Broadway Musicals

Hello, Dolly!

"Hello, Dolly!" was first produced for Broadway and the original play starred Carol Channing, although the role originally was intended for Ethel Merman. "Hello, Dolly!" was based on the hit play, "The Matchmaker," by Thorton Wilder and the musical score was written by Jerry Herman. The play opened on Broadway in 1964 and it ran for 2,844 performances. "Hello, Dolly!" won 10 Tony awards, including the award for Best Musical. [read more...]

Girl Crazy

"Girl Crazy" was written in 1930 by George and Ira Gershwin. It ran for 272 performances on Broadway and starred two young performers, Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman. Included in the orchestra were several well-known musicians, such as Glen Miller, Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. Two of the best-known songs from "Girl Crazy" are "Embraceable You" and "I Got Rhythm." [read more...]

Oklahoma

In 1943, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II thrilled Broadway audiences with their innovative musical, "Oklahoma." The play used music and dance to help tell a well-developed story about people in Oklahoma in the early 1900s. "Oklahoma" was a huge success on Broadway, running for 5 years and 2,212 performances. [read more...]

The King and I

A year after "South Pacific" opened on Broadway, Rodgers and Hammerstein II wrote "The King and I." The play was based on the memoirs of Anna Leonowens who, in the 1860s, was the teacher of the King of Siam's children. [read more...]

Grease

The musical "Grease" was the next step forward in rock and roll musicals. While "Bye Bye Birdie" showed mostly the wholesome side of teenagers, "Grease" moved into the more rebellious age of American teens. Although it is set in 1959, it is probably more characteristic of the 1960s generation of teens than that of the 1950s. "Grease," like "West Side Story," dealt with working class youth. But "Grease" went further than its predecessors by including themes of sex and teen pregnancy. [read more...]

Hair

"Hair" was the next rock and roll musical to revolutionize musical theater. It represented the open, free, "flower children" of the late 1960s and it created a new kind of musical theater. [read more...]

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

"How to Succeed in Business" was a huge success on Broadway, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1962. It opened on Broadway in 1961 and it ran for 1,417 performances. The play won 7 Tony awards, including the awards for Best Musical, Best Author of a Musical (Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert), Best Composer (Frank Loesser), and Best Direction of a Musical (Abe Burrows). [read more...]

Miss Saigon

Almost 10 years after the London premiere of their first hit, "Les Miserables," Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil saw their second major play open in London. Like its predecessor, "Miss Saigon" became a huge success, first in London, and then several years later on Broadway. [read more...]

My Fair Lady

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "My Fair Lady" is one of only two Tony winning Best Musicals to also become an Academy Award winning Best Picture. The play ran on Broadway for six and a half years and it has had three Broadway revivals since it ended its first run in 1962. Both the book of the play and the screenplay were written by Alan Jay Lerner. [read more...]

Oliver

"Oliver," although an Academy Award winner for Best Picture and Best Director (Carol Reed), did not win similar Tony awards but it was nominated for Best Musical (it lost to "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"). The excellent music score of "Oliver" won a Tony award for the composer and lyricist, Lionel Bart, and an Academy Award for the film's musical arranger, Johnny Green. Overall, "Oliver" won 3 Tony awards out of 10 nominations and 5 Academy Awards out of 11 nominations. In addition, Onna White won an Honorary Academy Award for her choreography of the film version. [read more...]