiere

Original London Cast, 2019 (Ghostlight) When experienced live in the theater, a “bio-musical” — like any other show — may be judged on several levels, including the production values…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 04:32PM

Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2019 (Universal Music) There’s always a sense of déjà vu when a jukebox musical opens on Broadway,  as most people walk in humming the tunes. If Ain’t Too Prou…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:05PM
Monday, September 2, 2019

The Band’s Visit by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2017 (Ghostlight) Stranded in an Israeli desert town by mistake, an Egyptian band stays overnight with the locals before heading on to their engagement. Composer-lyri…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:57PM

Tootsie by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2019 (Decca Broadway) Librettist Robert Horn and composer/lyricist David Yazbek made some wise moves in translating the popular 1982 comedy film Tootsie into a stage …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:09PM

Desperate Measures by Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2018 (Masterworks Broadway) People have adapted Shakespeare’s plays into musicals before, usually taking on the Bard’s hits. Librettist/lyricist Peter Kellogg…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 01:46PM
Saturday, August 17, 2019

Beetlejuice by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2019 (Ghostlight) How far will a musical go to give you a good time? In the case of Beetlejuice, all the way to the Netherworld and back. Based on Tim Burton’s cult…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 01:52PM

Mean Girls by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2018 (Atlantic)  Mean Girls has been a major staple in pop culture ever since the film was released in 2004. With instantly quotable dialogue and numerous iconic mom…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 01:11PM
Tuesday, July 23, 2019

The Prom by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2019 (Broadway Records)   The Prom might be described as an old-fashioned musical comedy with a modern sound and up-to-the minute subject matter and plot, about a bu…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 03:01PM
Sunday, August 26, 2018

DAYS TO COME - Talkin' Broadway's Review by Michael Portantiere

It's interesting to debate just where Lillian Hellman's reputation as a playwright stands as compared to her contemporaries in terms of quality, prolificity, and also revivability.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 06:58PM
Thursday, June 21, 2018

CONFLICT - Talkin' Broadway's Review by Michael Portantiere

Sex, politics, and sex in politics have been rich subjects for theatrical treatment pretty much since day one, and will no doubt continue to be

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 06:56PM
Friday, February 9, 2018

School of Rock by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2015 (Warner Bros.) Andrew Lloyd Webber found his greatest commercial success in the era of the British pop-opera blockbusters, so it’s easy to forget  that he fir…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 05:27PM
Thursday, January 18, 2018

HINDLE WAKES - Talkin' Broadway's Review by Michael Portantiere

The year 1912 was a bad one for certain trans-Atlantic ship passengers—and, based on what happens in the first scene of Stanley Houghton's 1912 play Hindle Wakes, currently on view in a ra…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 07:04PM
Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Kid Victory by Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2017 (Broadway Records) Kid Victory premiered at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA in 2015, and played a limited run Off Broadway at the Vineyard in 2017.  …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:49AM
Thursday, November 9, 2017

THE BAND'S VISIT - Talkin' Broadway's Review by Michael Portantiere

It's demonstrably true that people who think they're supposed to hate each other due to cultural, racial, religious, ideological, and other differences amplified by tribalism can actually li…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 07:14PM
Wednesday, November 1, 2017

War Paint by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2017 (Ghostlight) Based on the real-life rivalry between cosmetics titans Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, with a score by Grey Gardens team Michael Korie and S…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:01AM
Thursday, October 26, 2017

M. BUTTERFLY - Talkin' Broadway's Review by Michael Portantiere

Director Julie Taymor has stated that a Chinese puzzle box was the metaphor that came to her mind as the jumping-off point for her new Broadway production of David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 07:07PM
Monday, September 25, 2017

In Transit by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2017 (Hollywood Records) One wants to applaud In Transit, Broadway’s first a cappella musical, about the semi-connected lives of a small group of New Yorkers played…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 07:03PM
Saturday, September 23, 2017

Amélie by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2017 (Rhino Warner Classics) The 2001 Jean-Pierre Jeunet film Amélie caused a major resurgence in American audiences’ interest in French cinema and at least briefl…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:50AM
Thursday, September 21, 2017

A Minister’s Wife by Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast (PS Classics, 2011) Bernard Shaw’s plays do not easily adapt into musicals; My Fair Lady took Lerner and Loewe two tries, and only worked when they opened up the…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:05PM
Thursday, September 14, 2017

The View UpStairs by Michael Portantiere

Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2017 (Broadway Records) A tragic true-life story inspired this musical about The UpStairs Lounge, a popular gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans that was …

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 05:05PM

Bandstand by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2017 (Broadway Records) In Bandstand, composer Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor, who co-wrote the book and lyrics with Oberacker, created an original musical set i…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 02:32PM
Sunday, September 10, 2017

Come From Away by Michael Portantiere

 Original Broadway Cast, 2017 (The Musical Company) Alhough they’ve been a songwriting team for years, husband and wife David Hein and Irene Sankoff made their Broadway debut with the mus…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:53AM

Bright Star by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2016 (Ghostlight) Steve Martin is a man of many talents: actor, playwright, stand up comic, novelist. And here, with Edie Brickell as his collaborator, he adds musica…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 11:37AM

Groundhog Day by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2017 (Masterworks Broadway/Broadway Records) After the immense artistic and commercial success of Matilda, Tim Minchin turned his efforts next towards adapting the be…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 10:10AM
Thursday, September 7, 2017

A Bronx Tale: The Musical by Michael Portantiere

Original Broadway Cast, 2017 (Ghostlight) In 1989, Chazz Palminteri told the story of his youth in the Bronx as a one-man play, chronicling his conflicting loyalties to his working-class fat…

SOURCE: castalbumreviews.com at 06:44PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards