Thursday, February 18, 2016

“Art Isn’t Easy”: Acclaimed ‘Fiddler’ cellist Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf talks Sondheim, JRB, and Jackman! by Scott Kaufman

“For me, this is where math becomes art”… explains Fiddler cellist Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf, when describing her experience playing the Broadway revival of Sondheim’s A Little Ni…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 11:53PM
Monday, February 8, 2016

#MermanMondays: The Merm talks with real-life Gypsy Rose Lee, and shares rehearsal footage!! (Video) by Scott Kaufman

This might be one of the rarest, and most special moments in musical theater history where we see a real-life subject who has bonded with the actor(s) who have both re-created, and heighted …

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 02:38PM
Tuesday, February 2, 2016

RISE!! And celebrate Elaine Stritch’s Bday with the FULL London production of ‘At Liberty’!! (Video) by Scott Kaufman

It is hard for most of us to believe that it has been almost two years since the death of our beloved Elaine Stritch. Born in 1925 in Detroit, Stritch eventually made her Broadway debut in L…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 01:02PM

#TuesdayTrivia: Which 1978 ‘Grease’ star was the oldest during filming?? by Scott Kaufman

In honor of Fox’s Grease: Live!, we look back at the tradition of casting full-grown adults, and passing them off as high school students, in this American classic. Perhaps West Side S…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 02:47AM
Monday, February 1, 2016

#MermanMondays: Lucy Teams Up With (This) Ethel!! by Scott Kaufman

In the spring of 1963, one of Lucille Ball’s favorite performers, Broadway legend Ethel Merman, agreed to star in a Desilu pilot for a new television series, Maggie Brown. When the sit…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 12:28PM
Monday, August 31, 2015

#MermanMondays: Yes, it’s true! Boogie Down with ‘The Ethel Merman Disco Album’ in 1979!! by Scott Kaufman

“Some People” gotta pay the bills…and Ethel is no exception. Merman recorded 14 songs for The Ethel Merman Disco Album, although only seven were released on the finished re…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 02:34PM
Tuesday, August 25, 2015

#TuedayTrivia: Exactly how many crystals make up the ‘Phantom’ chandelier? (Video) by Scott Kaufman

We are all familiar with the stunning chandelier repilca of Paris’ famed opera house, Palais Garnier, featured prominently in the The Phantom of the Opera. But, how much do you know ab…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 12:38PM
Monday, August 24, 2015

#MermanMondays: See Sondheim and The Merm in rare home movie footage of ‘Gypsy’ OBC in 1959!! by Scott Kaufman

These days, it is easy to take for granted all of the media resources we have to preview new and upcoming Broadway shows. But way back when, you had to actually attend a show to see it.  Th…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 12:03PM
Sunday, August 23, 2015

U.B. Short List: What star will take over America as ‘Hedwig’ in the upcoming national tour? by Scott Kaufman

As nationwide audiences salivate in anticipation of the feathered hair maven coming to a city near them, Hedwig and the Angry Inch producers and casting directors are assembling their short …

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 08:18PM
Wednesday, August 19, 2015

#BwayRecall: Watch Kelli O’Hara in Broadway’s ‘Dracula’, opening in 2004. by Scott Kaufman

Let’s take a look back at Frank Wildhorn’s Dracula on Broadway, which opened today in 2004. Dracula, the Musical is, of course, based on Bram Stoker’s original Victorian novel. The sho…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 11:02AM
Tuesday, August 18, 2015

#TuesdayTrivia: How much were original cast members of ‘A Chorus Line’ paid after lending their life stories to create the blockbuster? (Video) by Scott Kaufman

Musical theatre classic A Chorus Line went on to win The Pulitzer Prize, Drama Critics Circle Award, and nine Tonys in 1975; and ran a record-setting 6,137 performances. Most theatre fans kn…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 10:49AM
Monday, August 17, 2015

#MermanMondays Kicks off with a blast of Judy and The Merm!! by Scott Kaufman

Welcome to Merman Mondays, where we look forward to starting your week with a blast! Join us in celebrating  “The Merm” with Unsung videos, photos, stories, and little known fac…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 02:31PM
Sunday, August 16, 2015

‘Les Miz’ and ‘Night Music’ Director Trevor Nunn condemned by UK Arts Council and Equity for “whitewashed” casting. by Scott Kaufman

As diverse casting has quickly become the norm in US and UK theater, with revolutionary pieces like the mega-hit ‘Hamilton’ setting a new standard, audiences and critics alike ar…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 03:21PM
Wednesday, December 25, 2013

VIDEO TREATS: Celebrate a disfunctional family Christmas with the FULL PRODUCTION of ‘NEXT TO NORMAL’ original Bway cast. by Scott Kaufman

Sometimes the holidays don’t exactly look like a Hallmark card. If you can relate, then maybe a Chistmas spent with Tony winner Alice Ripley, Aaron Tveit, J. Robert Spencer and Jennife…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 10:26AM
Friday, December 20, 2013

(Video) Tony-nominated ‘A Christmas Story’ performs on Good Morning America. by Scott Kaufman

The cast of A Christmas Story, currently in its holiday run at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, woke up early to perform on ABC’s Good Morning America.  Dan Lauria will once agai…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 12:37PM

BWAY BOUND: ‘Dames at Sea’ makes a star of Bernadette Peters, opening Off-Bway in 1968. (Video) by Scott Kaufman

