The Broadway Ladies: Ms. November 2018

These days it seems a career Broadway star is more an exception than a rule. But there are still a few around. A few that always bring it, and always can be counted upon, no matter the material they are given.  Tony Award winner Beth Leavel is one of those exceptions to the rule. A three decade career on the Broadway stage (including both the original and revival productions of 42nd Street) and a prolific regional resume, she elevates everything she's in. She's that rarest of show folk - if she's in it, no matter how good or bad the show is, you know you can count on wonderful work from her. These days she's belting it out as a self-absorbed diva - she carries her Tonys in her purse - and brings the house down 8 times a week at The Prom. And that's why she's this month's Ms. Broadway November 2018.

THE BROADWAY LADIES

Ms. November 2018

The Prom's Beth Leavel

HEADSHOTS AND CANDIDS

with husband John Milne

BIRTH DATE: November 1

BIRTHPLACE: Raleigh, North Carolina

EDUCATION: Meredith College (Social Work), University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Graduate Degree in Theater)

FAMILY: Husband, John Milne; 2 children

CURRENTLY STARRING IN: The Prom as Dee Dee Allen

THEATER CREDITS: Broadway: 42nd Street (original), Crazy For You, Show Boat, The Civil War, 42nd Street (revival), Mamma Mia!, The Drowsy Chaperone, Elf (2x), Young Frankenstein, Baby It's You!, Bandstand, The Prom Regional: Into the Woods (Pittsburgh CLO), Gypsy (MUNY), Minsky's (Ahmanson)

REGIONAL

Into the Woods

BROADWAY

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BROADWAY HEAT: The Prom Edition: Round 1

HOT on Broadway (adj): fierce, talented, big potential; has "buzz"; has "it" factor.

BROADWAY HEAT: THE PROM EDITION

Which of these amazing cast members will you give a "prom-posal" to? Broadway's newest original musical is now in performances, and the cast is now competing for a spot on the BROADWAY HEAT HOTTEST LIST! (To see who's made the list so far this season click HERE.)

There are 8 groups of cast members, and you have to pick one from each group, and you must click "Finish Survey" at the end in order to make your vote count!  Good news! You don't have to have seen the show to vote! You may vote more than once, too.

THIS POLL WILL CLOSE ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9TH AT 5 PM!

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The Friday 5: 5 Best Title Songs: 1970 - 1982

Thanks for making last week's Friday 5 such a big success! (For those of you how asked, YES!, I will be glad to do a title song list prior to 1964.) We left off with 1970. And I put Company on last week's list. I meant to put it on this week's list, but I was off by a month. Since it's still 1970 on the list, I'm starting this week's list with a show that opened one month before Company, the Best Musical of 1971. That show is Applause, the Best Musical of 1970. And so begins this week's 5, covering 1970 - 1982. Enjoy!

The Friday 5

The 5 Best Broadway Title Songs

1970 - 1982

APPLAUSE (Opened March 30, 1970 at the Palace Theatre)

How cool that they filmed a stage-y version of this Strouse, Comden and Greene musical, and it didn't suffer from not having a live audience. Still, the best version of the title song comes from the 1970 Tony Awards, featuring Tony nominee and future TV star Bonnie Franklin.  And it answers that age old question: Why do we work our asses off?

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Opened October 12, 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre)

This show is one of my favorites, and I love the entire score, so it makes sense that this title number would make my list. Unfortunately, the only decent Broadway recording of it comes from the awful 2012 revival. Still, it sounds good. Here's Josh Young and company.

42ND STREET (Opened August 25, 1980 at the Winter Garden Theatre)

This is the Broadway that people who aren't Broadway people think of when they hear "Broadway." Tap dancing, kick lines, show girls and jazz hands. It's cheesy, for sure. But it is well done cheese. And this is the best number in the show. Here's the number featuring FORTY-EIGHT dancers from the 2018 Olivier Awards.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (Opened November 16, 1981 at the Alvin Theatre)

I've seen so many different versions of this show, and it is always an enigma. An enjoyable enigma, but an enigma nonetheless. I don't think it'll ever be even close to perfect, but the score is amazing. Here's a snippet from a recent production at Huntington Theatre Company, directed by Maria Friedman, based on her Olivier Award-winning revival.

DREAMGIRLS (Opened December 20, 1981 at the Imperial Theatre)

The staging, casting and the score of this show were all epic. Michael Bennett was a genius, and he was firing on all cylinders with this production. It was like watching a movie live on stage, it was so smooth. Here are the original Dreams (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine and Deborah Burrell) at the 1983 Jerry Lewis Telethon.



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#TBT: Playbill: Into the Woods: October 1987

I don't think I could name all of the different productions of Into the Woods I've seen over the years, and I'm positive that I couldn't give you an exact number of times I've seen the show, but it's in the dozens. And that doesn't include the movie version! Clearly, it connects with me. And while I will own up to occasional Woods fatigue, I still love the show. Before you ask, no, it isn't my favorite Sondheim show. (That honor goes to Sweeney Todd.)

There's always a first time, and mine was great with this show. I saw it in early previews in the 4th row, dead center at the Martin Beck Theatre. I was so excited.  It was my first time seeing any show in previews, first time seeing a Sondheim show, and my first time seeing Bernadette Peters! I remember absolutely adoring act one and being intrigued, if not a little bored at the second act. A lot of slower songs and repetitive dialogue, but I knew it was powerful overall. And I finally understood what people meant about a show needing changes during previews. What a great experience for a still relatively new Broadway fan!


Here's a look inside the Playbill from a previewing Into the Woods:

October 1987

Into the Woods
Martin Beck Theatre
43 previews, 756 performances
October 1987 Cast: Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Kim Crosby, Robert Westenberg, Tom Aldredge

Things don't change that much:
people still ask about movies to musicals,
tapes of the Tony Awards, and the
Cosette/Eponine Les Miz logo debate...

No, it isn't your eyes.
This page is actually blurry.

Song List:
Notice the song "Just Like Last Night" in Act One
"Boom Crunch!" in Act Two became "Last Midnight"
(You can still hear some of the former in the latter.)
The Act Two Prologue was re-titled "So Happy."

This was another great time to see shows: great plays including Broadway Bound, Burn This, Fences and I'm Not Rappaport; classic musicals including A Chorus Line, Cats, Cabaret and 42nd Street. Imagine a time when Les Miserables  and Into the Woods were new, and The Phantom of the Opera wasn't on Broadway yet. Of course there were flops - Roza and Late Nite Comic  were days away from having their posters hung at Joe Allen's. (I saw Starlight Express the same weekend!) But the real thing of note are the major titles playing off-Broadway! Can you believe it?

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