Blog

In baseball, whenever a pitcher becomes tired and ineffective, a new pitcher known as a reliever succeeds him, in order to prevent further damage. The one who does this most consistently will at the end of the season receive an award called “Reliever of the Year.” We don’t have such a prize on Broadway, but […]

Devoted musical theater aficionados know that the nine-performance ANYONE CAN WHISTLE was Stephen Sondheim’s shortest-running show. They can also tell you that MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, despite almost doubling that run, was the second shortest. Their respective weak one-week and two-week stays have made Broadway mavens easily recall them. But few can immediately tell you […]

Why are there such babyish voices on “Miracle”? If you haven’t yet seen the excellent feature film of ROALD DAHL’S MATILDA THE MUSICAL – but know the original cast album – this might be your first question when you listen to the soundtrack. The kids who sang it on Broadway – and have been singing […]

After the end of each song, no theatergoer shouted “Whooo!” None of the performers held a note for an inordinately long length of time, so no attendee was moved to scream at the halfway mark. Perhaps it was an off performance, you say? No, the applause after each song was hearty and commensurate with the […]

In a used bookshop in Morristown, New Jersey, I sauntered by the magazine section and gave out with a smile. Considering that the Life magazine that topped the pile was over 60 years old, it was in remarkable shape. After all, with its fold-over double cover, it had had twice as many opportunities to be […]