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How to get into the right mood for Sunday night’s Oscars? I spent the week listening to Academy Award winners who’d appeared in musicals from Paul (WATCH ON THE RHINE) Lukas to Jose (CYRANO DE BERGERAC) Ferrer in THE GIRL WHO CAME TO SUPPER to Kevin (A FISH NAMED WANDA) Kline in ON THE TWENTIETH […]

Jordan Schildcrout has two eye-opening surprises for us in his marvelous new book IN THE LONG RUN. In his analysis of fifteen of the twenty-six Broadway plays that have managed to run over 1,000 performances, Schildcrout gives us two little-known facts about DEATHTRAP. Both involve Marian Seldes. No essay on Ira Levin’s terrific thriller would […]

“New York, New York, a helluva town,” according to lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Broadway first heard this proclamation seventy-five years ago this week when their ON THE TOWN opened with Leonard Bernstein’s music to boot. When ON THE TOWN was filmed, “a helluva town” was deemed too profane by the censors. So the […]

When Strava, a social network for athletes, did some research on peoples’ New Year’s resolutions, it found that the best laid plans of men and women are usually abandoned by January 12th. Statistics also show that people who join gyms and then don’t show up to use the exercise equipment waste $1.8 billion a year. […]

As we approach January 16 – the anniversary of Ethel Merman’s birth – let’s look at her biggest triumph. Merman often said Rose in GYPSY was her favorite role – and we can all understand why. Nevertheless, Irving Berlin’s ANNIE GET YOUR GUN was her longest-running hit. As Annie Oakley, she played virtually all of […]