BROADWAY MAGAZINE- We don’t often talk about ourselves, but recently at the celebrated South by Southwest gathering in Austin, TX, someone else was talking about us and we wanted to pass along the news.

At South By Southwest, Broadway Magazine was featured in a selection of magazine samples offered by MagCloud highlighting their state-of-the-art printing technology. Magcloud handles the actual shipping and printing of our on-demand monthly issues. Well, Paul Gillin from Newspaper Death Watch which chronicles the decline of newspapers and the “rebirth of journalism” took a look at our latest issue and described it as “beautiful.” Read his full article here.

With Stephen Sondheim on the cover, articles about The Miracle Worker, Million Dollar Quartet, Memphis, All About Me and Dame Edna, Lea Salonga, A Behanding In Spokane, Juke Box Musical round-up and more; we’d like to think you’d find our current issue beautiful too. Our past issues are pretty attractive too, btw.

You can see for yourself and flip through the past issues of our on-line edition here. Until March 21 all issues of Broadway Magazine are 25% off too.

Thank you again to everyone who continues to help grow and shape Broadway Magazine. Remember, if you love Broadway, we love you. Join us.

 Broadway Icon Born

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- Happy birthday to Liza Minnelli, born on March 12 in 1946. Daughter of the legendary Judy Garland, Ms. Minnelli has managed to carve out a celebrated career in her own right. On Broadway, she has produced and performed in at least three concert specials, and has developed a loyal following of fans.

Last year, Liza with a Z beat out Will Ferrell to win a Tony Award for best Special Event on Broadway. Celebrate with us by marrying David Gest (or divorcing him). If you prefer, you can watch this video clip of the divine Ms. Minnelli in action below.

Happy Birthday Liza, from your friends at Broadway.tv and Broadway Magazine. Celebrate with us on Twitter.
-Ashley Trombley, Broadway Magazine

Landmark Musical Arrives On Broadway

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- In the Heights opened on March 9th, 2008 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. It was nominated for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and ended up capturing several awards at the 2008 ceremony, including the Tony Award Best Musical. Of course the show continues its successful run on Broadway even at the moment.

The current cast includes High School Musical star Corbin Bleu, who will surely lead the audience in a rousing chorus of Happy Broadway Birthday To In The Heights at the show today. Let us know if they have cake on Twitter.

-Ashley Trombley, Broadway Magazine

In The Heights

Broadway’s Juke Joints

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- With the arrival of Come Fly Away, Million Dollar Quartet, and American Idiot by Green Day on Broadway this month, the army of Juke Box Musicals has swelled considerably. A Juke Box Musical (JBM) is a show that features a score made up of songs that are already extant: Mamma Mia! features the music of ABBA, for example. To prevent you from mixing up your Carl Perkins from your Fela Kuti, we offer this round-up of the current Juke Box Musicals wowing the crowds on Broadway.

Mamma Mia!: Features the hit music of the super-group ABBA, and continues to find a place among the top shows of the Broadway box office. No Waterloo here.

Jersey Boys: featuring the music of Frankie Vali and The Four Seasons, audiences can’t take their eyes off of this JBM. A global hit and still one of the most sought after tickets on Broadway.

Fela!: Featuring the music of Nigerian artist and activist Fela Kuti, this new musical features Kuti’s music and while not immediately familiar to all audiences, still qualifies as a Juke Box Musical.

Come Fly Away: Not only does it feature songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, but actually incorporates the vocals of Ol’ Blue Eyes.

Million Dollar Quartet: Featuring the familiar early rock hits of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash, this Juke Box hero musical stays off of your Blue Suede Shoes.

American Idiot: Broadway gets punked with the new musical featuring a score by Green Day taken directly from their album American Idiot, with other material as well. This is a JBM with edge.

Sondheim On Sondheim: More of Juke Box Musical for Broadway fans, the Broadway Zeuss brings some of his existing songs together in a unique show.

Rock Of Ages: For those about to 80s rock, this JBM salutes you. Featuring the feel good and good feeling rock gems from the hair-band set.

This feature is from the March Issue of Broadway Magazine. Follow us on Twitter for more.