It might be the oldest story in the book. Dames at Sea, the musical parody of flashy 1930s Busby Berkeley-style movie musicals, centers on a young understudy who suddenly steps into a role o…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 11:58AM

(VIDEO ARCHIVES) “One Night Only!!” ‘Dreamgirls’ opens on Broadway in 1981. by Scott Kaufman

Dreamgirls , which premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on December 20, 1981, was originally developed as a project for Broadway star Nell Carter. Playwright Tom Eyen and composer H…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 11:12AM
Saturday, December 14, 2013

(U.B. SPOTLIGHT) “A Conversation with Betty Buckley”: Part Two by Scott Kaufman

In Part One of “A Conversation with Betty Buckley”, Unsung Broadway’s Founding Editor, Scott Kaufman sat down with the Broadway legend, discussing her childhood, ‘Car…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 06:08PM
Friday, December 13, 2013

(U.B. SPOTLIGHT) “A Conversation with Betty Buckley”: Part One by Scott Kaufman

In a rare conversation, Unsung Broadway’s Founding Editor, Scott Kaufman sits down with Broadway legend, Betty Buckley. In Part One, Buckley discusses childhood; also ‘CarrieR…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 03:29PM
Wednesday, December 11, 2013

(Video Scrapbook) “MAMBO!!” An extended look back at ‘Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life’ in 2005. by Scott Kaufman

Rarely is a Broadway star given their own retrospective musical on The Great White Way (especially while they are still around to sing and dance in them!); but few musical theatre actresses …

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 12:59PM
Tuesday, December 10, 2013

U.B. FEATURED FIVE: What singing actors will Mr. Webber consider for his ‘Joseph…Dreamcoat’ feature film?? by Scott Kaufman

Now that the cat is officially out of the bag that Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s 1970′s classic Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is being fast-tracked into a big budget featu…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 10:42PM

(Video)”Larger Than Life”: Behind-the-scenes musical ‘My Favorite Year’ opens in 1992, winning ‘Pippin’s’ Andrea Martin her first Tony A by Scott Kaufman

Before Broadway had really warmed up to the idea of screen-to-stage musical adaptations, My Favorite Year, with a charming score by Ahrens and Flaherty (Once On This Island, Suessical, Ragti…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 12:38PM

“Glory! Glory!” The Top Five Directors that could successfully bring ‘Pippin’ to the big screen. by Scott Kaufman

Now that Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have secured their newest stage-to-screen project, Stephen Schwartz’s Pippin, with the (well-chosen) Weinstein Group, the big questions are: Who wil…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 03:50AM
Monday, December 9, 2013

How will NBC top 18mill ‘The Sound Of Music Live!’ viewers? The “Short List” of musicals for next year’s live broadcast. by Scott Kaufman

After ratings like this, there is no doubt that conversations at NBC are already underway in regards to next year’s live musical broadcast. Despite the varied reviews, producer Neil Me…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 01:50PM

(Video Archives) “Garlic! Garlic! Garlic!” $12 mill flop ‘Dance Of The Vampires’ starring Michael Crawford stinks up Bway in 2002. by Scott Kaufman

It was the stuff of legends. The Carrie of a new generation. It was a Broadway disaster that few could image was possible. How could someone, let alone a group of people, invest in such an i…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 06:01AM
Sunday, December 8, 2013

Tony winning ‘Hairspray’ and ‘SMASH’ composer confronts hateful online comments after the airing of ‘The Sound Of Music Live!’. by Scott Kaufman

Tony winner Marc Shaiman might be best known to musical theater fans as the man to brought music to 1960′s Baltimore in Hairspray, or for his memorable score to Bombshell on NBC’…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 12:35PM
Saturday, December 7, 2013

(Video Scrapbook)”Cryin’ In The Rain”: ‘Next to Normal’ composer gives Bway some ‘High Fidelity’, starring Will Chase in 2006. by Scott Kaufman

It was a first class team that put together 2006′s ill-fated rock musical High Fidelity; including composer Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, Bring It On), Amanda Greene (Bring It On, Hands On…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 05:44PM
Thursday, December 5, 2013

“All Alone In The Moonlight”: Betty Buckley begins Feinstein’s holiday run in San Francisco. (Video) by Scott Kaufman

One of the great musical theatre actresses of our time, Tony winner Betty Buckley (Pippin, Cats, Drood, Sunset Blvd, Dear World) is beginning the holiday run of her show The Vixen Of Broadwa…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 04:18PM

VIDEO TRIVIA: The film version of 1965′s ‘The Sound Of Music’ was renamed for foreign release, what was it changed to? by Scott Kaufman

The Sound of Music has been a mega-hit all over the world since it’s release in 1965; although not necessarily with that title. It was actually renamed for its release in certain forei…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 03:25PM
Monday, December 2, 2013

(VIDEO ARCHIVES) “There You Are!!” Looking back at 1986′s Best Musical ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ starring Betty Buckley. by Scott Kaufman

For the first time in a Broadway musical, the writer didn’t struggle to figure out an appropriate ending for the show; he simply let the audience figure it out for themselves! The musi…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 02:00PM
Tuesday, November 26, 2013

JRB’s ‘The Bridges Of Madison County’ with Kelli O’Hara will open early on February 20th, 2014. (Video) by Scott Kaufman

Things must be going well over at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre! Rarely do we see a Bway musical move UP their opening date. But they must have solidified things after it’s highly succ…

SOURCE: unsungbroadway.com at 06:25PM

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