Exercising My Right to a Showtune

Exercising My Right to a Showtune

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

This time of year it is especially hard to get excited about exercise. It is brutally cold and going for a walk seems like torture. Many are reduced to schlep on a treadmill, while others are quite content to use the "Think System" where exercise is concerned. I tend to be more motivated to walk when showtunes are involved, so I often load up my iPod with peppy melodies from my favorite musicals and make my jaunt around the cubicles in my workplace: 45 minutes each morning and 45 minutes each lunch break. 

Over time, I have found that a certain configuration of Broadway songs works best for me. Placed in the right order, I feel naturally inclined to increase momentum as I go, building toward a twenty-minute cardio workout, and then cooling down to that sensation of prickly flutters in my thighs. I thought that I would share with my readers my playlist for working off the fat. What is astounding is, when I actually do it, I feel great and lose about two pounds a week.

Summer Stock in a Winter Storm

Summer Stock in a Winter Storm

Mark Robinson
Stage To Screen, Cinematters

Before I even knew what a Broadway musical was (and it is hard to believe that there was ever such a time in my life), I spent my childhood waiting for old movie musicals to play on television. We lived in the country, and the odds of getting anything on your television outside of the three major networks, was pretty slim. Still, with my little black and white television, wrapped in aluminum foil, me with coat hanger in-hand and leaning out my bedroom window, I could sometimes pick up PBS and the occasional movie musical. I saw Kiss Me, Kate and Brigadoon this way. 

I Hate Men but Love Nancy Walker

I Hate Men but Love Nancy Walker

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

My dear friend and sparring partner (as I often refer to him) Robbie Rozelle has been trying (for years) to get me to listen to Nancy Walker's I Hate Men album. I think it is a built-in aspect of our friendship that, when he recommends something, I won't listen to it just to aggravate him. Well...the joke is on me. Today, I finally sat down to listen to Ms. Walker superbly wend her way through some of the most humorous, anti-male Broadway show tunes ever written. Not only are the song choices (and their arrangements) infectious fun, but Ms. Walker peppers them with her patented tongue-on-cheek sarcasm. 

Broadway Poster Art - The Top-Ten Most Successful Designs

Broadway Poster Art - The Top-Ten Most Successful Designs

Mark Robinson
Top Ten

I have always been particularly intrigued by the poster art of Broadway musicals and how a simple image can tell so much while simultaneously enticing the throngs to enter into the theatre and buy a ticket. In my college theatre management class we examined poster art and how the slightest misstep can be fatal. The original poster for Damn Yankees was simply the title of the show with some pennants and other baseball imagery around it. Ticket sales, despite good reviews, were sluggish. The solution: slap a scantily clad picture of star Gwen Verdon over the title and WAMMO! - a home run. Tickets sales went through the roof. 

 

A few years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with poster designer David Byrd who, among many other achievements in rock poster design, created some of the most iconic theatre posters including those for the original Godspell, Hair, Jesus Christ, Superstar, Little Shop of Horrors and Follies. Mr. Byrd shared the essentials of great poster: they need to first catch the eye, second establish mood, and third impart a quick message. 

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