The Broadway Boys: Mr. January 2019

This month, we congratulate Taylor Trensch on a job well done as he nears the end of his acclaimed run as the title character in Dear Evan Hansen. We are betting he's pretty tuckered out after this and a back-to-back run in Hello, Dolly! We've long been fans of this guy. He can do it all, emotional leading man, wacky sidekick, song and dance, serious drama. Along the way, he's been involved some of Broadway's biggest hits of the 21st century. Good luck and see you again soon, Mr. Broadway January 2019!

BROADWAY BOYS

January 2019

Dear Evan Hansen's Taylor Trensch

HEAD SHOTS AND CANDIDS

GETTING TO KNOW TAYLOR TRENSCH
Birth Date: May 3
Birthplace: Tampa, Florida
Education: Elon University
Theater Credits: Broadway: Wicked, Matilda, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Hello, Dolly!, Dear Evan Hansen; Off-Broadway: Bare, RENT; National Tour: Spring Awakening; Regional: Poster Boy (Williamstown Theatre Festival)

REGIONAL

NATIONAL TOUR

OFF-BROADWAY

BROADWAY

#1979

Welcome to the Theater! The Broadway Debuts of Choir Boy

Today, we celebrate 7 new Broadway debuts from the first new show of 2019, Choir Boy.

Congratulations to everyone making their dreams come true! Here's to great reviews, a terrific run, and many more opening nights.

Choir Boy

Opening Night, Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

NICHOLAS L. ASHE

(as Junior Davis)

DANIEL BELLOMY

(as Ensemble)

JONATHAN BURKE

(as Ensemble)

JOHN CLAY III

(as Anthony Justin "A.J." James)

CALEB EBERHARDT

(as Daniel Heard)

MARCUS GLADNEY

(as Ensemble)

JEREMY POPE

(as Pharus Jonathan Young)

#1978

Broadway Heat: The Cher Show Edition: The Elite 8 Round!

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

BROADWAY HEAT: THE CHER SHOW EDITION

Happy New Year! A couple weeks ago, your votes selected the 4 hottest guys and the 4 hottest ladies in the cast.  We have seeded them into an Elite 8 bracket. And now, your votes will determine the Final 4!

Below, pick one cast member in each pair (you have to do all 4 pairs). Then, make sure you click "Finish Survey" when you are done! Your vote won't count unless you do!

As they say at The Cher Show, "Let's do this, bitches!"

#1977

The Friday 5: 5 Title Songs: 1983 - 1987

Last year, we began a series of the Best Title Songs From Broadway Shows. Over the next few weeks, we'll finish that up. This week, it's all about the mid-80's. There were so many wonderful title tunes during this period, that narrowing it down to 5 tough, so we cheated and named a few Honorable Mentions at the bottom.  Enjoy!

THE FRIDAY 5:

5 Broadway Title Songs

1983 - 1987

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (Opened August 21, 1983 at the Palace Theatre)



Ok, so this isn't the best version of this number, but I love the song... and the lyrics are catchy, too. And it beats the hell out "The Best of Times," possibly the worst earworm in the history of earworms!

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (Opened May 2, 1984 at the Booth Theatre)



Not my favorite Sondheim show, but I do enjoy Dot in this number. And I really loved Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford in this revival.

ME AND MY GIRL (Opened August 10, 1986 at the Marquis Theatre)



I wish I could find video of Robert Lindsay and Maryann Plunkett performing this number. They were magical. And the show was amazing, too!

STARLIGHT EXPRESS (Opened March 15, 1987 at the Gershwin Theatre)



This one's for you, Mike! What is so sweet about this song is it's childlike repetition and earnestness.  And this video allows us an up-close look at the costumes and make-up. I'm a proud fan of Starlight Express.

INTO THE WOODS (Opened November 5, 1987 at the Martin Beck Theatre)



Before you send me ugly emails, please know that I picked this Tony Awards medley from Into the Woods revival for some (I think) good reasons. First, the video/sound are clearer. And there's the opportunity to see the late, great John McMartin in action, along with Christopher Sieber, Laura Benanti, and Vanessa Williams! Bonus: Chad Kimball in full Milky White drag!

HONORABLE MENTION: The Rink, Sweet Charity (revival version) and Smile

#1976

#TBT: Broadway Magic on Vinyl

When I switched to CDs years ago, and started replacing my favorite albums, I got rid of my turntable along with of most of my record collection. The only vinyl I kept was a small collection of Broadway cast recordings, mostly for the liner notes and pictures which are much easier to enjoy larger. It seems funny - and it delights me - that vinyl is making a comeback.

Not even a month ago, I was talking about getting rid of them - trying to purge/downsize, etc. Then what did my best friend do? He bought me a turntable for Christmas. I love it. It makes me feel very nostalgic.  The very first record I played on it is the subject of today's blog.

Many Christmases ago - probably in an effort to get me to play anything but Pippin - my parents bought me the 6 album box set of Broadway Magic. Put out by the then-King of Broadway Cast Recordings, Columbia Records, these were a 60-song greatest hits collection from some of the greatest musicals of all time (along with a few flop gems), sung by legends of the Broadway stage. Each album has a theme: The Best of the Great Broadway Musicals, The Great Performers, The Showstoppers, Super Hits, Great Performances and All Time Favorites. And the back of each sleeve has terrific liner notes, too! Columbia put out a second Broadway Magic compilation series, by the decade - 50s, 60s, 70s.

Now I'm all for the amazing sound quality of CDs and digital, but there is a lot to be said for hearing these older recordings in the vinyl platform. Julie sounds like Julie when she sings "I Could Have Danced All Night," and nothing beats Ethel belting out "Everything's Coming Up Roses," both just the way they were recorded. Apparently, I'm not the only one, otherwise, I'm sure there wouldn't be a (rapidly) growing market for them again.

