I am writing this piece to, once and for all, put to rest any notion that the Lucy Simon/Marsha Norman musical The Secret Garden needs to be fixed. If a Broadway revival of this complex and emotionally textured musical, based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved novel, is to happen, then it needs to come to Broadway in tact! Rumors have begun to filter in to me that the eagerly anticipated production playing at The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C. and co-produced with the 5th Avenue Theatre is taking some mighty big liberties with this beloved musical. Apparently, director David Armstrong had such limited faith in the piece that he felt it needed to be re-written and many of its glorious songs excised. For shame.
My Ten-Best Musical Theatre Experiences of 2016
2016 has been a rough year for many people, but one cannot deny that it has been an exciting year for theatre. Looking back, I realized I saw many pieces of theatre that moved and affected me with their artistry and their honesty. Once and a while, I was even entertained for entertainments sake (transported) and those are sometimes my favorite theatre experiences.
So... counting down, here were my top-ten theatre experiences of 2016.
The Binge-Watching Continues: 51 More Fabulous Broadway Flops
Since the last compilation was such a hit, and readers have been asking for more, here is another collection of great videos of Broadway musical flops. I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I enjoyed the scavenger hunt of finding them for you!
Wishing you a Happy Holiday, no matter what you celebrate and how you celebrate. We can all walk into the New Year, hand in hand, sharing our universal love of musical theatre. Here's to all of us!
How Judy Garland Shaped A Showtune Into a Holiday Classic
If you love your movie musicals like I do, you have no doubt fallen in love with that special niche known as "The Judy Garland Musicals." Not many fans of classic Hollywood can get away with not having at least one Garland film amongst their favorites. In fact, many of us consider Judy Garland to be the premiere female star of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer years, with her tender and deeply felt interpretations of songs such as “You Made Me Love You”, "Over the Rainbow", "The Boy Next Door" and "The Man That Got Away". And yet, of all her great performances, arguably her most heartfelt and heartbreaking came from a song she herself helped to shape.