musicals

In “The Prates of Penzance,” Kate sings: “Let us shut our eyes and talk about the weather” in order to avoid a “complication.” On this week’s Dress Circle (8/2 7:00 p.m.), we’ll approach the weather with eyes wide open as we look at the recent spate of storms the easter seaboard has been facing this summer through thirteen musical storms.

Shakespeare seems to get credit for a great many things, but this time, he deserves it even if the quote is a bit “off.” We’re “Gilding the Lily” on this week’s Dress Circle (8/16 7:00 p.m.), well, we’ve amassed songs about beauty and its secrets, dressing to impress or excess, and a few make-up tips from a variety of musicals.

People want a great many things, and we’re back to some songs that showcase that on this week’s Dress Circle (8/9 7:00 p.m.). However, these “I want” songs are in disguise as the “want” doesn’t appear in the title.

We actually heard several people say, “Can you believe it’s August already?”, and to be honest, we certainly can. As always, we’re starting off the month on this week’s Dress Circle (8/2 7:00 p.m.) with pieces from some of the shows that opened in New York this month, and we’re continuing with our look at them through overtures and opening numbers.

July 26 is National Aunt and Uncle Day! Who knew? We found out before it was too late, so this week’s Dress Circle (7/26 7:00 p.m.), we’re going to be celebrating some aunts and uncles through stage and screen musicals along with at least two television series. Since there were actually so few songs dedicated to aunts and uncles, we’ve gone far afield and found some interesting and forgotten/rare pieces.

We’re going a bit “colloquial” on this week’s Dress Circle (7/19 7:00 p.m.) as we continue with our look at “I want” songs by turning to songs from a dozen shows that say “I wanna,” and as former English teachers, it really pains us to “wanna” do this.

On this week’s Dress Circle (7/12 7:00 p.m.), we’re going to look at an important aspect of a musical: the “I want” song. An “I Want” song appears in many musicals and is usually within the first 20 minutes or so. It lets the audience know the inner-workings of a character, usually the lead, and generally establishes the reasons for why that character does what he or she does throughout the evening.

Can you believe it’s July already? (We’ve heard that just about every month so far.) Well, it is. July always seems to come around about this time of year, and to celebrate that certainty on the Dress Circle (7/5 7:00 p.m.), we’re going to be sampling a few of the shows that opened in New York this month through overtures and opening numbers.

We’re following up on an earlier program on this week’s Dress Circle (6/21 7:00 p.m.) with a program we’ve titled “Songs of Inspiration, Determination, and Hope. The previous program was in April which has been dubbed the “Month of Hope,” and that program contained an entirely different playlist of songs with “hope” in the title. This time, the songs offer inspiration and hope for characters and listeners, as well as show determination to overcome adversity. We believe that these are things that are truly needed just now.

It’s June, and people, especially television weather-people, just can’t “believe it.” We don’t know why not; it happens every year around this time, so that means we’re going to celebrate it on this week’s Dress Circle (6/7 7:00 p.m.) with pieces from ten of the shows that opened in New York in June.