Broadway Hero

[BroadwayBoy3]

I have to do a biography, and I wanted to do it on someone who changed Broadway.
Who changed Broadway?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Tatum O'Neal.

[Craig]

Agnes De Mille
Bob Fosse
David Merrick
George and Ira Gershwin
Rodgers and Hammerstein

[Mamie]

George M. Cohan

Actually Oscar Hammerstein (the lyricist's grandfather) would be a really interesting story.

[husk_charmer]

Michael Bennett

[spiderdj82]

Rodgers and Hammerstein

[yeomansden]

Some really good suggestions so far (will second the Michael Bennett one)

Also:
Stephen Sondheim
Andrew Lloyd Webber (whether for good or bad, which is a whole other argument, he certainly changed Broadway...)
Leonard Bernstein

[humbugfoto]

Hal Prince

[madbrian]

In addition to the previous suggestions, I'd add:

Jerome Robbins

[SweetQintheLights]

Eyedeeena Menzeel







Sorry, I had to

[PalJoey]

I think Oscar Hammerstein. He started in operetta and ended up changing the entire idea of the American musical by bringing serious themes into it. Plus--he and Richard Rodgers were producers and music publishers, so they expanded the roles of writers into business people.

[philly03]

Andrew Lloyd Webber
Disney

[ljay889]

Wildhorn

[tazber]

Joe Brooks

[JoeKv99]

Fran & Barry Weissler

[Yero my Hero]

David Belasco. He basically shaped early American theater, and there's a lot of really interesting stuff there.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Nice to see SOMEONE knew who David Belasco was and the influence he had. I don't think any of his plays, per se, were memorable, but his impact on scene design, lighting, the star system, and other innovations changed the way things were done.

Also consider Florenz Zielgeld, Jr. -- the musical was NEVER the same after he landed in town. And Eugene O'Neill turned the serious Broadway theatre around forever.

[Yero my Hero]

Oh, don't worry, I wasn't referring to Belasco's playwriting at all.

[monestere]

Stella Adler & Lee Strasberg , who revolutionized the craft of acting on the American stage by introducing and teaching the Stanislavski system, which later came to be known as the "Method".

Tennessee Williams, whose plays tackled controversial characters and subjects with a frank, unflinching realism that was made to order for the new generation of brilliant young actors (Brando, Dean, Clift, etc) trained by Adler and Strasberg in the "Method" style of acting, and embraced by cutting edge directors (Kazan, etc).

[Gypsy9]

Jerome Kern who along with Oscar Hammerstein wrote SHOWBOAT, which changed forever the Broadway musical.

[millie_dillmount]

Bob Fosse
Rodgers & Hammerstein
Jerome Robbins
Stephen Sondheim
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Kander & Ebb

[kchenofan]

Susan Boyle

[AEA AGMA SM]

"Oh, don't worry, I wasn't referring to Belasco's playwriting at all."

Though don't forget that Belasco provided Puccini with the materials that became Madama Butterfly and La fanciulla del West (which in turn provided the Puccini estate with a lovely plagiarism suit against Andrew Lloyd Webber).

[wendilin622]

Irving Berlin
Ethel Merman
Bert Williams
Cole Porter


And just because I think she's the ultimate diva:
Carol Channing