177 stories 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…
What a find! There are many books on the development of individual musicals but few, if any, provide half the pleasure of this chronicle of Follies from the preparation for rehearsals throug…
Personally, I had a fine time at this rousing if seemingly mindless show, the latest from composer Frank Wildhorn. There are now two recordings of the score, the concept recording which is s…
Theatre lovers who are lucky enough to get to the Broadway theatre district in New York, either while in town on a trip or simply by hopping on a subway from home, know that one thing you us…
From time to time this column will take a look at a favorite activity of mine: immersion in a single play, musical or work of a single artist or creative team. What CDs, DVDs and books are o…
Last September I told you about a book covering the fascinating topic of how Rodgers, Hammerstein and Logan created the musical South Pacific out of James Michener’s pulitzer prize win…
Good news + Bad news = Good disc! The delightful Broadway cast album of this not quite so delightful Broadway show is a fun listen. It may stay in your CD player longer than you’d expe…
Many fine recordings come with an interesting booklet. This time it is the other way around. A fabulous booklet featuring a fascinating thirteen page essay is accompanied by an interesting r…
Shows, like people, have life cycles. They are conceived, brought to maturity, run (or don't run) their course and often either die or simply fade from memory. Like people, some shows deserv…
George Gershwin. Richard Rodgers. Jerome Kern. Louis Hirsch. … Louis Who? We can all be forgiven if we don’t instantly recall the glories of Mr. Hirsch. His last musical to grace Bro…
Three new releases offer three different ways to fill the slot on your theatre shelf for a reference work on musical theatre -Â inexpensive, expensive, very expensive. Which way to go? It…
Linda Eder sings songs of Frank Wildhorn Peace hasn’t broken out around the world, and pestilence, famine and plague haven’t been banished from the face of the earth, but at leas…
Three operettas from Max Liebman’s spectacular-for-their-time television spectaculars dating back to 1955 have been released on DVD. They have been taken from black-and-white kinescope…
There are many ways to approach the topic of musical theatre. There’s the scholarly approach of books that survey the topic as a whole. There’s the research approach that digs in…
Of all the rare recordings that the wonderful people at Masterworks Broadway have recently made available, none has drawn me back to listen to again as many times as this concept album of a …
Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked Carol de Giere’s power-point presentation of a book tackles more than just what its title promises. Yes…
There is more than one way to skin a cat – or, in this case, a Cat in the Hat. John Yap’s marvelous JAY label from England captures the bright, lively, nearly-floating sound of t…
Last fall was not a good time for fans of Fiddler on the Roof. In October, we lost its librettist, Joseph Stein, at the age of 98. In November, it was its composer, Jerry Bock, who departed …
That amazing time machine, video recordings, is at it again! Theatre lovers have a new opportunity to revisit the 1950s and 1960s when network television offered performances by some of Broa…
If you paid careful attention to the Holiday Gift Guide we published at the start of the holiday season, you will recall a recommendation for Bruce Kimmel’s strangely titled memoirs &#…
Every once in a while the inbox has something that few of our readers would know about – even those who try very hard to stay up to date with new releases in the musical theatre field.…
Need a last minute gift for a theatre lover? Here's my recommendation: A new book covering the history of the Broadway musical theatre from its antecedents to the start of this century that …
Not every Stephen Sondheim musical was written for the stage. One was written for television. Now, at long last, a kinescope has surfaced, showing the entire original one-hour program with f…
The grandson of Oscar Hammerstein II (and, thus, the great-great grandson of the first Oscar Hammerstein, the impresario who all but established Times Square) pulls his theatrical family's s…
It’s the time of year when those who care about theatre lovers have to scramble to find gifts that will please the recipient. Here are this year's suggestions for items that they shoul…
