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IN MY LIFE, if only for the classic Brantley review pull-quote, "finally the real "Springtime for Hitler" has arrived in New York!"

Seventy years ago today, April 7, 1949, SOUTH PACIFIC opened on Broadway, and quickly became the HAMILTON of its day.  This weekend, I saw my umpteenth regional production of the show out on Long Island, and was struck by how the casual racism of Nellie Forbush and Lt. Cable still stings all those decades later.  For instance, Nellie worries about marrying Emile because he has Polynesian children, and Joe Cable fears what the neighbors back on the Main Line will say about Bloody Mary's brown-skinned daughter.  So when I got home, I Googled the lyrics of "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught."

You've got to be taught to be afraid,
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a different shade.
You've got to be carefully taught.

And then on YouTube I found this clip of Oscar Hammerstein explaining the song, and William Tabbert singing it, with Richard Rodgers on piano.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAls_gUhlQw

Turns out, Rodgers and Hammerstein were counseled repeatedly to remove the song, which was said to be too controversial for a musical.  But they refused to take it out.  In fact, James Michener, who wrote the book that the show was based on, later said that "this number represented why they had wanted to do this play, and that even if it meant the failure of the production, it was going to stay in."

agree with JBroadway, saw it in May, bizarre, hilarious and insightful, and you can tell it's a Vonnegut work

 

Anyone who wants to do something positive might want to consider thanking both American Express and the NY Times, among others, for continuing to support the Public Theater and remaining as sponsors of Julius Caesar.

corporate.social.responsibility@aexp.com

letters@nytimes.com

Not all corporations are evil and cowardly.

Yes, I thought I said their song "All the Wasted Time" was a highlight.  Maybe I should have been clear and said that the act of them singing it together was a highlight.  Anyway, that's them in the photo above and that's Jason Robert Brown just behind Arcelus in this photo flash from TheaterMania.

    Last night, Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry discussed their musical PARADE with journalist Steve Oney (author of a book about Leo Frank) and moderator Julie Bernstein, during a special program that mixed live performances with a panel discussion at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, near Battery Park.

    The museum just opened an exhibit about Leo Frank, who they say is the only Jew ever lynched in America.  Bernstein asked Brown if he thought the story told in PARADE still had any relevance today, more than a century later, and he said yes, mentioning unnamed racist demagogues currently running for office.

    Uhry revealed a very personal connection to the story: his relatives owned the pencil factory where the murder took place.  Both Uhry and Oney said they knew or met with many of the descendants of people on both sides of the story.

    During breaks in the discussion, Brown conducted the band while Stephanie J Block (Lucille) and Sebastian Arcelus (Leo) led an ensemble that sang eight or nine of the songs from the score.  Standouts were Leo and the three factory girls (Allie Trimm, Caitlin Houlihan, & Caitlin Kinnunen) dueling on "Come Up to My Office" and Leo and Lucille sweetly embracing during "All the Wasted Time."
 

An Evening on Parade

here's a before & after diagram of what they propose to do:

(you might need to scroll to the right to see the after)

It's actually quite uplifting and poignant, and considering that the 100th anniversary of the events this is based on is April 24-29, pretty timely too.

I went last night and didn't die.  No snipers or drug wars, though there were a lot of little kids that had to go poopies in the middle of the show.  What did you watch on Netflix last night, Roxy?  They had a big sign with your name on it in the middle of Act One.  If you weren't such a scaredy-cat, maybe you'd take the subway out to Brooklyn like Michael Musto did last night and go see it.

Roxy, still trying to decide if you're a fraidy-cat or a scaredy-cat.  How did you not flee the city in the bad old days?

I'm going on Wednesday.  How ironic that people once again talk about avoiding certain venues because of street crime.  But I'm not gonna stay at home and watch Netflix.  I can remember when you had to run the gauntlet from the subway to the theater in Times Square to see GREASE, THE WIZ, A CHORUS LINE, PIPPIN, and yes, ANNIE.  Heck, my friend and I were talking just last night about what an act of courage it used to be to go to Avenue A or Ludlow Street.

At the Cort Theatre there are aisles between the seats and the walls at stage left and stage right in the orchestra section.  When the show is in progress there are heavy curtains drawn closed to create a barrier.  I would assume she went through those curtains so she was out of sight of the audience.  But obviously still audible.

I thought the Irish Rep did a great job with FREEDOM OF THE CITY back in 2012.  But it was when I saw ARISTOCRATS in Dublin a little over a year ago -- where the servants spoke with an Irish brogue but the gentry had a subtle "West Brit" accent -- that I realized what a master he was of the English language.

Am pretty sure I saw lyricist Steven Sater there tonight. Anyone else spot him?

In the preview I saw, the kids performed Mozart's Queen of the Night aria in music class.  And yes, they did play their own instruments, including the cymbals.

Gaveston, no doubt there are many operas in English, new and old. I've seen a few at Lincoln Center, such as GRENDEL, TWO BOYS, and KLINGHOFFER last year. But no mistaking them for Broadway musicals. Like you said, the music was supreme. The action was deliberate, and the staging was, well, operatic.

Lotto tonight was bedlam, made worse by the crowd control barriers already up along the curb on both sides of the street (Obama is seeing the Sat matinee).  I'd say 400 people tonight vying for 21 front row seats ($10) and 6 standing room slots ($40). At 5:55 LMM and two other cast members came out the stage door and entertained us with a rap duel between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton over the national bank and whiskey taxes. Then 6pm and we lost the lotto.

More than anything, I think what best separates an opera from a musical is the era in which it premiered, the language in which it was written, and the place it debuted.

Turandot premiered at La Scala in 1926, and was sung in Italian. It was one of the last entries in the canonical repertoire of most opera houses.

Show Boat premiered on Broadway in 1927, and was in English. It was one of the first great musicals.

"Also while i was on line there were about 5 counter terrorism officers walking out of the lobby and talking with the house manager. Anyone know what was up?"

According to Page Six, President Obama is going to the matinee show this Saturday.

Obama visits New York

Another block of tickets just went on sale for additional Gramercy Theatre shows on this coming Wed, Thu & Fri at 7:30pm.

School of Rock - the Musical