Friday, March 25, 2022
Stephen Sondheim’s score for Assassins has always impressed me for how the
late composer-lyricist captured the flavors of Americana: Sousa-like
marches, barber shop quartet, folk balla…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 08:41AMMonday, September 27, 2021
Leaving the cinema after watching the film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen,
a very opinionated young man in front of me (approximately 14-years-old)
exclaimed “I was with it until Evan …
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 08:46AMFriday, June 11, 2021
When audiences sat down in their seats at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers
Theatre in the spring of 2008, many were not quite ready for the
electrically-charged piece of musical theatre they…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 07:43AMWednesday, July 15, 2020
For all of you musical theatre anglophiles out there, have I got a book for
you. Thomas Hischak’s The Mikado to Matilda: British Musicals on the New
York Stage will definitely be a wel…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:58PMSunday, June 21, 2020
For many of us, Pride weekend is a chance to celebrate and remember the
hurdles the LBGTQ+ community has overcome and to continue to rally against
the obstacles still in our way. It’s …
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 09:51AMSaturday, May 16, 2020
When I think of the quintessential showtune, Jule Styne is one of the
composers that comes to mind. There is a brassy boldness that instantly
begins to fill the ears and swells the heart…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 11:53AMTuesday, May 5, 2020
Cy Coleman was always one of Broadway’s most eclectic composers, working
with many lyricists and employing musical styles that stretch from jazz to
operetta, country to pop. Even with …
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 09:32AMWednesday, April 29, 2020
With the recent celebration of composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s
birthday and the glorious “Take Me to the World” concert on Broadway.com,
it got me thinking of the myriad celeb…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 11:05PMWednesday, April 22, 2020
The first act of a stage musical introduces the plot, the characters, and
(hopefully) a lot of great songs. The position of the final song in Act I
of any musical has the joyous but daun…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 10:44PMThursday, April 2, 2020
Maybe you are all getting tired of my playlists, but boredom has set-in and
I enjoy making them, so I apologize in advance. However, I just feel the
need to laugh as I spend my 47th birt…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 11:47AMWednesday, March 25, 2020
On March 24, 2020, we were forced to say goodbye to prolific playwright
Terrence McNally. He died at age 81 from complications brought about by the
coronavirus. The author of such acclai…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 10:07AMTuesday, March 24, 2020
As we continue with our self-isolation, we might find ourselves missing
getting up each day and going to work. I know I sure do. So, once again, I
put together another playlist for you, …
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 10:13AMMonday, March 16, 2020
Let’s face it. It has been a daunting few days for most of us with all that
is going on in the world at the moment. Whether you are feeling anxious,
closed-in, confused, disheartened, …
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 11:48AMSunday, March 15, 2020
This month marks Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday, and there is much to
celebrate regarding his music, his lyrics, and his influence over the
shaping of musical theatre for the last si…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 01:06PMSunday, December 29, 2019
On December 26, 2019 we lost one of Broadway’s greatest composers, one who
infused every song he penned with emotion and a deep understanding of the
character for whom he was writing. …
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMSaturday, December 28, 2019
Fans of theatre and those with a respect for the women who have created it
will want to add the book From Aphra Behn to Fun Home: A Cultural History
of Feminist Theater to their collec…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMThursday, December 26, 2019
Reviews for the film adaptation of the long-running West End and Broadway
musical Cats have been brutal, even blistering. From the creepiness of the
CGI effects to the ridiculously cho…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:35PMTuesday, December 10, 2019
Darling of the Day was a 1968 musical that held many high expectations,
with music by the great Jule Styne, lyrics by the always witty and
wonderful E. Y. Harburg, and a book by filmmak…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMThursday, November 28, 2019
My readers often ask me about my favorite musicals, and I truly have a
hard time answering that question at the exclusion of others. I have a very
short list of musicals I do not like,…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMMonday, November 18, 2019
The launch of Disney+ had a few snags during its initial rollout, with more
subscribers signing on to the new steaming platform than were initially
expected. As the kinks begin to be iro…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 10:38AMTuesday, November 12, 2019
It has been a few days now since the news officially dropped about the cuts
and revisions made for the Ivan Van Hove-helmed revival of West Side Story
preparing to open on Broadway. So…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMSaturday, November 2, 2019
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black created a heartfelt, funny, touching and
palpably heartbreaking musical when they wrote Tell Me On A Sunday. Written
as a one-woman show for British actr…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMWednesday, October 30, 2019
It’s that time of year for spooks, witches, and the scary things that haunt
us in our nightmares. It is Halloween, where the macabre makes us want to
tap dance, the maudlin has us breaki…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMMonday, October 21, 2019
A Broadway musical that failed to run, but that has a great deal of love
and affection from die-hard Broadway fans, is the 1978 Ballroom. Drawing
its inspiration from the 1975 made for TV…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 10:13AMThursday, October 17, 2019
It is hard to believe that it has been 25 years since Disney produced its
first musical on Broadway, changing the trajectory of family musicals (and
Times Square) forever. Today, I take a …
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMThursday, October 3, 2019
When the groundbreaking composing team of Rodgers and Hammerstein came to
an end with Hammerstein’s death in 1960, Rodgers spent the balance of his
career trying to find a lyricist with …
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMFriday, September 27, 2019
Jule Styne was a one of the great composers for the Broadway musical stage,
having penned the melodies for such classic scores as Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes, Bells Are Ringing, Gypsy, and…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMTuesday, September 24, 2019
Musicals about the black experience were not unheard of in the early years
of the Golden Age of Broadway, despite a society that didn’t exactly
embrace black culture. Shows like Porgy &…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMSaturday, September 21, 2019
The Broadway composing team of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick were behind
some of Broadway’s most beloved musical scores, having crafted the
character-driven showtunes for musicals such …
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMWednesday, September 18, 2019
The composing team of Rodgers and Hart had more than their share of hits
throughout their prolific career as composer and lyricist (respectively)
writing for the musical theatre. One of th…
SOURCE: www.markrobinsonwrites.com at 12:00AMMonday, September 16, 2019
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