All tagged Terrence Mann

Remembering Barnum

Long before there was a film called The Greatest Showman, Broadway had its own musical version of the life of P.T. Barnum. This show, simply called Barnum, featured a score with music by Cy Coleman (Sweet CharityCity of Angels), lyrics by Michael Stewart (I Love My Wife) and a book by Mark Bramble (42ndStreet). Using the three-ring circus as the conceit for telling Barnum’s rise to fame as the King of Flim-Flam, much in the way Cabaret was set within a cabaret and Chicago within the confines of a vaudeville show, Barnum utilized its setting as a metaphor the risks that come with becoming a success, walking that proverbial tightrope known as “life”. 

Remembering Jerry Herman’s Mrs. Santa Claus

We love Jerry Herman, especially his devotion to creating music and lyrics that make larger-than-life ladies shine: Hello, Dolly!MameDear WorldLa Cage aux Folles. These are all sparkling examples of Herman's ability to create a pedestal for the great ladies of the musical stage to explode with verve and personality. It has always been what he has done best.

Cast Album Review: Tuck Everlasting

A family musical with a sublimely talented cast, a story (taken from a beloved book) with a message about making the most of your time here on Earth, and a score that is both soaring and joyous, should have added up to a Broadway success (or at least a show that could run a season). Unfortunately, Tuck Everlasting barely survived a month on Broadway. The new cast recording from DMI Soundtracks would give no indication that this show was short-lived. In fact, this lovely CD will most likely make the case for Tuck Everlasting’s long term legacy in regional, summer stock, community and school theaters. I would not be surprised if, in a few year’s time, we see Tuck Everlasting being performed just about everywhere. It is by no means the perfect musical, but there is so much that is delightful, nostalgic, socially relevant and magical that it is bound to become a popular property when the masses hear this cast album.

Dream Casting Sondheim Musicals

I was sitting the other night, catching up on this season of Orange is the New Black, and I was struck by just how terrific an actress Annie Golden is on the program. What makes her all-the-more special is the fact that her character doesn’t speak, but says so much with her eyes and her facial expressions. In one particularly thoughtful moment I found myself asking “Has she ever played Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd?” I think this would be an inspired casting choice, and Golden is no stranger to Broadway musicals or playing psychotic Sondheim characters, having originated the role of Squeaky Fromme in the original Playwrights Horizon’s production of Assassins (1990).    

This got me thinking: If I could cast some roles in Sondheim musicals, who would I choose and why? We all love a little speculative casting, so why not play that game right here. Today’s blog features some of my favorite choices for people I would cast in Sondheim roles.