Neil Sedaka was a prolific singer/songwriter of the 1950s and 1960s, but few of his catchy hit tunes could be described as theater music. Yet for the past 15 years, thanks to that frequently popular subgenre known as the jukebox musical, he has enjoyed a new revenue stream from a show of his collected songs called Breaking Up Is Hard to Do. The title also happens to be the … [Read more...]
Flimsy but hugely popular, ‘Mamma Mia!’ wins over Wick audiences
Popularity doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with quality. Consider Mamma Mia!, which ran nearly 14 years on Broadway, the ninth longest running show in the commercial theater. But this lazy jukebox musical is built from songs by the Swedish pop group ABBA that only occasionally coincide with the show’s credibility-stretching plot. Still, did I mention that it ran nearly … [Read more...]
Sluggish pace mutes the laughs in MNM’s ‘Forum’
Stephen Sondheim was a mere 32 years old when the first show with his music and lyrics, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, opened on Broadway. A farce based on a convoluted storyline by the ancient Greek jokester Plautus, the audience-friendly musical has none of the psychological complexities that Sondheim would become known for, but plenty of his quirky melodies … [Read more...]