A Man's a Man 1962 - Articles Page 21

The 2012 Music Circus season continues with The Music Man, theatre's musical tribute to the optimism, warmth, stubbornness and innocence of small town America, at Wells Fargo Pavilion from July 31 through August 5. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the photos below.

The 2012 Music Circus season continues with The Music Man, theatre's musical tribute to the optimism, warmth, stubbornness and innocence of small town America, at Wells Fargo Pavilion from July 31 through August 5. There's trouble in River City when traveling salesman Harold Hill comes to town promising to form a children's marching band to chase away the city's imagined ills. His plan hits home, but his motives are questioned by the spunky librarian Marian.

It's 1962 Baltimore, where racial tension and segregation provide a backdrop for teen angst and lots of catchy tunes by Marc Shaiman (lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman) performed to stage-defying choreography by JR Bruno who manages to get some 15 ensemble members bopping around at times without crashing into each other on the small stage.

On Thursday, three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway composer Richard Adler passed away at the ripe old age of 90. Responsible for two of the biggest Broadway smash hits of the 1950s, THE PAJAMA GAME and GAMN YANKEES, Adler never quite managed to equal his career-high double-hitter of that era, yet his earlier work with Tony Bennett ('Rags To Riches'), Doris Day ('Everybody Loves A Lover') and Marilyn Monroe (the iconic 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President') surely shall solidify his place in the firmament of entertainment history along with his two classic musicals from the Golden Age. Winning both Best Score and Best Musical for both THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES, Adler's partnership with lyricist Jerry Ross - which began on Broadway in 1953 with JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON'S ALMANAC - was tragically cut short just months after the DAMN YANKEES premiere when Ross was diagnosed with lung disease and passed away soon thereafter. Yet, thanks to the beloved film versions of THE PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES and continued interest in the entities as expressed in the revivals and reappraisals of both onstage from Broadway to Biloxi to Bombay year after year, the snappy, snazzy tunes of Adler and Ross live on eight times a week all around the world - even now, more than fifty years after they premiered. Unfortunately, Adler's subsequent shows with other collaborators post-1955 failed to capture the early magic of his previous projects with Ross and his earlier musical and theatrical endeavors in the pop arena, with the racially charged KWAMINA flopping on Broadway in 1961 (though he took home a Best Composer Tony Award for his efforts anyway) and the awkwardly titled MUSIC IS failing to recreate the magic of its source material, Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, in 1976. A MOTER'S KISSES, starring Bea Arthur and a young Bernadette Peters, died on the road, as well. In the intervening years, Adler attempted musical adaptations taken from a number of intriguing sources - OF HUMAN BONDAGE and others among them - though only his ballet scores seemed to reach an audience; particularly his last, commissioned for a new production of Lorca's THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA in 1998. Of course, THE PAJAMA GAME has had two Broadway revivals - most recently the rapturously received Kathleen Marshall-directed production starring Harry Connick, Jr. and Kelli O'Hara; and DAMN YANKEES famously returned to the Great White Way with much ado in 1994 starring Victor Garber. Now seems particularly ripe for remounting YANKEES, as we approach twenty years in its absence - especially given the musical's seriously smashing showing at Encores! in 2007. Who knows, perhaps some risky producer will even take a chance on a new production of KWAMINA, MUSIC IS, A MOTHER'S KISSES or one of the bottom drawer shows someday soon to see if they possess any of the limitless potential shown by Adler's earlier work. Or maybe a stage treatment of his TV musical GIFT OF THE MAGI (originally composed for then-wife Sally Ann Howes)? Or, better yet, how about a revue? What a stupendous songstack Adler created over the course of his career - 'Whatever Lola Wants' to 'Hey There' to 'Hernando's Hideaway' to 'You Gotta Have Heart' to 'Steam Heat' to the aforementioned Bennett, Day and Monroe standards and so many more chestnuts.

Playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb knows how to deliver such a dramatic jolt and he does so in his play boom, the season-ending production from Sideshow, the "project" of Actors Bridge Ensemble that has brought something new and exciting to Nashville theater-pushing the envelope through a series of innovative theatrical initiatives that are far removed from the staid old comedies and dramas we tend to see so often on local stages.

Today in 1980, The Music Man opened at City Center, where it ran for 21 performances. The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with the cash. In 1957, the show became a hit on Broadway, winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and running for 1,375 performances.

The Public Theater announced today that Tony Award winner Denis O'Hare has been cast as The Baker in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved musical INTO THE WOODS, directed by Timothy Sheader with co-direction by Liam Steel. INTO THE WOODS will be O'Hare's Shakespeare in the Park debut. Previews begin on Monday, July 23 at the Delacorte Theater and continue for five weeks through Saturday, August 25, with an official press opening on Thursday, August 9.

