Today we continue the 2014 edition of our annual BroadwayWorld feature series spotlighting the very best Tony Awards-related moments of all time with a special focus on what many consider the final musical in the Golden Age tradition, 42nd STREET!
We're In The Money Boasting more hit tunes than a vintage radio song parade and featuring the fiercest tapping this side of Ann Miller, the final Gower Champion musical, 42nd STREET, is a classic musical that can claim winning the Tony Award for not only Best Musical in its original 1981 bow, but also Best Revival for its 2001 revival 20 years later. Showcasing a corps of talented tappers and an unforgettable opening sequence, 42nd STREET is brimming with appreciable attributes, first and foremost being the enchanting and earworm-packed score by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. To add to it all, 42nd STREET was produced by the iconic showman commonly referred to as "the abominable showman" himself, the one and only David Merrick. "We're In The Money". "I Only Have Eyes For You". "Shuffle Off To Buffalo". "Forty-Second Street". And, of course, "Lullaby Of Broadway". What a score! What copious opportunities for able performers to stop the show! Furthermore, what a delightful vehicle by which to introduce future generations to some of the most beloved, outright melodically and lyrically brilliant Great Depression song standards! Based on both the original novel by Bradford Ropes and its subsequent hit 1933 film adaptation directed by Lloyd Bacon and choreographed by Busby Berkeley, 42nd STREET tried out at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., before making its way to the Great White Way in 1980. Sounding, smelling, looking and feeling like a hit from the get-go, the opening night of the musical was a huge success - and, in a highly dramatic and undeniably unforgettable turn of events, a fabled one, as well.
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