Broadway's exclamation points! (Don't Miss Today's Weekly Blast)
What's the deal with Broadway show title punctuation?
Here’s a FREE preview issue of The Broadway Maven’s Weekly Blast. Regular subscriptions are just $5/month or $36/year.
Shalom!
This week, The Broadway Maven looks at Godspell and Oklahoma!.
• On Monday, July 4 at Noon and 7 pm ET there will be a FREE class about Stephen Schwartz’s early-1970s masterpiece based on the Book of Matthew. Register here.
• On Thursday, July 7 at Noon and 7 pm ET we’ll start our four-part Rodgers & Hammerstein series with a class on Oklahoma!. $5 or $15 for the series. Register here.
• This Weekly Blast includes:
A) reflections on the stereotype that Broadway show names tend (like Oklahoma!) to end with exclamation points (included here FREE in this preview issue);
B) a Broadway Maven YouTube GEM showing Les Misérables around the world;
C) a mini-essay by a student about underrated Broadway shows;
D) a poll about Rodgers and Hammerstein;
E) a YouTube GEM about the legendary Toronto 1972 production of Godspell; and
F) Last Blasts (FREE) about Into the Woods and Guys and Dolls.
(Last Blasts are a new Weekly Blast feature: quick witty, thought-provoking, or challenging thoughts about Broadway shows.)
Ever since Oklahoma!, Broadway shows have had a reputation for choosing titles that end in an exclamation point: Hello, Dolly!, Oliver!, and Mamma Mia! are but a few examples. Less-popular but still significant shows like Fiorello!, I Do! I Do! and George M! also have titles that end with a “bang” (writer-talk for an exclamation point).
But how common is that phenomenon, really?
Well, my enterprising friend and mentor Peter Filichia decided to find out. He examined show titles from 1943’s Oklahoma! all the way into the early 21st century, and what did he find, exclamation-wise?
About 5 percent.
Hardly enough to merit the stereotype, but enough to raise the question: “why?”
At first, it was probably to gain attention or celebrate the uplifting tone of the show. (The original title for Oklahoma! ended similarly: Away We Go!.) Sometimes the choices can be scattershot: the upbeat Annie seems a more likely orphan story to lend itself to a “bang” than Oliver!.
In recent years, the use of exclamation points in Broadway titles has become mostly ironic. Broadway historian Laurence Maslon told The New York Times:
At this point, I can’t imagine any straight-faced musical using one…. Either it’s intentionally self-referential and not meant to be seriously, or it’s coming from a more jejune sensibility and doesn’t care.
Last Blast: Sondheim and Lapine’s Into the Woods is a show about wishes. Isn’t it interesting that the first word in the show, “Once” (as in “upon a time”) is a homophone for “WANTS”?
Last Blast: The gamblers in Guys and Dolls have been widely assumed to be Jewish, in part because of lines like “So, nu?” and “I’m just a no-goodnik.” Well, some Jewish names end in -BERG and others in -STEIN. Still others end in S-K-Y… like Masterson.
Long before Wicked, Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell was lighting up Broadway with its lively, original, tuneful take on the Book of Matthew. We’ll look at the unusual structure of this entertaining musical and explore how the show uses music to explore Biblical lessons. We’ll be especially interested in how the show intersects with the Christian faith of those students who have that background.
FREE class.
Oklahoma! is often called the first true modern musical because of how it integrates book, lyric, music, and dance to form an integrated story with serious themes. We’ll look at this pioneering musical in our first session of a four-week Rodgers and Hammerstein course.
$5, or $15 for the series.
Watch the Godspell medley video below and in the comments answer: “Which Godspell song is your favorite? Do any of them relate to your faith?” Explain.
Watch the 10-minute version of Oklahoma! below, and in the comments answer: “What is the theme of Oklahoma!?”
Note: links to register for ALL classes are ALWAYS available at TheBroadwayMaven.com.
• Sunday, July 3 Oklahoma! Watch Party (7 pm ET, ALL-ACCESS Only)
• Monday, July 4 Godspell (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Tuesday, July 5 Peter Filichia guest speaker on Rodgers & Hammerstein (Noon ET, ALL-ACCESS Only)
• Thursday, July 7 Oklahoma! (Noon and 7 pm ET, $5 or $15 for the four-part series, FREE for ALL-ACCESS)
• Sunday, July 10 Chicago (Noon ET, FREE)
• Monday, July 11 Chicago (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Thursday, July 14 Carousel (Noon and 7 pm ET, $5, FREE for ALL-ACCESS)
• Sunday, July 17 Annie (Noon ET, FREE)
• Monday, July 18 Annie (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Thursday, July 21 South Pacific (Noon and 7 pm ET, $5, FREE for ALL-ACCESS)
• Thursday, July 28 The Sound of Music (Noon and 7 pm ET, $5, FREE for ALL-ACCESS)
The Broadway Maven, David Benkof, helps students further their appreciation of musical theater through his classes, his YouTube Channel, and his Weekly Blast. Contact him at DavidBenkof@gmail.com.