All stories by Brad Hathaway on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Elf by Brad Hathaway

The successful holiday run that the musical version of the film “Elf” had at the Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway for Christmas 2010 was expected by many to lead to a return for th…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:39AM
Monday, December 5, 2011

2011 Holiday Gift Guide by Brad Hathaway

Brad Hathaway has checked his theatre shelves and found the perfect gifts for theatre lovers everwhere. Happy holidays CategoryDescription (sort by title)Click to Buy (Sort by price) CDs - C…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:57PM
Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Hirschfeld On Line by Brad Hathaway

Set aside a month or two to absorb this book. It isn’t that it is extremely lengthy, its just 350 pages measuring 9″ by 12″. But most pages should be viewed and contemplate…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:04AM
Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Melissa Errico: Legrand Affair by Brad Hathaway

A Theatre Shelf reader, in a comment to the column on Kate Baldwin’s album of songs by Sheldon Harnick, said she really liked collections devoted to one composer or lyricist. I resolve…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:23AM
Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Babes in Arms by Brad Hathaway

Re-Release of the 1951 Studio Cast Recording I guess I was wrong – again. When I first discovered the 1989 recording of Rodgers and Hart’s Babes in Arms under Evans Haile with t…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:25PM
Tuesday, November 8, 2011

John Raitt and Alfred Drake on the Bell Telephone Hour by Brad Hathaway

Alfred Drake and John Raitt must have been the two most important Broadway leading men of the 1940s. There were others of note. There were the Ray Bolgers and the Danny Kayes and the Gene Ke…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:30AM
Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Bing Thom Works by Brad Hathaway

From the Mid-Atlantic States to the Pacific Northwest, theatergoers can enter into a world of drama even before the play begins if they attend their theater in structures designed by Vancouv…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:56PM
Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Footloose – Original Broadway Cast Album by Brad Hathaway

From movie to musical to movie – back and forth goes “Footloose.” Right now, with the release of a new movie version showing on hundreds of screens across the country, attention is…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:29AM
Tuesday, October 18, 2011

She Loves Him: Kate Baldwin Live at Feinsteins by Brad Hathaway

Recorded show music comes in many guises. One genre that can be thoroughly enjoyable when done right is the live recording of a club act of show songs. A fine new release that falls in the �…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:08AM
Tuesday, October 11, 2011

When the Dancing Stopped: The Real Story of the Morro Castle Disaster … by Brad Hathaway

How a disaster at sea changed the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes There are times when a theatre buff comes across something he (or she) wants to share with others of like mind which doesn…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:29AM
Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Million Dollar Quartet – Original Broadway Cast Recording by Brad Hathaway

It’s about time! Finally, after the show has ended its Broadway run, we can buy the cast recording of  Million Dollar Quartet in a record store or online. Throughout the entire 489 perfo…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:02AM
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A Minister’s Wife – Original Off-Broadway cast recording by Brad Hathaway

Marc Kudisch, Bobby Steggert and Kate Fry featured Confession time: I don’t love all scores at first listen. (In fact, there are some I never warm up to, but that’s a different c…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:46PM
Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Sweet Bye and Bye by Brad Hathaway

Will the well of wonders unearthed in Secaucus in 1986 ever run dry? Here, 25 years later, we have a brand new “World Premiere Recording” of the score of a 1946 musical! Who know…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:48AM
Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Knickerbocker Holiday – Concert reading by Brad Hathaway

Some musicals become identified with a single hit song from their scores. The downside of that is that such fame or notoriety can keep us from discovering the pleasures of the rest of the sc…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:33AM
Wednesday, September 7, 2011

August Wilson: Pittsburgh Places in His Life and Plays by Brad Hathaway

I’ve been to the Hill District in Pittsburgh many times … but I’ve never visited Pittsburgh. I’ve been to Aunt Ester’s House at 1839 Wylie Avenue and I’ve wit…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:07AM
Tuesday, August 30, 2011

A Connecticut Yankee: 1955 Television Adaptation by Brad Hathaway

The new release on DVD of a 1955 telecast of Rodgers and Hart’s A Connecticut Yankee is more of a curiosity than a must-have addition to your theatre shelf. There are highlights, of c…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:31PM
Monday, August 29, 2011

Two Univ of Md Grad Students begin their careers with Book of Mormon by Brad Hathaway

 Ariel Benjamin and Jonathan Dillard get their start as  ”Assistants To Mr. MacDevitt” If you happen to be lucky enough to get a seat to Broadway’s hottest ticket of the …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:03AM
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Lend Me a Tenor – The Musical by Brad Hathaway

The stars seemed to be in magical alignment when the opening of this new musical on the West End, London’s equivalent of Broadway, was announced. A big, bold, colorful musical based on…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:11AM
Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Something’s Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination by Brad Hathaway

West Coast author Misha Berson got it right when she observed that West Side Story’s place in world-wide popular culture exceeds that of a mere musical. As she says: “In Japan a…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:39AM
Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Strike Up the Band by Brad Hathaway

Once again, PS Classics comes to the rescue of aficionados who have a few blank spaces in the Gershwin section of our theatre shelves. That’s “shelves” — the plural form …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:46PM
Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City by Brad Hathaway

I’m not sure if the book has one long title and a longer subtitle, or if it is a short title with two subtitles, but the cover reads “Jerry Orbach  –   Prince of the City –…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:33AM
Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Kiss Me, Kate – DVD by Brad Hathaway

Of all the television versions of Broadway shows that seem to be appearing on DVD these days, the one that more accurately reflects the experience of seeing the show as it was on stage as an…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:04PM
Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Catch Me If You Can – Original Cast Recording by Brad Hathaway

The original Broadway cast recording of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s sparkling score for Catch Me If You Can is a pip. The show, currently playing on Broadway at the Neil Simon The…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:04AM
Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Next to Normal – Original Cast Recording by Brad Hathaway

Musical theatre lovers now fall into two groups — those in Washington, Charlotte and Toronto, and all the rest. Those in the first group ought not listen to the original Broadway cast reco…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:53AM
Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Trumpet of the Swan by Brad Hathaway

One small side-section of a theatre shelf should have a couple of the all-too-few works for children’s ears that combine oral storytelling and orchestral music – Peter and the Wo…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:25AM
Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Wicked – Original Broadway Cast recording by Brad Hathaway

To listen first and watch later – or to watch first and listen later – that is the question. At least that is the question if you are in New York or in a city where the National …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:28AM
Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Horton Foote: America’s Storyteller by Brad Hathaway

Devotees of Jack Sbarbori’s Quotidian Theatre won’t be the only ones fascinated by this new biography of the late Horton Foote, one of the two authors whose work inspired that co…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:39PM
Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown by Brad Hathaway

This year’s best score from a failed musical is now on disc and worth much more than a listen. David Yazbeck’s score is mercifully separated from the show that obscured most of i…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:59AM
Tuesday, May 31, 2011

My Signature Story by Brad Hathaway

DC Theatre Scene readers who have enjoyed shows at Signature Theatre in Shirlington will wish this slender volume was thicker. At 123 pages of large type, it only skims the surface of the st…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 05:55PM
Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Follies recordings by Brad Hathaway

So. You’ve just seen the revival of Follies at the Kennedy Center and you say “I must have this score on my theatre shelf.” Or you are planning to see it and you say “…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:12PM
Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Sister Act – the Original London Cast Recording by Brad Hathaway

When the highly entertaining musical comedy Sister Act, which has been a big hit in London, got a Broadway gig at the big (1,761-seat) Broadway Theatre it got a lot more. It got a new direct…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:43AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic