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Fourscore and seven years ago – on October 10, 1935, to be precise – a musical theater work of monumental proportions opened. Not everyone knew that then. A mere 124 performances was the best that PORGY AND BESS could muster at the time. The world hasn’t needed 87 years to appreciate the masterwork that the […]

So, as I was stuck in utterly unmoving traffic in midtown Manhattan, I kept saying to myself, “Don’t get upset at the United Nations for having these meetings that make taxi meters come up with numbers that are as high as an elephant’s eye. “After all,” my brain told me, “remember what that UNESCO did.” […]

Did you miss National Vinyl Record Day? You probably did. It’s not a day on which mail is halted or when parades flood the streets. But August – a month that has been holiday-deprived, at least in these United States – now has, on the 12th of the month, National Vinyl Record Day. We have […]

Rumor has it that after THE MUSIC MAN vacates the Winter Garden on New Year’s Day, the London hit BACK TO THE FUTURE will soon fill the void. I couldn’t wait that long to see it, so off to London I went last week to savor the musical version of the wildly popular (and deservedly […]

In a way, the title of my own just-released tome – THE BOOK OF BROADWAY MUSICAL DEBATES, DISPUTES, AND DISAGREEMENTS – could almost serve as the title of Ethan Mordden’s new book. He’s called it BROADWAY MUSICALS ON CD: A CONVERSATIONAL GUIDE. Nevertheless, be prepared to debate, dispute, disagree – as well as wholeheartedly concur […]