 Television History Made with Broadway

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- You can fly. On March 7, 1955, Peter Pan became the first Broadway play to be televised in color. It was performed by the original cast, including Mary Martin. According to the Museum Of Broadcast Communications, the event marked “a popular melding of American television and Broadway theater.”, first

The show formed part of an ongoing series titled Producers’ Showcase, a loose rubric for high-quality dramatic presentations put together by producer Fred Coe for the network about once a month between 1954 and 1957.

As trailblazers in bringing together Broadway and TV, we at Broadway.tv salute Mary Martin, Fred Coe, NBC, and Peter Pan with this special clip of the production. Celebrate with us on Twitter too.

-Ashley Trombley, Broadway Magazine

Send In The History

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- Ah, a weekend in the country…On February 25, 1973, Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music
premiered on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre, starring Glynis Johns, Len Cariou, and Patricia Elliot. Critics embraced the quiet, complex little show, which won six Tony Awards including Best Musical.

A revival of A Little Night Music, starring Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones, opened in December 2009 and is currently running on Broadway, and was featured in the January issue of Broadway Magazine. Earning rave reviews and performing well at the box office, it is another jewel in the crown of Stephen Sondheim.

- Schuyler Velasco, Broadway Magazine

 Broadway King Crowned Again

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- On February 24, 1999, Julie Taymor’s musical adaptation of The Lion King
received a Grammy award for Best Musical Show Album. The show also nabbed five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Director of a Musical for Taymor, the first woman in history to win the award. The Lion King
is still running at the Minskoff Theatre, and remains the ninth longest-running Broadway show of all time. Read more about the show here.

Taymor’s new musical Spiderman Turn Off the Dark, with music and lyrics by U2’s Bono and The Edge, is scheduled to open this season eventually.

–Schuyler Velasco, Broadway Magazine

Join us on Twitter and keep the Broadway celebration going.

The Lion King

Good-bye, Mr. Wonderful

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- On February 23, 1957, the musical Mr. Wonderful,
starring Sammy Davis Jr., closed on Broadway after 383 performances. The show was an extended version of the performer’s Las Vegas nightclub act and featured music and lyrics by Jerry Bock. Bock would later enjoy a fruitful collaborative relationship with lyricist Sheldon Harnick, with whom he wrote The Apple Tree, She Loves Me, and Fiddler on the Roof.

Sammy Davis Jr. was a member of the famous Rat Pack, that included Frank Sinatra, who’s vocals will be on Broadway in the new production of Come Fly Away by Twyla Tharp.

–Schuyler Velasco, Broadway Magazine

Which Rat Pack member would you also like to see on Broadway, in some form? Tell us on Twitter.

Come Fly Away

 Broadway Musical Infamy Honor

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- So bad it’s good: Broadway history is usually characterized by greatness. But every so often a show comes along that’s so heinous, so unspeakably bad, that it becomes legendary. Such was Moose Murders, the iconically terrible mystery farce that opened and closed on the same night at the Eugene O’Neil on February 22, 1983.

The play, which featured a mummified paraplegic, a drug-crazed hippie, and yes, a murderer in a moose costume, has become the golden standard of awfulness against which all theatre is judged. In his hilarious New York Times review, Frank Rich recounted the experience:

“From now on, there will always be two groups of theatergoers in this world: those who have seen Moose Murders and those who have not. Those of us who have witnessed that play will undoubtedly hold periodic reunions, in the noble tradition of survivors of the Titanic.”

Rich later wrote about a “Woodstock” phenomenon growing around the legend of Moose Murders, in which the number of New York theatergoers who claimed to have attended the play’s sole performance far exceeded the capacity of the Eugene O’ Neil Theatre.

Were you there? Let us know on Twitter…or right here on the blog.

Historic Run News

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- “One” is done.
On February 21, 1990, producer Joe Papp announced that A Chorus Line would dance its final performance in April of that year. At 6137 performances, A Chorus Line
was the longest-running show in Broadway history until surpassed by Cats
in 1997.

The 2006 revival ran for 759 performances and won two Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival; and was featured on the cover of the premiere issue of Broadway Magazine. The national tour is currently making its way across the United States.

–Schuyler Velasco, Broadway Magazine

Be the one, join us on Twitter.