We’re surveying musicals from 130 years of theatre history on this week’s Dress Circle (9/4 7:00 p.m.) beginning with a long-forgotten musical from 1891 entitled “Mavourneen” to Broadway’s most recent September opening (or reopening), “Waitress.”
“Mavourneen” opened at the then 14th Street Theatre (which was renamed several times after opening as the Theatre Francaise and before it was razed in 1938) and ran for several months. Its star was Chauncey Olcott who made a career out of presenting shows with Irish themes in which he starred. “Waitress” with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles opened initially in 2020 but reopened in September of 2021 after covid and ran for 1,666 performances between its two outings.
Once again, we’ve chosen a mix of well-known and loved musicals and those which may be new to you.
On the well-known end, you’ll hear selections from Bock and Harnick’s “Fiddler on the Roof,” Bernstein and Sondheim’s “West Side Story,” Styne and Sondheim’s “Gypsy” (Lansbury revival), and two shows by Webber, “Evita” written with Tim Rice, and “Song & Dance” written with Don Black.
From the lesser-known and somewhat forgotten shows, we’ve got “Chaplin” by Curtis and Meehan, “Urinetown” by Hollmann and Kotis, “Fine and Dandy” by wife and husband team Swift and James, and “As Thousands Cheer” by Berlin.
Are there more? Of course, there are! However, you’ll just have to tune in to see what they are and if you’re familiar with them.
Thank you again for being a part of our wonderfully diverse musical family and making our 39 years as volunteer hosts of the Dress Circle so rewarding for us.
