All stories by Brad Hathaway on BroadwayStars

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Holiday Gifts for Theatre Lovers by Brad Hathaway

Suggestions from Brad Hathaway  The post Holiday Gifts for Theatre Lovers appeared first on DC Theatre Scene.

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:53PM
Monday, December 2, 2013

Sondheim gets a jazz treatment next Monday at Blues Alley by Brad Hathaway

Sondheim music without lyrics? Two jazz musicians uncover a new sound for Sondheim lovers. DC jazz bassist Tommy Cecil tells of the time a few years ago when he was playing a gig supporting …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:42AM
Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Maury Yeston’s ballet, Tom Sawyer by Brad Hathaway

You know the story by Mark Twain. You know a lot of music by Maury Yeston – composer/lyricist of Nine, Titanic, Goya, Death Takes a Holiday, many songs from Grand Hotel and the more-be…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:01AM
Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Backstage Pass to Broadway, True Tales from a Theatre Press Agent by Brad Hathaway

The name Susan L. Schulman probably doesn’t mean much to many of my readers, but it jumps off the page for me and for many of my fellow theater journalists. She’s one of the legi…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:33AM
Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Giant, Original Cast Recording by Brad Hathaway

Michael John LaChiusa doesn’t write easy musicals. He writes complex, multi-themed and often huge works based on challenging material. Think of Marie Christine, the theatrical opera ba…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:10PM
Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Closer Than Ever – new cast recording by Brad Hathaway

A new CD of a show I’ve loved from its earlier recording raises the question “Do I need another one?”  Often, the answer for the normal collector is “No.” (Of …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:12PM
Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Hands on a Hardbody, Original Broadway Cast Recording by Brad Hathaway

When you say “the recording is better than the show was” sometimes it is a positive comment on the recording and sometimes it is a negative comment on the show. In this case, it …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:41PM
Thursday, September 5, 2013

Anything Goes: A History of American Musical Theatre by Brad Hathaway

My theater shelves are already groaning with books about the history of musical theater. Some are well researched but terribly dry reference works. Some are entertaining but hardly definitiv…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:03AM
Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Pippin: 2013 Broadway Revival Recording by Brad Hathaway

Ghostlight Records’ “New Broadway Cast Recording” of Pippin offers an hour of highly melodic soft-pop Stephen Schwartz music from what must be one of the most fun shows on …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:57AM
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Annie – 2012 Broadway Cast Recording by Brad Hathaway

From the opening trumpet statement of the melody for “Tomorrow” to the launch into “It’s A Hard Knock Life” and the release of “You’re Never Fully D…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:49AM
Friday, July 26, 2013

The Yellow Brick Road and Beyond by Brad Hathaway

This relatively short (less than an hour) and occasionally interesting documentary deals with, as its subtitle says, “The History of L. Frank Baum’s Classic Books and Movies.R…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:30AM
Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Beating Broadway – How to Create Stories for Musicals That Get Standing Ovations by Brad Hathaway

Writing a musical is a task that takes both talent and training. No one textbook can give you all you need even if you have all the talent in the world. However, while there are many textboo…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:35AM
Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy by Brad Hathaway

Michael Kantor’s documentary, Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, examines the extent to which the Broadway musical has been essentially a Jewish creation. It is a loving tribute to a …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:05AM
Tuesday, June 18, 2013

ClownAround – Obscure circus musical emerges from the RCA vault by Brad Hathaway

A musical theater collection needn’t – indeed shouldn’t – be confined to those timeless hits familiar to all theater aficionados. There are so many fabulous scores that never…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 05:23AM
Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Supporting Player: My Life Upon the Wicked Stage by Brad Hathaway

If you only have time this year to read one autobiography of an actor, make it Richard Seff’s book Supporting Player: My Life Upon The Wicked Stage. If you only have time to read one a…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:42PM
Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Kinky Boots – big winner on Tony night? by Brad Hathaway

If you want to prepare for this Sunday night’s Tony Awards telecast on CBS (8pm EST), you might want to get hold of the new original Broadway cast album of the show that has more nomin…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:42AM
Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, CD release by Brad Hathaway

The series on Tony nominees continues with this look at the recently released Original Broadway Cast recording of the newest revival of Cinderella. New musical – or revival? You be the jud…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:03AM
Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Tony Awards: Matilda: The Musical has 12 nominations by Brad Hathaway

Matilda, the big London hit that has become a big Broadway hit, arrived on these shores with an original cast album already on the market. The Royal Shakespeare Company, which produced the s…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:40AM
Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Tony Awards: The four Broadway shows nominated for Best Orchestrations by Brad Hathaway

One of the most interesting lists in the announcement of this year’s Tony Award nominees is the nominations for Best Orchestrations. The range is as wide as the types of shows involved…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:21AM
Tuesday, May 7, 2013

CD review for Tony nominated scores Bring It On and Christmas Story by Brad Hathaway

The Tony Season has officially begun. Last week’s announcement of the nominees in twenty-six competitive categories set off an avalanche of opinion, prediction and bragging that will c…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:57AM
Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Free viewing of the New York Philharmonic’s Carousel – ends Friday by Brad Hathaway

Act quickly – you only have a few days to view one of the greatest concert presentations of a musical that I’ve ever seen … the New York Philharmonic’s staging of Rodgers and…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:55AM
Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The Library of Congress’ National Jukebox – free, fascinating listening by Brad Hathaway

Last week I wrote about the coming revolution in access to music, including theater music, fostered by digital technology. It was a look toward the future when virtually all available record…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 05:23AM
Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Next step in our digital music evolution by Brad Hathaway

 A look at the top on-demand streaming music libraries “Could it be? Yes it could. / Something’s coming, something good.” So Mr. Sondheim wrote over half a century ago.The…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:58AM
Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Jimmy Buffett’s Don’t Stop the Carnival by Brad Hathaway

From time to time I like to pull a disc from the back reaches of my theater shelves. I like to spread the word of things the rush of recent releases might obscure. Staying current with new r…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:39AM
Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Gilbert & Sullivan’s Greatest Hits by Brad Hathaway

A DVD that should have been titled “Gilbert and Sullivan and Ford” has been released on Video Artists International under the title “Gilbert and Sullivan’s Greatest H…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:55AM
Wednesday, March 27, 2013

West End Broadway: The Golden Age of the American Musical in London by Brad Hathaway

British author and record producer Adrian Wright closes a gap in the available material on musical theater with an interesting and easily read book on just what its title promises – “…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:08AM
Friday, March 22, 2013

From the pit: Capturing a new sound for Hello, Dolly! by Brad Hathaway

The New Signature Theatre/Ford’s Theatre Production features new orchestrations Nearly fifty years ago, to the sound of a pit orchestra of 25, Jerry Herman’s musical Hello, Dolly…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:07AM
Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Brad Hathaway

Sadly, you no longer have the option of setting aside an evening to attend Roundabout Theatre Company’s Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, even if you could get to New Yo…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:35AM
Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Bombshell, the new Marilyn musical from SMASH by Brad Hathaway

All of last season, the NBC television series Smash chronicled the creation of a new Broadway musical. Each episode gave fans of show music a tantalizing taste of what the score would be lik…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:18AM
Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Show Boat: Performing Race in an American Musical by Brad Hathaway

With some musicals, there aren’t enough interesting things to write about to make up a single slender volume. Show Boat, on the other hand, has been the topic of a small library of int…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 04:37PM
Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Great Moments in the Theatre by Brad Hathaway

The sweep of Benedict Nightingale’s “Great Moments in Theatre” covers not decades or centuries, but millennia. As if his pen were a time machine, he takes the reader back a…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:07AM

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