Here is a song by Lena Horne that just exudes life, written by the incomparable Harold Arlen with words by E. Y. Harburg.
Stormy Weather is Lena’s most famous song, from a 1940s musical with the same name. Hollywood, as per usual, stood on its principles to a point. It did allow a black actress and singer to be in movies. However, Lena’s roles were written in such a way that they could easily be edited out if the movie was playing in a bigoted town.
Yesterday we lost a legend of the stage, screen, and recordings: the lovely Lena Horne. She was probably the first African-American film actress to even be partially accepted and even had a contract with MGM during the forties. She fought against segregation, which included refusing to perform a show during WWII for the separate white regiments. Clicking on the picture links to the statement released by President Obama about Lena Horne.
NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE, a modern take on the Great Flood, is being produced by the American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University. The show opens July 15.
Who hasn’t thought—while watching their daily dose of The Price is Right and Jeopardy—that a game show would be a great premise for a musical? Well finally someone decided to take all of our dreams and make them into a reality.
Here’s from the website (and seriously, this sounds amazing):
Arrive at the theatre by 7:30 p.m. to take an old school Scantron test. The top eight scorers are the players for the night, forming two teams (corporations). Employees of the winning corporation duke it out in a free-for-all dare game to see who lands the highly coveted position of top executive. New questions and dares each night and new themes each weekend. It’s never the same show twice!
The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) is a musical about musicals! In this hilarious satire of musical theatre, one story becomes five delightful musicals, each written in the distinctive style of a different master of the form, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim. The basic plot: June is an ingenue who can’t pay the rent and is threatened by her evil landlord. Will the handsome leading man come to the rescue? The variations are: a Rodgers & Hammerstein version, set in Kansas in August, complete with a dream ballet; a Sondheim version, featuring the landlord as a tortured artistic genius who slashes the throats of his tenants in revenge for not appreciating his work; a Jerry Herman version, as a splashy star vehicle; an Andrew Lloyd Webber version, a rock musical with themes borrowed from Puccini; and a Kander & Ebb version, set in a speakeasy in Chicago. This comic valentine to musical theatre was the longest running show in the York Theatre Company’s 35-year history before moving to Off-Broadway. (from broadwayworld.com)
For lovers of Glee’s Kristin Chenoweth/Lea Michele duet “Maybe this time I’ll be lucky. Maybe this time he’ll stay…” comes “Caberet” from April 15, 2010 — May 23, 2010
I saw this show last night. INCREDIBLE. Here’s a few quotes from this review:
- This is what the American musical theater is capable of doing. But it so rarely does all of this, all at once. Let me be completely clear: “Ragtime” is absolutely stunning.
- It is unified, tragic, exhilarating, melodic, stirring and special.
- In fact, the production might as well be on Broadway, in London, or in any high quality theater anywhere in the world. With the right economy and the right publicity, it could tour for years. I’m telling you, the cast looks and acts exactly as these characters would.
To make a long review short, GO SEE RAGTIME!
Beckett’s absurd comic masterpiece follows Hamm, a blind man unable to stand, and his servant Clov, who is unable to sit, as they pass their days in a tiny house by the sea—if the sea still exists. Pestered by Hamm’s parents, they move through their daily rituals, awaiting the end of everything. A powerful all-ensemble cast anchors this profound exploration of the stories we construct to make sense of our lives.
Thu. April 1, 2010 — Sun. June 6, 2010
