Soul Patrol Gets Portland Greeting

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – The Broadway Valentine band does take requests. As our final Broadway Valentine, we pass along this special request from Cliff and Katie in Portland, Oregon. They are looking forward to the birth of their first child, and seeing Taylor Hicks in Grease in Portland at the end of April. Two special events for sure. In celebration, here is the Broadway Valentine to Taylor Hicks from Emily Dickenson. Happy Broadway Valentines! See the whole collection of Broadawy Valentine’s here.

The soul selects her own society,
Then shuts the door;
On her divine majority
Obtrude no more.
Unmoved, she notes the chariot’s pausing
At her low gate;
Unmoved, an emperor is kneeling
Upon her mat.
I’ve known her from an ample nation
Choose one
Then close the valves of her attention
Like stone.

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv

Poet Over The Moon For Under The Sea

BRODWAY MAGAZINE – Fans of The Little Mermaid on Broadway may already be aware of the special Broadway Valentine the show was sent from Lord Tennyson. As we celebrate the first anniversary of Broadway.tv, we are bringing you an entire collection of Broadway Valentines. Here, above the sea, is the charming Valentine for The Little Mermaid from Lord Tennyson. See all the Broadway Valentine’s here.

I would be a mermaid fair;
I would sing to myself the whole of the day;
With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair;
And still as I comb’d I would sing and say,
‘Who is it loves me? who loves not me?’
I would comb my hair till my ringlets would fall
Low adown, low adown,
From under my starry sea-bud crown
Low adown and around,
And I should look like a fountain of gold
Springing alone
With a shrill inner sound
Over the throne
In the midst of the hall;
Till that great sea-snake under the sea
From his coiled sleeps in the central deeps
Would slowly trail himself sevenfold
Round the hall where I sate, and look in at the gate
With his large calm eyes for the love of me.
And all the mermen under the sea
Would feel their immortality
Die in their hearts for the love of me.

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv

Poet Wordsworth Loves Tony Winner

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – This weekend is Broadway Valentine’s Weekend on Broadway.tv. In The Heights is a classic Broadway success story. Winning the Tony last season as Best Musical helped solidify the show as a new Broadway classic. Celebrities continue to flock to the show. That said, perhaps the most distinguished fan of the Tony Winner is the sublime poet William Wordsworth. WW penned a Broadway Valentine to the show, and we share it with you now, exclusively here on Broadway.tv. See all the Broadway Valentines right here.

Rapt above earth by power of one fair face,

Hers in whose sway alone my heart delights,

I mingle with the blest on those pure heights

Where Man, yet mortal, rarely finds a place.

With Him who made the Work that Work accords

So well, that by its help and through his grace

I raise my thoughts, inform my deeds and words,

Clasping her beauty in my soul’s embrace.

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv

Dawing of the Age of Browing

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – When it arrives on Broadway soon, the new revival of HAIR will have a number of positive things going for it. Not the least of these is the undying devotion of the celebrated poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. As we celebrate Broadway Valentine’s Day, enjoy this expression of devotion from EBB for one of the most revolutionary musicals ever written. You can see other Broadway Valentines right here.

I never gave a lock of hair away
To a man, Dearest, except this to thee,
Which now upon my fingers thoughtfully,
I ring out to the full brown length and say
‘Take it.’ My day of youth went yesterday;
My hair no longer bounds to my foot’s glee,
Nor plant I it from rose or myrtle-tree,
As girls do, any more: it only may
Now shade on two pale cheeks the mark of tears,
Taught drooping from the head that hangs aside
Through sorrow’s trick. I thought the funeral-shears
Would take this first, but Love is justified,—
Take it thou,—finding pure, from all those years,
The kiss my mother left here when she died.

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv

Whitman For Jersey Boys

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – Apparently Walt Whitman loves the Broadway musical Jersey Boys quite a bit. In celebration of Broadway Valentine’s Day, we offer you an exclusive look at the great American poet’s Valentine to one of the most popular shows playing on Broadway. Check out our other Broadway Valentines right here, and have a happy Valentine’s Day! Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for…Walt Whitman’s Jersey Boys Valentine.

