All in Music That Makes Me Dance

Cast Album Review – Assassins (The 2022 Off-Broadway Cast Recording)

Stephen Sondheim’s score for Assassins has always impressed me for how the late composer-lyricist captured the flavors of Americana: Sousa-like marches, barber shop quartet, folk ballad, and soft pop music, in telling a story that is inherently American. Quibble if you must about the musical’s themes, but there is no other musical more relevant in the post-Trump era than Assassins. Some have called it anti-patriotic, and others have erroneously stamped it as glorifying the work of psychotic, would be (and sometimes successful) killers of Presidents of the United States. Assassins is, in fact, a lament of the American dream and how its false promises and failure to deliver have driven individuals and, metaphorically, society as a whole, to the edge. One of the song’s in the musical is titled “Something Just Broke,” a reaction to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In reality, Assassins digs deeper than mere mourning, challenging our blind patriotism and posits the theory that the United States of America has been breaking since its inception. What better way for Sondheim to convey the generations of unrealized American dreams than to say it with the music that made America?

Film Review – Does In the Heights Hit the Heights?

When audiences sat down in their seats at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in the spring of 2008, many were not quite ready for the electrically-charged piece of musical theatre they were about to witness. The then relatively unknown team of Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) delivered several jolts of adrenaline into the arm of the American musical, infusing the more traditional form of this theatrical storytelling with the contemporary sounds of hip-hop and rap, as well as crafting a bilingual score (English and Spanish) of poignancy and potency. Director Thomas Kail staged the musical with a palpable urgency and an emotional thrust that propelled the show through its climax, and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler provided movement that seemed to defy gravity and lift the show off the stage floor and into the ether. The musical I am referring to is of course In the Heights which has made its transition from the stage to screen some thirteen-years since it’s Broadway berth, under the direction of Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians).

Broadway Pride Playlist

For many of us, Pride weekend is a chance to celebrate and remember the hurdles the LBGTQ+ community has overcome and to continue to rally against the obstacles still in our way. It’s also a chance just to be, to embrace our authentic selves and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other minorities who have been marginalized. As we hold our heads up high in support of Black Lives Matter, Pride feels especially precious this year. Due to Covid-19, however, Pride won’t be the same parades and parties that have become a tradition of the month of June. That’s okay... this year will still be a time for reflection, and our hearts still beat with a sense of the journey that got us here and the miles left to go. I’ve put together a playlist for Pride that is composed of Broadway songs sung by LGBTQ+ characters, as well as a handful of Broadway songs that, though they weren’t directly addressing the issues of the LBBTQ+ community, carry in them the heart and spirit of Pride. I hope you are moved, and more importantly, inspired by these wonderful songs.

The Sounds of Styne: A Jule Styne Playlist

When I think of the quintessential showtune, Jule Styne is one of the composers that comes to mind. There is a brassy boldness that instantly begins to fill the ears and swells the heart when recalling melodies such as “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” And yet, Styne could be subtle, emotional, and break your heart with gentler tunes such as “The Party’s Over,” “Make Someone Happy,” and “Who Are You Now?” Working with many lyricists over his long career, Styne was a master of the infectious melody. Today, I’m celebrating this composer of Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Bells Are Ringing, Gypsy, and Funny Girl with a playlist that looks at songs from these, and a bountiful array of other titles. I hope you enjoy them and hopefully I didn’t miss too many that are close to your heart.