2000s Broadway Musical Logos Bracket Tournament - The Big 32 (Part 1)

The first decade of the new millennium was a big one for Broadway, with Disney and vampires, jukebox musicals coming into their own, and movie-to-musical adaptations threatening to take over. It was also a time of new voices, like Kitt and Yorkey and Lin Manuel Miranda. As usual, there were big hits and even bigger flops. In other words: business as usual!

But how were the show logos? That's up to you to decide. We've created a bracket of 64 Broadway shows from the decade. The Tony winners and hits and flops have been evenly distributed over four 16 "team" regions. So far, you've already narrowed down field to The Big 32! This week, you'll be choosing your favorites from the first half of The Big 32. For the current winners to date, see the full bracket below: 

#2462

2000s Broadway Musical Logo Madness!

The Big 32: Part 1

HOW IT WILL WORK:

• Each week, we'll open the voting for a different segment of the bracket, and you will select your favorite from each pairing.
• Your selection should be based on the logo/window card ONLY. We are NOT looking for your favorite show! It is possible to like a logo from a show you've never heard of before!
• We will provide pictures of the full window card (in most cases) or logo above each week's ballot, then you scroll down and make your selections. You MUST click/tap the "Click Me to Count Your VOTES" button at the bottom of the survey.
• THIS ROUND WILL CLOSE ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 1ST AT 5 PM!

Here we go again! May the best logo win! BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE FULL LOGOS BEFORE YOU VOTE! THE ACTUAL BALLOT IS BELOW THE FULL-SIZE LOGOS/WINDOW CARDS!

GAME 1:                                                                    GAME 2: 

                         

GAME 3:                                                                    GAME 4:

                         

GAME 5:                                                                    GAME 6:

                         

GAME 7:                                                                    GAME 8: 

                         

 

 

Remembering Rebecca Luker

Rebecca Luker was one of those Broadway performers I've always admired. When her name was in the Playbill I could always relax, knowing that her skill would guarantee an excellent evening on theater. She was also a performer who I regretfully missed more than I saw. Still, I had the privilege of witnessing her wondrous talent in four shows, starting with Showboat, where I just knew she was going to be big! On that cavernous Gershwin Theatre stage, in front of enormous sets, whether she opened her mouth to sing, or just stood there, all eyes were on her. Subsequently, I saw her in Mary Poppins, in off-Broadway's Death Takes a Holiday, and her final Broadway turn as Helen Bechdel in Fun Home. 

   

   

Her being a "safe bet" actor, I guess I just assumed there's always be a "well, I'll catch her in her next show" assumption. Of course, we all have been robbed of that possibility, but we can find comfort in knowing she's no longer suffering.

Rest in Peace, Ms. Luker. And thank you for everything.

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2000s Broadway Musical Logos Bracket Tournament - Round 1 Region D

The first decade of the new millennium was a big one for Broadway, with Disney and vampires, jukebox musicals coming into their own, and movie-to-musical adaptations threatening to take over. It was also a time of new voices, like Kitt and Yorkey and Lin Manuel Miranda. As usual, there were big hits and even bigger flops. In other words: business as usual!

But how were the show logos? That's up to you to decide. We've created a bracket of 64 Broadway shows from the decade. The Tony winners and hits and flops have been evenly distributed over four 16 "team" regions. So far, you've already narrowed down Regions A, B and C. This week, you'll be voting on 8 match up "games" from Region D. When the week is over, we'll have completed Round One, and named The Big 32! For the current winners to date, see the full bracket below: 

#2460

2000s Broadway Musical Logo Madness!

Round 1: Region D

HOW IT WILL WORK:

• Each week, we'll open the voting for a different segment of the bracket, and you will select your favorite from each pairing.
• Your selection should be based on the logo/window card ONLY. We are NOT looking for your favorite show! It is possible to like a logo from a show you've never heard of before!
• We will provide pictures of the full window card (in most cases) or logo above each week's ballot, then you scroll down and make your selections. You MUST click/tap the "Click Me to Count Your VOTES" button at the bottom of the survey.
• THIS ROUND WILL CLOSE ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25TH AT 5 PM!

Here we go again! May the best logo win! BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE FULL LOGOS BEFORE YOU VOTE! THE ACTUAL BALLOT IS BELOW THE FULL-SIZE LOGOS/WINDOW CARDS!

GAME 1:                                                                    GAME 2: 

                         

GAME 3:                                                                    GAME 4: 

                    

GAME 5:                                                                    GAME 6: 

                         

GAME 7:                                                                    GAME 8: 

                         

Broadway Games: Happy Broadway Holidays!

Although it's a little more than depressing to think about how we aren't seeing any shows over the holidays, we hope this week's Broadway Game will lift your spirits. It's pretty simple. Match the picture with the show title and with the song title. 

Have a great holiday, friends. Broadway Games will be back on January 8th!

Broadway Games:

Happy Broadway holidays!

PICTURES:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

SHOW:

A. Annie        B. A Christmas Story        C. Elf        D. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

E. Jagged Little Pill        F. Mean Girls        G. The Mystery of Edwin Drood

H. Rent         I. She Loves Me        J. White Christmas

SONGS:

a. "12 Days to Christmas"        b. "The Healy Family Christmas Letter"

c. "White Christmas"        d. "The Story of Buddy"

e. "No Good Can Come From Bad"        f. "La Vie Boheme"

g. "Welcome, Christmas"        h. "A New Deal For Christmas"

i. "Rockin' Around the Pole"        j. "Parker Family Singalong"

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****

Answers to Last Week's Puzzle

ANYONE CAN WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND

1. She wrote The Heidi Chronicles.  

WENDY WASSERSTEIN

2. The two-part 2020 Tony Award nominee for Best Play.  

THE INHERITANCE

3. A Wildhorn flop.  

WONDERLAND

4. The 2012 Tony Award winning Best Musical.  

ONCE

5. A Chorus Line "One" or Michael Reidel's new book.  

SINGULAR SENSATION

6. She's played Mrs. Thomas Jefferson, and English murder victim and Carrie's mother.  

BETTY BUCKLEY

7. They narrate Mean Girls.  

JANIS AND DAMIAN

8. A show for Sally, Buddy, Phyllis and Ben.  

FOLLIES

9. Hamilton royalty. (He'll be back!)  

KING GEORGE

10. Harry Potter and _____ Cursed Child 

THE

#2459

"Hit Songs" From Broadway Misfires: Showstoppers Edition

This edition of "Hit Songs" From Broadway Misfires proves two things. One, even the masters of the art form can have a flop, and, two, even a flop can generate a toe-tapping big number. These songs are those that I often skip to when I revisit the scores of Aspects of Love, The Goodbye Girl, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Thanks, in part, to the greatness of some of the top composers and lyricists of the 20th century, we are fortunate that these scores were recorded.

"Hit Songs" From Broadway Misfires:

Showstoppers Edition

"Hand Me the Wine and the Dice" from Aspects of Love

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart

Sung by Giulietta (Kathleen Rowe McAllen) and the Company

Favorite Lyrics:

If death were given a voice,

That voice would scream through the sky:

Live while you may for I am coming...

So...

Hand me the wine and the dice,

I want my carnival now,

While I have thirst and lust for living!

Hand me the wine and the dice,

The time is racing away --

There's not a taste that's not worth trying!

And if tomorrow it ends,

I won't have wasted today --

I will have lived like I am dying.

Considering that this song begins as a eulogy, one might not immediately think of this as showstopper, but it most definitely was.  Catchy and vibrant, the music matches the mood, the point, and the character whose life is being honored here. A truly memorable moment in an otherwise forgettable production. (I have since seen a production that made the whole show work. On Broadway, not so much.)

"A Beat Behind" from The Goodbye Girl

Music by Marvin Hamlisch

Lyrics by David Zippel

Sung by Paula (Bernadette Peters), Billy (Scott Wise) and the Company

Favorite Lyrics:

Billy

Push it class
Cause it gets tougher
Paula, you're a beat behind
Arms apart
For your art, suffer
Paula, move your sweet behind
Stop looking glum
Overcome by inertia
Some season soon
Tommy Tune
May rehearse ya
He'll keep you on your feet
Till you lose your mind
You're a beat behind

Company

Paula, what happened to Paula?
So sad to see Paula fall apart

Paula

Out of breath
Out of shape
And exactly as I thought,
Behind.
Look at her
With the lungs of Madonna
And a taut behind
Somebody
Get me an anti-depressant
She's at the post
Maybe post-adolescent
Time can be so unkind
I'm a beat behind
This is so perverse
Better call a nurse
Better yet a hearse.

I thought I'd bounce right back
A job would fall in place
But what is so appalling is
I'm falling on my face

As I am middle aged and currently unemployed, this song about bringing oneself "up to date" hits a little closer to home than it used to. But I've always loved this dance-y tune (its great to clean to...) and its name-dropping lyrics. What's fun is those names are both timely (Tommy Tune has just staged the intermissionless, never-stop-dancing Grand Hotel, and Madonna was as big as ever, vogue-ing away) and timeless (Tommy and Madonna are still and will always be superstars in their fields).

"On the Verge" from Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Music and lyrics by David Yazbek

Sung by Lucia (Patti LuPone), Pepa (Sherie Rene Scott), Candela (Laura Benanti), Marisa (Nikka Graff Lanzarone) and the Women

Favorite Lyrics:

LUCÍA

Welcome to the edge
The verge, the ledge
The bridge is out
You're looking in the mirror, baby

This is where it rips
A tear, a tear
A fear that what's been coming
Isn't coming 'cause it's here now

I admit it's kind of thrilling as you

ALL

Teeter on the brink and
You're thinking you're drunk and
A thought, or a word
Could break the thread
You're hanging by so

Keep it to yourself
Shut up. Or not
Let go. Hang on
And pretty soon you're ululating

Like a banshee
Can she cope?
She's out of rope but her
Lipstick's straight

Oh what might have been! The show that could've been a huge hit with just a little more time, work, and a cast change or two. The score, however, was not the problem (mostly), and has more hits than misses. Maybe it was the staging (Patti performing fellatio on a lollipop, a stage full of divas dangling overhead on bungee cord swings...) that makes this number stick out in my memory, but I really think it is the song. Daring, crazy, urgent, the song feels literally "on the verge." And the lyrics - fast, clipped, contradictory, playful, but strong. And the internal rhymes are delicious. But my favorite part is when Yazbek uses the word "ululating" (who does that?) and then has one of the women do just that! Brilliant. I'm already looking forward to the revival!

#2458