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Shalom!
This week, the Broadway Maven will be looking at the legacy of The Music Man and Gypsy:
• The Monday January 18 class will watch and discuss at least 2-3 numbers from each show. We’ll also look at the concept of an “I want” song;
• I’ve uploaded a video about stirring moments in musical theater, including “Seventy-Six Trombones” from The Music Man; and
• This Weekly Blast examines the mystery of why The Music Man beat West Side Story for the 1958 Best Musical Tony.
Below you’ll also hear me Rant about the ghastly Second Act of a beloved 1960s musical and Rave about a story about Leonard Bernstein raving himself - about something very special.
Many Broadwayniks are mystified or even miffed that the “trifle” of The Music Man beat the towering West Side Story. But that’s not fair to Music Man.
First, when WE think about West Side Story, we tend to think of the 1961 film, one of the greatest movie musicals of all time. The stage musical of course included the same score, music, books, and choreography, but that’s what needs to be compared to the stage Music Man - and not the movie.
More importantly, though, The Music Man met the needs of the late 1950s. It’s about an inspiring individual who brings music to a sclerotic town. A Cold War America coping with McCarthyism and conformity needed a Harold Hill in a way that may not be easy to understand in 2021.
Music Man is a show about the power of music to transform people’s lives - whether it’s the feuding barbershop quartet, Winthrop with his lisp, or the maiden librarian:
“There was love all around, but I never heard it singing…”
It’s a different message than that of West Side Story, but I’d argue that the problem is not that West Side Story was ahead of its time.
It’s that The Music Man was exactly right for ITS time.
We’ve added tickets for Monday’s class on The Music Man and Gypsy, because we’ve begun streaming on YouTube and can handle more people. If you like participating in the chat inside the Zoom room, though, please get there early. Everyone will have access to the class, but those who arrive a little later can watch on YouTube (just search for my name and the live class should be at the top). The classes are at Noon and 8 pm ET on Monday, January 18.
The optional homework for this week’s class (and everyone can do it!) is to watch a four-minute reaction video I made of myself watching my most stirring Broadway moments. (Watch out, I’m going to cry.) One of them is from The Music Man. What are your Broadway moments that make you choke up every time? Put your answer in the comments below the video and we’ll respond. (And feel free to respond to each other, too!)
PLEASE NOTE: Today, January 12, is the last day to purchase an All-Access Pass for the first semester of 2021 at the Early Bird price of $49; after that it goes up to $59. Register: bitly.com/BenkofFirst
The Second Act of Fiddler on the Roof is awful!
No Broadway show has a worse ratio of quality for First Act vs. Second. Part of the problem is the sheer number of classic Broadway numbers that overlay each other to stunning effect in Fiddler. The show starts with a one-two-three punch (“Tradition!”; “Matchmaker, Matchmaker;” and “If I Were a Rich Man”) unparalleled even by other shows with a great openings including West Side Story and Hamilton.
The First Act also includes “To Life”; “Miracle of Miracles”; and “Sunrise, Sunset” as well as the classic “bottle dance.” It is literally breathtaking.
And the Second Act? Not much, at all. There’s “Anatevka,” which is at best slightly tuneful (and mournful) and the dreadful “Do You Love Me?” whose seventh note is literally discordant. Some people like “Far From the Home I Love” or “Chavaleh (Little Bird)” - but even if those songs are good, it’s hard to argue that they’re Great like “Matchmaker” or “Rich Man.”
But is the Second Act so bad you should go home during Intermission?
Unless the First Act is truly extraordinary? Yes.
This week I bring you a rave about a rave. I love this story:
Leonard Bernstein was grumpily attending the premiere of I Can Get It For You Wholesale, not applauding and being rather rude about it. Then, early in the second act he suddenly stood up and began applauding wildly, so much so that if he wasn’t one of the greatest living composers it too would have been rude.
It wasn’t until much later the significance of that moment became clear: Bernstein had just glimpsed Barbra Streisand in her stage debut.
And he knew.
Unlike some composer-lyricists, Stephen Sondheim enjoys giving advice as to how his music should be performed. YouTube has a lot of videos of the master songwriter giving singers guidance, for example. Here, though, he sits at the piano and explains, essentially to conductors and pianists for performers of Into the Woods, how the Prologue from the show should be played. I especially like how he explains that after the fourth word “Once Upon a Time” he’s written a loud chord to wake the audience up and tell them it’s not going to be a normal Night of Fairy Tales.
Check out:
• One-minute video introduction to the course (please share widely!)
• “Broadway Maven” playlist at YouTube
• David Benkof’s YouTube channel
Calendar:
Wednesday, January 13 Peter, Paul, & Mary 101 and Simon & Garfunkel 101 (8 pm ET)
Thursday, January 14 “If You Could See Cabaret Through My Eyes” (8 pm ET)
Monday, January 18 The Music Man, Gypsy (Noon and 8 pm ET)
Wednesday, January 20 Bob Dylan 101 (8 pm ET) and Billy Joel 101 (9 pm ET)
Monday, January 25 Hair, Grease (Noon and 8 pm ET)
Tuesday, January 26 Contemporary Jewish Broadway (Noon ET, ALL-ACCESS Passholders ONLY)
Wednesday, January 27 Carole King 101 (8 pm ET) and Debbie Friedman 101 (9 pm ET)
Thursday, February 4 Disney’s Jews
Thursday, February 11 Voice Actors
Thursday, February 18 Roy Lichtenstein
Thursday, February 25 Schoolhouse Rock
-David Benkof, The Broadway Maven
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