I can’t believe I’ve been hosting Friday DUAN posts for months now and haven’t had a Broadway night yet! 🎭 What’s wrong with me?!
It’ll still be a little bit before most of us could see a show in real life, so in the meantime, let’s celebrate the shows we’ve loved in the past.
Tonight’s theme is The Great White Way! The roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd! Another opening of another show!
For participation’s sake, I will accept movie musical songs if you’re not a huge broadway fan.
Thanks for supporting DUAN and Deadsplinter!
Sammy Davis Jr. – Hello Dolly
They say the lights are bright on Broadway
My favorite song from Phantom of the Opera. I sang this as a duet at a friend’s wedding:
My most effective song from Phantom. I used this in a lot of auditions:
I didn’t know that you were a singer!
Me neither and I read his username as SplinterRIP at first and was VERY confused.
My sisters were superb musicians and some of it wore off on me, though I was never in their league. I went to the same university which had (and still has) an outstanding music program. My best friend was gay and dragged me to an audition. I hope this works now that the edit function is gone.
That’s me in the middle for Bye, Bye Birdie. Yeah, I’m not one of the ladies.
I’m the guy in the gold lame suit.
My little brother (I mean 17 years younger little) played Conrad Birdie when he was like……10?
I WAS BETTER THAN YOUR LITTLE BROTHER LEMMY! DONT MAKE ME TROT OUT THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM!
I’m sure you were. I was just trying to establish some common ground so as not to be “dead to you.” 😛
I know. And you’re not really dead to me. I won’t speak for Cousin Matthew though.
This was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum:
Fabulous. Are you very tall? I’m 6’4″ and I usually don’t really notice men’s heights (though I am gay) and lots of our male friends are over 6′ but in your “Bye Bye Birdie” shot you seem more than above average height. I always notice tall women for some reason, but I think that’s because it’s nice to be able to look a woman in the eye while standing and talking to them, rather than towering over them.
Not really, from my perspective. I’m 6 foot even. I think it was A. I was really skinny and B. the shots were from the audience perspective below the stage.
@MatthewCrawley, I will stand on a chair when finally meet up. Or you can sit and rest your bum leg…that should make us eye level.
Your timing is perfect. Broadway (and all other entertainment venues as far as I know, except of course for the live audiences that can attend “SNL” shows, has been shuttered since March 12th, 2020. On April 2nd (two weeks ago) a very limited number were allowed to reopen, none of them actually on Broadway, and under strict conditions, by the grace of “embattled” Emperor Cuomo. Nothing on Broadway is open yet. It’s thought that the first performance to return will be “Hamilton.” But soon enough Broadway will reopen, in some safe, sane way. All authoritarian regimes must come to an end, and Cuomo’s is no different.
Settle in for a long evening with me. I thought long and hard about what I would lead off with. In honor of His Imperial Highness I was going to lead off with “Send in the Clowns” but I think this is even better.
And this one’s for you, Handsy Andy!
Bernadette Peters never fails to be completely incandescent. She mesmerizes me.
Here’s another Bernadette Peters favorite (sadly, not a Broadway performance):
Oh, it’s from “Company,” if you don’t recognize it, but I’m sure you probably do.
This one is for all of us:
PATTI LUPONE! Did you see her duet with Randy Rainbow? She was already a goddess but this somehow actually elevated her in my estimation:
Of COURSE I did. At least 100 times. I’d be barred from the Fire Island Pines ferry if word gotten out that I hadn’t.
It’s nice to see they have standards.
I love Jesus Christ Superstar.
Okay, weird story from my Southern Baptist upbringing. In Sunday School (don’t ask), we used to have to check off a list of all the religious things we’d done every week. During rehearsals for Jesus Christ Superstar, I was able to check off “Bible read daily.” That’s the only time in my life I could truly say that.
That is awesome! As a child with no religion, I always thought Jesus Christ Superstar was a biography.
One of the best things about a religious upbringing was the music. I have no affinity for religion (agnostic leaning toward atheist) but I adore hymns and can’t stand modern Christmas music. Even the “popular” Christian music from 30 years ago is head and shoulders above the stuff produced now. The other thing about it was that I was basically forced to practice most days. I resented it, like a lot of kids, but in retrospect I’m glad it happened.
We had this album when I was growing up. This is a really beautiful song:
No, not this, dammit. This:
Damn you, sticky mouse that can’t copy and paste consistently, and lack of an edit function.
We’ve all been there.
Haha. I did a record scratch and wondered if you’d somehow become Jonathan Groff’s age.
This is Myo’s favorite!
Okay, my Hamilton story. I was in Chicago for work and one of the people at the seminar I was overseeing said, hey, I got a Hamilton ticket for like $90. It’s over at this theatre (walking distance) and I got a single ticket on discount (single tickets are hard to sell). I hit my laptop and within minutes had my own Hamilton ticket for like $90.
I plant myself in my seat and I’m reading the Playbill and a guy and his wife sit next to me. He starts talking “I’ve been wanting to see this forever and we flew in from San Diego and I’m so excited I can’t wait.” I said, oh, well I’m here on business and my teenage daughter can’t stop talking about this show so I decided to get a ticket and see it.
He stared at me for a second and said, “If you don’t mind, how much did you pay?” I said, oh it was $90. He didn’t speak to me for the rest of the performance.
To be fair, my daughter is still pissed off at me too.
I fuckin’ hate musicals. Have some early Marty Friedman:
@LemmyKilmister, somehow that is not a surprise!
You’re dead to me.
It’s a musical. Think about it.
Nope. Neither you nor Eddie Murphy can persuade me.
LOL
😐
In NYC we are going through a Spring Awakening!
The Clash – Broadway
Tom Waits – Somwhere
Yada da da Daaaa
@MatthewCrawley, I will stand on a chair when finally meet up. Or you can sit and rest your bum leg…that should make us eye level.
I love the shows that are about young people because so many high schoolers think musicals are just about boring old people stuff.
Anyways, I was supposed to see Mean Girls last year but obviously that didn’t happen. I looked up some of the songs the other day since I had no clue what to expect and this one cracked me up. Enjoy!
Sorry I’m late to the party tonight.
Most jazz standards are originally from Broadway shows. I’ve been on a Bernstein kick lately, and this one is from On The Town.
I didn’t intend for this to be an all-Sondheim revue, but it was sort of inevitable.
“Sunday” from Sunday in the Park with George, (Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, et al)
This Sondheim song (one of a few) features in both Company and Putting it Together:
“Marry Me A Little”, from Company (Raúl Esparza)
“Marry Me A Little”, from Putting it Together (John Barrowman)