After the myriad stresses of the past year, we could all use some straight-up entertainment and 42nd Street Moon is providing just that with Don’t Touch That Dial: DC and Peter’s Glorious Romp Through the Golden Age of TV Theme Songs. Conceived and directed by DC Scarpelli and Peter Budinger, the show promises, a light-hearted, celebratory stroll down memory lane as Scarpelli and Budinger guide us through the decades of catchy sitcom themes and the evolution of television. The large, diverse cast also includes Moon stalwarts like Meg McKay and Keith Pinto among a host of multi-talented performers who may be new to you. Don’t Touch That Dial is available to stream from June 5 – 27, 2021 as part of 42nd Street Moon’s paid virtual ticketed MoonBeams series. Tickets and further information are available at www.42ndstmoon.org/moonbeams.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Budinger and Scarpelli last week as they were still putting the finishing touches on the video presentation. As Scarpelli says, “We’re not satisfied with any musical number until it’s utterly dripping with charm and delight.” If you ever run into them at a party, these are definitely the guys you want to talk to as they are both a barrel of fun and an endless font of information about classic TV and musical theater. A married couple, the two have been working together for years as well as performing individually, and their combined theater credits read like a recent history of Bay Area musical theater. The freewheeling conversation covered how they conceived the show and put it together, which obscure songs didn’t make the final cut, and shows they’d love for Moon to mount in the future.
Working Definition:
An amorphous term that has come to describe any Professional (paid) theatre (musicals, plays, Shakespeare, musical variety) that occurs during the summer season (approx. May-September). Often featuring young professionals, Summer Stock work can be found at a variety of both year-round and summer-only venues and can often occur in non-traditional spaces, such as outdoors or under tents. While treated as an entry level/intern gig in the professional world with entry-level pay, Summer Stock work provides real world performance experience in addition to exposing early career theatremakers to a variety of other responsibilities (building sets, costuming, teaching, etc.).
Check out this week's list of new and upcoming releases, including Live Your Life: My Story of Loving and Losing Nick Cordero, Once On This Island on orange vinyl, R&H Goes Pop!, and more!
The criteria are that these shows have been nominated for Best Musical from the 3rd Tony Awards (the ceremony that started the Best Musical category) in 1949 to the nominations of what will now be the 74th Tony Awards in 2021. I will be determining their signs based upon their Broadway premiere date. With those rules in mind, here we go!
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 91 greatest Sondheim songs from stage, screen and beyond. See if your favorites made the cut! What's at #1?
/kor/ productions has announced the next production in its digital 2020-21 season will be a contemporary retelling of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers. The classic tale of brotherhood, human nature and forbidden love is streaming straight to audiences' home screens this March 11th, 12th and 13th.
Through our Women in Theatre Through the Decades features, we will be highlighting the vital role that women have played in theatre history, showcasing those who paved the way and who continue to make history today.
Check out this week's list of releases, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella cast recording, The Color Purple on vinyl, What the Constitution Means to Me, and more!
Need something new to read, watch, or listen to? Check out this week's list of new and upcoming releases! This week's list includes the film soundtrack for One Night in Miami..., volume two of the Jason Robert Brown musical collection songbook, the Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia, and more!
This week's list includes a new album featuring Rebecca Luker and Sally Wilfert called 'All The Girls.' Also now available this week is the CD debut of The Desert Song 1967 London studio cast recording, a book of Lorraine Hansberry's substantive interviews, and more!
One of the lucky few who has been able to perform in public this year, Dawn Derow has also spent a little time working indoors. WHITE CHRISTMAS is the result of some of that work.
Angela Lansbury has enjoyed a career without precedent. Her professional career spans more than half-a-century, during which she has flourished, first as a star of motion pictures, then as a four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway musical star, and most recently as the star of 'Murder, She Wrote,' the longest running detective drama series in the history of television.
The Skivvies are stopping by Birdland this week on October 1 with special guests Matt Doyle and Tamika Lawrence! Get a sneak peek of their performance below!
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest protest songs from 1939-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!
Summer is here, and that means an abundance of heat, sunshine, and creativity just waiting to be brought to life. While the global health crisis may still be keeping the doors to most theaters shut, theater companies around the country have risen to the challenge and created new doors to walk through- virtual ones!
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest Motown songs from 1960-1994. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest scenes in cinema from 1901 to 2020. See if your favorite movie moments made the list!
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest Beatles songs, including some of the fab four's solo works. They're all here: 'Twist and Shout,' 'In My Life,' 'Helter Skelter,' 'Imagine,' 'Something,' 'Maybe I'm Amazed,' 'Let It Be.' See if your favorites made the grade!
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best musical theatre characters from 1940-2020; see if your favorites are on our list of the best characters from Broadway musicals.
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best TV episodes from the 1950's to 2020; see if your favorites made the list!
The Beatles! Rihanna! Michael Jackson! Johnny Cash! Kanye West! The Rolling Stones! Aretha Franklin! Bob Dylan! Miles Davis! Nirvana! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest albums from the rock and rap era (1950-2020); see if your favorites made the grade!
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!
BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best film musicals since the sound era began; see if your favorites made the list!
BroadwayWorld has already shared a list of songs to keep you inspired during these trying times, as well as exclusive daily content from some of your favorite Broadway stars. Now, we're bringing you some musical inspiration straight from the stars themselves! What are they listening to to stay sane? Find out below!
How do we make a list of the 101 greatest show tunes from the past 100 years? Well, we did the near-impossible task. Check out our full list here!
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