Cabaret Scenes Review - Broadway by the Year

So let me ask you something: Thirty years from now—no matter how big a Broadway musical history nerd you might be—would you go to a concert featuring songs from the following shows, all of which opened in 2010? American Idiot, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Million Dollar Quartet, The Addams Family, The Scottsboro Boys and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown? Perhaps you and a few other people would turn up for the novelty or because you’re a BIG Broadway musical history nerd. I wouldn’t be there, I’ll tell you that much. Which begs the question: How did Scott Siegel manage to pack Town Hall for the 1982 installment of his Broadway by the Year? Ah, the beauty of a subscription series.

In 1982, I was busy getting a marriage, a career, and a magazine off the ground and as much as I loved Broadway musicals, I didn’t exactly have the scratch for the theater, even in those pre-$100-per-orchestra-seat days. But judging by the lineup of shows and songs featured in Broadway Musicals of 1982, I didn’t miss much.

Of course, I did eventually see Cats and Nine and aside from appreciating the sublime schmaltziness of “Memory,” and “Unusual Way” (from those shows, respectively), neither musical did much for me. The year’s other classics I missed: Blues in the Night, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Is There Life After High School?, Rock ’N Roll! The First 5,000 Years, and A Doll’s Life—which combined—didn’t even make it to 100 performances. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (which was represented with “Close Every Door,” sung with gusto by Kevin Earley) premiered on Broadway that year, but it had opened in London many years before (and I’ve never been crazy about that show, either). I mean if Scott Siegel could include Joseph, how about finding a place for Dreamgirls, which was only ten days short of a 1982 opening, or Little Shop of Horrors, which didn’t make the cut because it was an “Off-Broadway” show.

There is, however, something to be said for experiencing songs from a bunch of overrated hits and monumental flops as a “greatest hits” package, especially if you’ve never heard some of them before, with one being sung by Liz Callaway (who was a memory after opening the show with “Memory”) or two others sung by Karen Akers (who wonderfully delivered the tender and intense “My Husband Makes Movies” and “Be On Your Own,” the songs she introduced as the original Luisa Contini in Nine).

The mini-revelation of Musicals of 1982 had to be the collection of songs from Is There Life After High School?, which had just twelve performances on Broadway, but was a cult hit in London in 1985 and 2001. The show’s composer and lyricist, Craig Carnelia, channeled Billy Joel and other singer/songwriters of the ’70s on the poignant “The Kid Inside,” Barbara Walsh expressed the regret of every former high school girl who didn’t have her feelings reciprocated in “Nothing Really Happened,” and Walsh and Kerry O’Malley teamed up for a fun “Fran & Janie,” as adults reminiscing about being BFFs as teenagers.

The rest of the cast did fine with what was left. Highlights included: Kenita Miller on “When Your Lover Has Gone” and “Blues in the Night” used in the revue of old blues songs of the same name; Stephen Mo Hanan (who was nominated for a Tony in the original production of Cats) on the long and lyrically intricate “Gus, the Theatre Cat”; Ron Bohmer taking on the egotistical “Guido’s Song” from Nine; and Bohmer and Earley teaming up for a rousing “Sobbin’ Women” from Seven Brides. Members of the Mark Stuart Dance Theatre attempted to heighten the production values on “Macavity: The Mystery Cat,” from Cats, “Summer in the City” used in Rock ’N Roll and “Taking a Chance on Love” used in Blues. The women dancers were game and gorgeous, but you can see far better choreography on TV’s So You Think You Can Dance.

Next up in the series? Broadway Musicals of 1997 (June 20), including The Lion King, Play On!, Dream, Triumph of Love, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Jekyll & Hyde, Steel Pier, and Side Show. Oy! Maybe 2010 wasn’t so bad after all.