The 20th Anniversary season of New York City Center's Tony Award-winning Encores! series will open on January 30, 2013 with Fiorello!, the show that launched the series in 1994. The season will continue with It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, followed by On Your Toes. A Gala Encores! at 20 Celebration on November 12, 2012 will star Tony Award nominees and Encores! alumni Rauil Esparza and Kelli O'Hara.

Today in 2000, the second Broadway revival of The Music Man openened at the Neil Simon Theatre, where it ran for 699 performances. The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with the cash. In 1957, the show became a hit on Broadway, winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and running for 1,375 performances. The cast album won the first Grammy Award for 'Best Original Cast Album'. The show's success led to revivals and a popular 1962 film adaptation and a 2003 television remake.

With devil-may-care good looks and obvious merriment at being such a scoundrel, Clark is pure joy to watch ... while conning the entire town.

This Tony Award-winning, critically acclaimed Broadway classic is an all-American institution, thanks to its quirky characters, charming dramatic situations, and one-of-a-kind, nostalgic score of rousing marches, barbershop quartets and sentimental ballads which have become popular standards.

There's trouble in River City, and it's never been more fun than in The Music Man at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. This six-time Tony Award winner by Meredith Willson has marched onto the Beef & Boards stage with performances continuing through May 25.

This Tony Award-winning, critically acclaimed Broadway classic is an all-American institution, thanks to its quirky characters, charming dramatic situations, and one-of-a-kind, nostalgic score of rousing marches, barbershop quartets and sentimental ballads which have become popular standards.

This Tony Award-winning, critically acclaimed Broadway classic is an all-American institution, thanks to its quirky characters, charming dramatic situations, and one-of-a-kind, nostalgic score of rousing marches, barbershop quartets and sentimental ballads which have become popular standards.

This Tony Award-winning, critically acclaimed Broadway classic is an all-American institution, thanks to its quirky characters, charming dramatic situations, and one-of-a-kind, nostalgic score of rousing marches, barbershop quartets and sentimental ballads which have become popular standards.

Nathalie Armin, Paul Bhattacharjee, Simon Chandler, Michael Cochrane, Tariq Jordan, Belinda Lang, Shereen Martin, Daniel Rabin, Simon Rouse, Rick Warden and David Yip comprise the cast for THE BOMB - a partial history.

Meredith Willson's ever popular story about the unlikely romance between a flashy con artist and a staid librarian, 'The Music Man,' featuring such favorites as '76 Trombones' and 'Ya Got Trouble,' will be the Christmas Eve presentation December 24 at 9 p.m. on Reel 13, THIRTEEN's weekly movie showcase for classic, short and independent films.

Skylight Opera Theatre presents one of the most classic musicals of its time, The Music Man.

Meredith Willson's ever popular story about the unlikely romance between a flashy con artist and a staid librarian, 'The Music Man,' featuring such favorites as '76 Trombones' and 'Ya Got Trouble,' will be the Christmas Eve presentation December 24 at 9 p.m. on Reel 13, THIRTEEN's weekly movie showcase for classic, short and independent films.

Emmy Award winner ERIC McCORMACK will return to Broadway as presidential contender Joseph Cantwell in the star-studded cast of the 2012 Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN. The role of Senator Cantwell was played by Cliff Robertson in the film adaptation and Chris Noth in the 2000 Broadway revival.

Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel have just announced the design team for the upcoming Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN. Tony and Drama Desk Award winning scenic designer DEREK McLANE (33 Variations, Anything Goes), Tony and Drama Desk Award winning lighting designer KENNETH POSNER (The Coast of Utopia, Part 2 - Shipwreck) and five-time Tony Award nominated costume designer ANN ROTH (The Book of Mormon) will design the play about power, ambition, political secrets, ruthlessness and the race for the presidency.

Skylight Opera Theatre presents one of the most classic musicals of its time, The Music Man.

Following acclaimed performances internationally, Theatre for a New Audience, in association with Baryshnikov Arts Center, will present the New York premiere of C.I.C.T. / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord's Fragments from the texts by Samuel Beckett for only 29 performances at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th Street.

You can hardly swing a cat in Nashville without hitting someone in costume as Edna Turnblad or her dancing progeny Tracy, so popular has the show become with local theaterati. But, truth be told, if I never live to see another Hairspray, I can now die a happy man: Because I saw director/choreographer Justin Boccitto's exceptional, extraordinary and exhilarating take on the show, starring a phenomenal cast of Lipscomb University theatre students who so brilliantly bring the now-iconic characters of 1962 Baltimore to life with thorough commitment and so much energy you can't help but leave the theater with a spring in your step and a song in your heart.

Skylight Opera Theatre presents one of the most classic musicals of its time, The Music Man.