Around the TheatreScene: September/October 2024

Over the course of each month, we'll collect pictures and newsy tidbits from the "TheatreScene." We'll be scouring Twitter, Instagram and other social media for interesting items. And we'd love to share your love of theater, too! Send us your pics from your theater scene - local stuff, school shows, fan art, stage door encounters! Send them to: jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com (careful of the spelling!).

Around the TheatreScene

September/October 2024

Deaf West's American Idiot

Mike and I would love to see this one! Deaf West captivated us with their beautiful exploration of Spring Awakening, so we can only imagine the power they'd bring to this Green Day rock musical! 

Stars at the Stage Door

This is a star-studded (and star-crossed) season to be sure! Here's Heartstopper heartthrob Kit Connor greeting fans of Romeo and Juliet at the Circle in the Square:

And, in what has to be a first, here's Broadway's newest Norma Desmond, Nicole Scherzinger, greeting Sunset Boulevard fans in full bloody costume! Of course, if her co-star, Tom Francis, can roam Shubert Alley in full costume, why shouldn't she!?

 

Speaking of strolling the streets in Sunset Boulevard, Joe Gillis understudy, Jimin Moon made his debut on October 10th. Congratulations!

Suffs Being So Relevant

The show certainly has a message for today's American audiences...

Birthday Beefcake: Les Miserables

What a way to celebrate a birthday! We didn't see it in the West End, but we don't remember the barricade looking like this!

Tweet of the Month: All Things Do What?...

Seems a certain new pop princess couldn't take the heat after fans took exception to some of her more...political comments. So what did she do? She cancelled her appearance at a big concert called "All Things Go."

Seems we weren't the only theater fans who heard that and thought of something entirely different...

What I hear when y’all are tweeting about “All Things Go” pic.twitter.com/T2f2zWn5m5

— man in chair in training (@luxurytrash_) September 28, 2024

Broadway Who's Who: Gregg Edelman

Gregg Edelman is one of an increasingly rare breed - the working Broadway actor. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he's really done it all: ensemble work, supporting roles, leading roles, originating, replacing. Beyond New York, he's done a lot of regional work, world premiers, and national tours. Along the way, he's been nominated for four Tony Awards, and has been involved in many of Broadway's landmark productions (and a fair share of flops, too).

These days, he's playing the older Jacob in Water For Elephants, but chances are you've seen him in one of these shows!

Broadway Who's Who:

Gregg Edleman

DID YOU KNOW?

• Birth Date and Place: September 12, Chicago, Illinois
• Education: Northwestern University
• Family: Previously married to Carolee Carmello; they have two children.
• Broadway Debut: The original Broadway production of Evita.
• Other Theater: He's an Artistic Associate at the Berkshire Theatre Group, where he's directed such productions as Once, White Christmas and Arsenic and Old Lace.
• Fun Fact: He appeared in both the film and pre-Broadway musical version of First Wives Club.

Doonesbury - National Tour

Cats - Broadway - Growltiger/Bustopher Jones/Asparagus

Cabaret 1987 Revival - Broadway and National Tour - Cliff

City of Angels - Broadway - Stine

1990 Tony Award nomination: Best Actor in a Musical

   

Anna Karenina - Broadway - Constantine Levin

1993 Tony Award nomination: Best Featured Actor in a Musical

1776 - Broadway - Rutledge

1998 Tony Award nomination: Best Featured Actor in a Musical

Les Miserables - Original Broadway Production - Javert

Into the Woods - 2002 Broadway Revival - Wolf/Cinderella's Prince

2002 Tony Award nomination: Best Featured Actor in a Musical

Wonderful Town - Broadway Revival - Robert Baker

Sweeney Todd - Regional - Drury Lane - Sweeney Todd

The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Broadway Revival - Crisparkle

Water For Elephants - Broadway - Mr. Jankowski

Mr. Edelman also originated roles in Passion and A Tale of Two Cities.

40 Years of Broadway: Big Trends: The Mega Musical Era

 40 Years of Broadway: Big Trends

The Mega Musical Era

I came upon the Broadway scene as the Mega Musical Era was just ramping up. While Evita was a harbinger for things to come a few years earlier, it was really Cats that got this particular ball rolling. It makes sense, really, that the 80s through mid-90s was the time for this. It was the Decade of Excess, after all. 

I'm referring to Cats (1982), Starlight Express (1987), Les Misérables (1987), The Phantom of the Opera (1988), Miss Saigon (1991), and Sunset Boulevard (1994).

Today, it seems quaint, passé and really kinda silly (depending on your feelings about these relics). I mean, singing cats? Trains that sing and dance on roller skates? But they were all the rage, trust me. Their hallmarks were mostly sung (even completely) scores with belt your face off power ballads, very presentational staging, huge sets that were characters in the show by themselves, and iconic set pieces that people left talking about (usually more than the show itself). Loud volume = brilliant music. People stopping dead in their tracks and singing in loud unison = standing ovation guarantee. Opulence = ticket price justification. As I write this, I am beginning to see some similarities between them and now...

  

  

These were the days before social media and internet searches. And yet, even people who knew nothing about theater knew these shows. I'm talking world-wide. They made their rounds on late night talk shows, and rarely on daytime TV (not like today), and, of course, they did the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. But what really got this out to the masses was their incredible word of mouth, punctuated by genius marketing and merchandising. Everyone instantly recognized their logo iconography, and I do mean everyone* knew what these symbols meant. (* = My dad, who never stepped foot in a professional theater not only knew about Phantom, he actually took us to see it as a family!) Wearing one of those show shirts around college campuses gained the wearer instant status. And it wasn't just shirts - posters, backpack buttons and coffee mugs permeated the suburbs from coast to coast. 

It also helped that, except for the train show, the national touring companies were nearly exact duplicates of Broadway, so you didn't have to live on a coast to see the real thing. 

So much of all of this continues to this day, and we have these shows to thank for it. (Again this may depend on how you feel about this kind of show today.) I still enjoy them, and have some very fond memories. And I still wrap myself up in my (now vintage) show shirts. I had them incorporated into a great quilt!

Where do you stand on the Mega Musical front? Love it? Hate it? Or does it depend on the show? More importantly, do you still have any original merch from these shows? Let us know!

Contest Question #10:

4 of the above Mega Musicals have music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Which two did not have music by him?