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear;

Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;

The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;

The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;

The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;

The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv

Whitman Roars for Disney Lion King

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – Did you know that the poet Walt Whitman was a former theatre critic? That fact is true. While we don’t know exactly what his favorite current show on Broadway is, one can infer from the Valentine he has penned for The Lion King that he has some affection for the production. For over a decade audiences have cheered the Disney production. As part of our celebration of Broadway Valentine’s Day, we offer you Walt Whitman’s Valentine to The Lion King. You can see other Broadway Valentines right here on Broadway.tv. Here, though, is Walt Whitman’s Valentine to The Lion King. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Ever upon this stage,

Is acted God’s calm, annual drama,

Gorgeous processions, songs of birds,

Sunrise, that fullest feeds and freshens most the soul,

The heaving sea, the waves upon the shore, the musical, strong waves,

The woods, the stalwart trees, the slender, tapering trees,

The flowers, the grass, the lilliput, countless armies of the grass,

The heat, the showers, the measureless pasturages,

The scenery of the snows, the winds’ free orchestra,

The stretching, light-hung roof of clouds—the clear cerulean, and the bulging, silvery fringes,

The high dilating stars, the placid, beckoning stars,

The moving flocks and herds, the plains and emerald meadows,

The shows of all the varied lands, and all the growths and products.

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv

Wicked Is Popular With Poet

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – One of the most beloved poets shares our fondness for one of Broadway’s most popular hit shows. William Blake knows his witches and his green. As we take time to bring you our Broadway Valentine’s Day all weekend long on Broadway.tv, we offer you Blake’s Valentine to Wicked. Apparently, he was able to get tickets, and interestingly enough returned several times to enter the Wicked Broadway Lottery. Happy Broadway Valentine’s Day. You can see other Broadway Valentines right here.

Echoing Green

The sun does arise,
And make happy the skies;
The merry bells ring
To welcome the spring;
The skylark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around
To the bell’s cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.

Old John with white hair,
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say:
“Such, such were the joys
When we all, girls and boys,
In our youth time were seen
On the Echoing Green.”

Till the little ones, weary,
No more can be merry;
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end.
Round the laps of their mothers
Many sisters and brother,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest,
And sport no more seen
On the darkening Green.

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv

Monty Python Musical Gets Valentine

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – Happy Broadway Valentine’s Day! The author of such classic tales as Maggie and Red Badge of Courage also happens to be one of the biggest fans of Spamalot. While both Clay Aiken and the production of Spamalot have left Broadway, the quest for the Grail continues on other stages around the globe. It is only fitting then that we take a moment to offer you Stephen Crane’s Broadway Valentine to Spamalot star Clay Aiken. Check our other posts to see Dante’s poem to Avenue Q, Whittier’s poem to Billy Elliot, and a very special shout out to Mamma Mia!.
(photo by Joan Marcus)

Now, as promised, Stephen Crane’s Broadway Valentine to Clay Aiken and Spamalot:

Fast rode the knight
With spurs, hot and reeking,
Ever waving an eager sword,
“To save my lady!”
Fast rode the knight,
And leaped from saddle to war.
Men of steel flickered and gleamed
Like riot of silver lights,
And the gold of the knight’s good banner
Still waved on a castle wall.

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv

Poet Rossetti Pays Tribute To Hit Show 

BROADWAY MAGAZINE –While it may be a chilly February day in New York City, there is warmth in the air as we celebrate Broadway Valentine’s Day on Broadway.tv all weekend. Enjoy a collection of some of the greatest poets we know paying loving tribute to some of the greatest shows on Broadway. Only here can you read Christina Rossetti’s Valentine to the hit musical Mamma Mia!. Happy Broadway Valentine’s to everyone…take it away, Christina!

Sonnets are full of love, and this my tome

Has many sonnets: so here now shall be

One sonnet more, a love sonnet, from me

To her whose heart is my heart’s quiet home,

To my first Love, my Mother, on whose knee

I learnt love-lore that is not troublesome;

Whose service is my special dignity,

And she my loadstar while I go and come

And so because you love me, and because

I love you, Mother, I have woven a wreath

Of rhymes wherewith to crown your honored name:

In you not fourscore years can dim the flame

Of love, whose blessed glow transcends the laws

Of time and change and mortal life and death.

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv

A Special Broadway Valentine from Old Greenleaf

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – As Broadway.tv and Broadway Magazine celebrate Broadway Valentines over the next several days, enjoy some of the most celebrated poets of all time and the poems they have dedicated to some of Broadway’s current hits. Enjoy this tribute to Billy Elliot The Musical from John Greenleaf Whittier. Photo by David Scheinmann.

The Barefoot Boy

Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan!
With thy turned-up pantaloons,
And thy merry whistled tunes;
With thy red lip, redder still
Kissed by strawberries on the hill;
With the sunshine on thy face,
Through thy torn brim’s jaunty grace;
From my heart I give thee joy,—
I was once a barefoot boy!
Prince thou art,—the grown-up man
Only is republican.
Let the million-dollared ride!
Barefoot, trudging at his side,
Thou hast more than he can buy
In the reach of ear and eye,—
Outward sunshine, inward joy:
Blessings on thee, barefoot boy!

Love, Broadway Magazine and Broadway.tv