177 stories by "Brad Hathaway"
The 25 Anniversary of what is now the longest running musical in Broadway history was celebrated last October with not just a concert, but a full staging of the entire show in London’s…
Before the Tony race starts up in earnest for this year, lets take a look at one show from last year’s race that nearly got away. The People In The Picture was a klezmer-infused mus…
The search for a full understanding of the life and works of Oscar Hammerstein II might well begin with this twelve-song disc, but it certainly won’t end here. Indeed, the disk will se…
The surprise of the original cast album “Music from Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark” is that it is better than its show, which, as everyone even marginally aware of musical theater …
Had this two-disc set been listed as the music of an unknown John Smith or Bob Jones, I wouldn’t have asked for a copy to review for the readers of Theater Shelf. Ballet scores aren…
This ain’t your father’s Godspell. Fifty-eight seconds into “Prepare Ye”, it becomes clear that this is a new Godspell, one for the early 21st century rather than …
The Best of Wolcott Gibbs from The New Yorker So, there I was sitting in my dentist’s office chuckling, chortling and laughing out loud as I read this book. It isn’t often that I…
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera was expected to open in London in 2010 and then have a Broadway transfer. It did open in London, but the reception wasn’t…
This is a disc that may be of more interest intellectually than aesthetically for American fans of musical theatre. It is a classic illustration of a basic truth of the musical theatre " Bro…
Let’s see. Should I do a recording review of this CD of 29 songs by the man who wrote the memorable songs for the sparkling movie “Meet Me In St. Louis” and Broadway’…
Most dedicated theater music fans are well aware that there was a momentous shift in the evolution of what we now think of as a “musical” in 1915 when Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton,…
The pickings from the Bell Telephone Hour that Video Artists International delves into must be getting slim. It isn’t that the material on latest releases in VAI’ Music’s s…
I may be excused for presuming that, if you have a theater shelf, it already sports a copy of Steven Suskin’s book. Equal parts reliable reference book and entertainingly written opini…
Few scores establish their “voice” quite as rapidly as does the score for this poorly titled but highly intriguing one-act musical that had its Off-Broadway premiere in 2010. Fir…
Do you look for ravishing romantic beauty in your musicals? If so, Maury Yeston is probably on your list of favorite composers. Think of “Only With You” (Nine), “We’l…
Filichia has done it again What is a reviewer to do when a book shows up for review that has a pull quote from him praising the author to high heaven? Is it a conflict of interest to praise …
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and Who”? Or perhaps the question should be “The Who and Who?” Surely The King and IÂ is just about the most glorious scor…
OK – its the week after Christmas. Maybe some kind soul gave you every item that you didn’t already have from our Holiday Gift Guide " plus perhaps a gift certificate or cash. Wh…
Oh, my! What am I to do now? The 2011 Broadway Revival Cast recording of Follies has just come out on PS Classics and now my “desert island” list of recordings I’d want …
Stephen Sondheim’s second volume of “Collected Lyrics with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany” titled “Look,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
