Dear Evan Hansen - An Argument for the Film’s Virtues (Film Review)

Dear Evan Hansen - An Argument for the Film’s Virtues (Film Review)

Mark Robinson

Leaving the cinema after watching the film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen, a very opinionated young man in front of me (approximately 14-years-old) exclaimed “I was with it until Evan sang at Connor’s memorial, then I was like “Wrap it up.” I couldn’t help but sympathize. He was right. Generally, the plot sustains its thrust until this point, then it begins to meander, then blows apart. But this was always a problem for this earnest musical that tries hard to encapsulate the experiences of those who deal with depression and anxiety: a bonkers crazy plot that taxes our willing suspension of disbelief at every turn. However, as I left the movie theatre with that young man’s words replaying in my ears, I also couldn’t help but think, “That was nowhere near as bad as what the critics have been saying.”

That’s not to say it is a game-changing film or anything near perfection…

Film Review – Does In the Heights Hit the Heights?

Film Review – Does In the Heights Hit the Heights?

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance, Cinematters

When audiences sat down in their seats at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in the spring of 2008, many were not quite ready for the electrically-charged piece of musical theatre they were about to witness. The then relatively unknown team of Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) delivered several jolts of adrenaline into the arm of the American musical, infusing the more traditional form of this theatrical storytelling with the contemporary sounds of hip-hop and rap, as well as crafting a bilingual score (English and Spanish) of poignancy and potency. Director Thomas Kail staged the musical with a palpable urgency and an emotional thrust that propelled the show through its climax, and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler provided movement that seemed to defy gravity and lift the show off the stage floor and into the ether. The musical I am referring to is of course In the Heights which has made its transition from the stage to screen some thirteen-years since it’s Broadway berth, under the direction of Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians).

Book Review – The Mikado to Matilda: British Musicals on the New York Stage

Book Review – The Mikado to Matilda: British Musicals on the New York Stage

Mark Robinson

For all of you musical theatre anglophiles out there, have I got a book for you. Thomas Hischak’s The Mikado to Matilda: British Musicals on the New York Stage will definitely be a welcome addition to your reading library. Hischak, who is prolific author of books about theatre and film, including The Oxford Companion to The American Musical, The Oxford Companion to the American Theatre, Boy Loses Girl: Broadway Librettists, The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia, Off-Broadway Musicals Since 1919, 1939: Hollywood’s Greatest Year, and The Encyclopedia of Film Composers (among many, many other titles), takes his latest foray into the Broadway musical as a trip across the pond and back again. The author explores 110 musicals that got their start in London, then journeyed to New York City where they played on Broadway or Off-Broadway. Some shows date back as far as 1750. Plots, songs, songwriters, performers, and producers of both the British and American productions of these shows are included, as well as a scholarly analysis of how these musicals fared in both incarnations. The book has been diligently researched and, along the way, Hischak shares interesting anecdotes, compelling facts, and tidbits of trivia that are bound to excite the musical theatre aficionados.

Broadway Pride Playlist

Broadway Pride Playlist

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

For many of us, Pride weekend is a chance to celebrate and remember the hurdles the LBGTQ+ community has overcome and to continue to rally against the obstacles still in our way. It’s also a chance just to be, to embrace our authentic selves and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other minorities who have been marginalized. As we hold our heads up high in support of Black Lives Matter, Pride feels especially precious this year. Due to Covid-19, however, Pride won’t be the same parades and parties that have become a tradition of the month of June. That’s okay... this year will still be a time for reflection, and our hearts still beat with a sense of the journey that got us here and the miles left to go. I’ve put together a playlist for Pride that is composed of Broadway songs sung by LGBTQ+ characters, as well as a handful of Broadway songs that, though they weren’t directly addressing the issues of the LBBTQ+ community, carry in them the heart and spirit of Pride. I hope you are moved, and more importantly, inspired by these wonderful songs.

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