And you know I'm going to get a current show on vinyl sooner or later...

#1975

#MyBroadwayThing: Lights of Broadway Trading Cards

January 2nd seems like the perfect time to break a New Year's resolution, right? Well, I think I've fallen down another rabbit hole of Broadway collectibles: The Lights of Broadway Trading Cards. 

It really was just a matter of time.  I mean, they feature the artwork of my favorite theater caricaturist, Justin "Squigs" Robertson. I went all in, too. I got an "official" binder and several dozen packs of cards from two series: Spring 2018 and The Megamix. I am actually pretty close to a full set of the Spring 2018 cards, and I'm doing pretty well with The Megamix series, too. (That set, as the names suggests, is quite large.) They also have downloadable coloring pages and checklists, which I use. The cards aren't cheap - at $5 a pack, it works out to a dollar a card - though if you order 10 packs at a time, you get an 11th free.

There's something about these that takes me back to my days as a kid when I collected Wacky Packages cards. There's that thrill of anticipation when you open the pack and see what cards you got. Naturally, you hope for no duplicates. And it is super exciting to get a card that represents a personal favorite - I literally squealed when I got my Angela Lansbury card. And my Stephen Sondheim.

My favorites of each series are the ones that represent shows (the Grand Hotel card is a particular favorite) and folks from "the Golden Age," which are done in a very classy black and white. Then there are the really special, "very rare" cards. I already have the lenticular Evan Hansens and Tevyes cards. Probably my absolute favorite, though, is the very first card I pulled out of the very first pack I opened - a foil card commemorating the BCEFA Flea Market and Grand Auction. It is beautiful and would make a lovely poster. Plus, what are the odds that that card would be my very first??!!

A little more than a week ago, their newest series, Autumn 2018 went on sale. Here's a question, readers: if I ordered some packs of those on December 31st, does that mean I broke my resolution after all?

Website: http://www.thelightsofbroadway.nyc/

Side note: I have several doubles from both the Spring 2018 and Megamix series that I am willing to trade for cards I'm missing, or even selling them if you don't want to trade.  Email me: jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com

(Promotional material courtesy of thelightsofbroadway.nyc. Photo and drawing credit: Justin "Squigs" Robertson. Collection photos by J. Kyler)

#1974

2019 Theater-ish Resolutions

I read somewhere that, among other things, if you make more than three New Year's resolutions, you are more likely to not achieve any of them. I guess that makes sense. Anyway, I made a list and narrowed it down to these three theater-ish thoughts.

• I will try to curb my collecting of theater memorabilia.

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know I have lots of collections. I'm trying hard to collect less, really. Over the last year, I've purchased just three window cards. I literally have hundreds of them. The vast majority will never see the light of day. On the positive side, the three I did buy are all framed and hanging in my living room.

I get great joy from my Playbill and cast recording collections - I look and listen at/to them regularly. Those I will maintain. And over the years, I've stopped collecting pins, buttons and mugs. All steps in the right direction. But...

... read the blog tomorrow to see what might make this resolution difficult.

• I will try to understand theater "stans."

I'm the first to admit I am a big fan of certain actors (you know of my love and admiration for Angela, Betty, Audra, Patti, et al) and shows (you know I obsess over Drood, A Chorus Line, and lately, Head Over Heels). I've even waited at the stage door to get autographs. I've even met a few Broadway folk.  But I have a hard time understanding "stanning." If I understand the meaning of the term, it has to do with obsessing over and establishing "relationships" with Broadway people over social media, then meeting them before and/or after shows, sending them gifts. Taken separately, each of those things isn't too bad. In all fairness, many Broadway folks encourage such interaction.

It does concern me when I read of fights between these stans, or some trying to follow actors home, and I fear for the safety of these actors when I see videos posted of what amounts to assault at the stage door. Recently, for example, I saw a video of a young woman (not a kid) trying to kiss Cody Simpson at the Anastasia stage door. I don't mean a friendly peck on the cheek - not that that's acceptable - either. In any other context, or if he had tried to do that to her, it would be called out as attempted sexual assault. (Read an editorial on that incident HERE.) Add to that reading about perceived slights some of these stans feel when they don't get repeated attention from the objects of their affections, I have to wonder just how far away we are from someone getting hurt or worse.

This will be a tough one to follow through on... but I'll try.

• I will try to understand why some people love certain shows that I don't...as long as they try to do the same with me.

Okay... I'm mostly being funny with this one. True, I get some, let's say, heated emails from people who think I "hate what I don't understand" when I don't give extended coverage to Dear Evan Hansen or Waitress. The problem is, I do understand these shows, which is why they are not on my favorite show list. I find very little to like about the character Evan Hansen (at least as played by Ben Platt). In the real world, he'd be a subject for Dateline. Then there's Waitress' Ogie. Really listen to the lyrics to "Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me." He is a stalker. Period. Spin it as a Hallmark Channel rom-com all you like. He. Is. A. Stalker. What absolutely floors me is that the show is written, scored and directed by well-respected women. Is that why it gets a pass from the #MeToo movement? If anyone even remotely like Ogie pursued any one of them in real life, it would be on the news. And don't get me started on a doctor having sex with a patient, consenting or not.

But I'll let the Hansen and Waitress fans love their shows in peace - which is why I don't constantly write about them. (Actually, this may be the first time I've written at length about Waitress.) Heck, I'm even planning a review of the cast recordings of both in the near future, and I have lots of nice things to say. That's a resolution I'll be able to keep my half of.

In return, how about not grilling me over my love for Come From Away over Dear Evan Hansen or The Band's Visit over Mean Girls.

Oh, and King Kong rocks!!! 😉

HAPPY NEW YEAR FELLOW THEATER LOVERS!

#1973