All tagged Passion
It breaks my heart to be sitting here and writing a remembrance of Marin Mazzie who passed away this last Thursday at the age of 57. Mazzie was a luminescent star of the Broadway musical stage, investing heart and soul into every song that she sang and every role that she embodied. There was something ethereal and magical in her voice, lifting us out of our daily lives and transporting us to somewhere near heaven.
This might seem like a ridiculous subject for a piece about Broadway showtunes, but the more I thought about it, the more fascinated I became by the subject. In songwriting, there is no copyright on titles, so titles can repeat. I can sit down and write a song about Broadway and remembering fondly, then title it “Give My Regards to Broadway.” As long as the music and lyrics are different, it is perfectly acceptable (and legal) to do so. This got me thinking: what showtunes are there that share the same title? It turns out, there are several. Here is a sampling of some that I found.
If you are like me, a bitter, sarcastic Muppet-like creature, Valentine’s Day isn’t exactly your cup of tea. We of this ilk condemn the holiday as a commercially created reason to spend money on cards, flowers, sweets, and for the most entrenched of us, jewelry. We bemoan the coming of old February 14 and pray to God that Cupid’s arrow misfires and lands squarely between his own cherubic eyes.
Stephen Sondheim is perhaps the most revered and worshipped composer-lyricist in the American Musical Theatre, and though he has earned that status with an extraordinary canon of work, certain musicals he has written are obviously better than others. Opinion and personal preferences, of course, play into one’s feelings about his shows. As an experiment to sort out my enthusiasm and criticism of his work, I have ranked Sondheim’s musicals from his worst to his best.
Let the judgment begin…
