I am more of a Sweeney Todd and Fiddler on the Roof fan, but if you insisted that My Fair Lady is the great American musical, I wouldn't argue with you, particular after seeing the extraordinary Lincoln Center revival Sunday. Bartlett Sher, the Center's resident directing marvel (South Pacific, Light in the Piazza, etc.) has created a knockout production, with eye-popping … [Read more...]
Score, singing rescue Wick’s ‘Brigadoon’ from missteps
Long before lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe cemented their places as musical theater icons with My Fair Lady and Camelot, the scored their first Broadway hit with an original romantic fable, Brigadoon. Although it ran a respectable 581 performances in the 1947-48 season, it has since been overshadowed by the songwriting team’s other shows and is … [Read more...]
Directors seek fresh angles for two 1940s chestnuts
The Maltz Jupiter Theatre and the Wick Theatre are both grappling with a dilemma. Each has selected a classic musical – 1949’s South Pacific and 1947’s Brigadoon, respectively – because of its intrinsic dramatic and musical quality. But how do you approach such a show, knowing that your audience has probably already seen it, often many times over? To director Gordon … [Read more...]