(Pictured: Kevin Earley and Kerry O'Malley; photo by Steven Sorokoff)

Stephen Hanks
Cabaret Scenes
May 16, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org



	Broadway by the Year Broadway Musicals of 1982 The Town Hall New York, NY
So let me ask you something: Thirty years from now—no matter how big a Broadway musical history nerd you might be—would you go to a concert featuring songs from the following shows, all of which opened in 2010? American Idiot, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Million Dollar Quartet, The Addams Family, The Scottsboro Boys and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown? Perhaps you and a few other people would turn up for the novelty or because you’re a BIG Broadway musical history nerd. I wouldn’t be there, I’ll tell you that much. Which begs the question: How did Scott Siegel manage to pack Town Hall for the 1982 installment of his Broadway by the Year? Ah, the beauty of a subscription series. In 1982, I was busy getting a marriage, a career, and a magazine off the ground and as much as I loved Broadway musicals, I didn’t exactly have the scratch for the theater, even in those pre-$100-per-orchestra-seat days. But judging by the lineup of shows and songs featured in Broadway Musicals of 1982, I didn’t miss much. Of course, I did eventually see Cats and Nine and aside from appreciating the sublime schmaltziness of “Memory,” and “Unusual Way” (from those shows, respectively), neither musical did much for me. The year’s other classics I missed: Blues in the Night, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Is There Life After High School?, Rock ’N Roll! The First 5,000 Years, and A Doll’s Life—which combined—didn’t even make it to 100 performances. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (which was represented with “Close Every Door,” sung with gusto by Kevin Earley) premiered on Broadway that year, but it had opened in London many years before (and I’ve never been crazy about that show, either). I mean if Scott Siegel could include Joseph, how about finding a place for Dreamgirls, which was only ten days short of a 1982 opening, or Little Shop of Horrors, which didn’t make the cut because it was an “Off-Broadway” show. There is, however, something to be said for experiencing songs from a bunch of overrated hits and monumental flops as a “greatest hits” package, especially if you’ve never heard some of them before, with one being sung by Liz Callaway (who was a memory after opening the show with “Memory”) or two others sung by Karen Akers (who wonderfully delivered the tender and intense “My Husband Makes Movies” and “Be On Your Own,” the songs she introduced as the original Luisa Contini in Nine). The mini-revelation of Musicals of 1982 had to be the collection of songs from Is There Life After High School?, which had just twelve performances on Broadway, but was a cult hit in London in 1985 and 2001. The show’s composer and lyricist, Craig Carnelia, channeled Billy Joel and other singer/songwriters of the ’70s on the poignant “The Kid Inside,” Barbara Walsh expressed the regret of every former high school girl who didn’t have her feelings reciprocated in “Nothing Really Happened,” and Walsh and Kerry O’Malley teamed up for a fun “Fran & Janie,” as adults reminiscing about being BFFs as teenagers. The rest of the cast did fine with what was left. Highlights included: Kenita Miller on “When Your Lover Has Gone” and “Blues in the Night” used in the revue of old blues songs of the same name; Stephen Mo Hanan (who was nominated for a Tony in the original production of Cats) on the long and lyrically intricate “Gus, the Theatre Cat”; Ron Bohmer taking on the egotistical “Guido’s Song” from Nine; and Bohmer and Earley teaming up for a rousing “Sobbin’ Women” from Seven Brides. Members of the Mark Stuart Dance Theatre attempted to heighten the production values on “Macavity: The Mystery Cat,” from Cats, “Summer in the City” used in Rock ’N Roll and “Taking a Chance on Love” used in Blues. The women dancers were game and gorgeous, but you can see far better choreography on TV’s So You Think You Can Dance. Next up in the series? Broadway Musicals of 1997 (June 20), including The Lion King, Play On!, Dream, Triumph of Love, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Jekyll & Hyde, Steel Pier, and Side Show. Oy! Maybe 2010 wasn’t so bad after all. (Pictured: Kevin Earley and Kerry O'Malley; photo by Steven Sorokoff) Stephen Hanks Cabaret Scenes May 16, 2011 www.cabaretscenes.org

Broadway by the Year

Broadway Musicals of 1982

The Town Hall New York, NY

The Town Hall
New York, NY