Dear, Dear, Dear Evan Hansen

Dear, Dear, Dear Evan Hansen

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

I will admit that I do not get as excited by newer musicals as I am by anything pre-Rent. I am, within reason, a traditionalist, attracted to the old-fashioned showtunes and plot structures .That's not to say that I haven't found composers and musicals in the last two-decades that are not traditional in style, but that do appeal to me. A David Yazbek or Jason Robert Brown project is always exciting, and Jeanine Tesori is quickly becoming one of my favorite composers. Fun Home and Bright Star  are recent shows that both thrilled me in ways I hadn't expected. Hamilton, though I respect it and certainly love what it's achieving with the younger generations, left me cold, or at least not as stirred in ways that other musicals have. It is, however, with great excitement that I have found a new musical that compels me, thrills me, and absolutely makes me excited about new musicals again. That musical is Dear Evan Hansen. 

How to Reconcile Broadway Musicals & The Super Bowl

How to Reconcile Broadway Musicals & The Super Bowl

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

I have no business writing a piece about football, let alone one that is in celebration of the Super Bowl. In all fairness, until I was fifteen, I thought the Super Bowl was the large concert venue where Bette Midler in the movie Beaches. It turns out, that was the Hollywood Bowl. When I was in college, my theatre friends and I would have an anti-Super Bowl party where we would drink, eat homemade chili, and watch videotapes of old Tony Awards ceremonies. My understanding of football (or lack thereof) is limited to some poor instruction in high school gym class (my school did not have a football team) and what little I have picked up from people talking about it around me. Once, I even won $400 on a football pool for the Super Bowl, though I had a more-knowledgeable friend choose the details of the scores for me (yes, I split my winnings with him). So, I have no understanding of football.  Except…

A Crotchety Person’s Broadway Valentine’s Day Playlist: 14 Broadway Songs to Celebrate a Shot from Cupid’s Arrow

A Crotchety Person’s Broadway Valentine’s Day Playlist: 14 Broadway Songs to Celebrate a Shot from Cupid’s Arrow

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

If you are like me, a bitter, sarcastic Muppet-like creature, Valentine’s Day isn’t exactly your cup of tea. We of this ilk condemn the holiday as a commercially created reason to spend money on cards, flowers, sweets, and for the most entrenched of us, jewelry. We bemoan the coming of old February 14 and pray to God that Cupid’s arrow misfires and lands squarely between his own cherubic eyes.

Liza, Chita and The Rink

Liza, Chita and The Rink

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

In 1983, a musical prepared to open on Broadway that would star two of Broadway’s most-beloved and enduring talents: one a Tony-nominated (several times over) triple-threat known particularly for her electric dancing prowess, the other the daughter of Hollywood royalty (Judy Garland) who had carved her own exciting niche in entertainment outside of her mother’s shadow, having won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards. They were, of course, Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli, respectively. Together they would appear in the next Broadway musical by composers Kander and Ebb who had created scores for gritty musicals such as Cabaret and Chicago. Writing the original story was playwright Albert Innaurato, best-known for the comedic family-drama Gemini. Direction was to be by Arthur Laurents who had directed, among many other things, the original Gypsy. The musical that was shaping up to be the exciting event of the season was The Rink.