Broadway Musical Time Machine: Looking Back at Assassins

Broadway Musical Time Machine: Looking Back at Assassins

Mark Robinson
Theatre Time Machine

A new musical by Stephen Sondheim is usually met with rabid curiosity and excitement leading up to its opening, so in 1990 when the musical Assassins readied itself at Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons, theatre fans couldn't wait to see the result. We were all more than ready to see how Mr. Sondheim would create songs for the disillusioned men and women who attempted (and sometimes succeeded) killing Presidents of the United States. John Weidman would provide a book that used the failed American Dream as the through line to bring these notorious character into the same world. With Jerry Zaks at the helm as director, and a cast that included a vast array of Broadway's finest talent (Victor Garber, Terrence Mann, Debra Monk, Annie Golden, Jonathan Hadary, Lee Wilkof among them) Assassins looked to be something unique in musical theatre terms. Everyone assumed it would be well-received and then transfer to Broadway where it would settle in for an artful but not particularly long run. It didn't.

Broadway Musical Musings: Cats: A Return from the Heavyside Layer

Broadway Musical Musings: Cats: A Return from the Heavyside Layer

Mark Robinson
Broadway Musical Musings

Cats is back. Though I am not particularly ready for it, I cannot dispute the fact the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of my childhood, based on the poems of T.S. Eliot, is readying itself for a revival at Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre. I imagine many folks are excited by its return, especially those who have a fond “Memory” of their first visit to a Broadway show, ushered into the thrill of live theatre by this feline extravaganza. For some, this revival will be a cosmic return from the Heavyside Layer.  

Broadway Musical Time Machine: Looking Back at Man of La Mancha

Broadway Musical Time Machine: Looking Back at Man of La Mancha

Mark Robinson
Theatre Time Machine, Music That Makes Me Dance

At one point in time, Man of La Mancha was a very popular musical that was produced with frequency and with great reverence. Based on the book Don Quixote by Cervantes, the tale of the knight errant who travels an ugly and bleak world and refuses to see anything but optimism and beauty has been an inspiration to many. Man of La Mancha also includes a score that features one of theatre's most-beloved anthems of hope, "The Impossible Dream".

Ten Great "Also Ran" Broadway Musicals with Superior Scores

Ten Great "Also Ran" Broadway Musicals with Superior Scores

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

We love to celebrate the classic Broadway scores! We revel in a joyously wonderful flop score! There is, however, one area of the Broadway musical that we seldom address: the musicals that were neither calamitous flops, but neither were they runaway hits. They were around for maybe a season and change (250-500 performances), maybe made some money or came close to breaking even (in a day where that was possible). I refer to these as the “also rans” of Broadway. Today’s blog is a celebration of the scores from these middling musicals that have much to recommend in the way of great music. 

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