Tag: Rodgers & Hammerstein

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Broadway's Best

Broadway’s Best Love Songs

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, here are some of our very favorite love songs from the musical theater canon. Enjoy!

‘Some Enchanted Evening’ from South Pacific

This Rodgers & Hammerstein classic embodies the essence of love at first sight. Its lush melody and romantic lyrics perfectly capture the magic of falling in love. ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ earns its spot for its enduring popularity and its ability to evoke the wonder of romance.

‘Tonight’ from West Side Story

In this poignant duet, Tony and Maria express their love despite the tensions surrounding them. Leonard Bernstein’s sweeping score and Stephen Sondheim’s heartfelt lyrics make this a Broadway classic. The song was originally written as a solo for Tony, but Sondheim and Bernstein later decided to turn it into a duet to heighten the emotional impact of the scene. ‘Tonight’ is noted for its emotional intensity and its status as a quintessential Broadway love ballad.

‘You Matter to Me’ from Waitress

In Sara Bareilles’s musical adaptation of Waitress, Jenna finds solace from her abusive marriage with love interest Dr. Pomatter. With the tender lyrics of ‘You Matter to Me,’ the two affirm their love for each other and relish in finding a partner to requite their affection. It’s a beautiful moment of vulnerability and calm amid a tumultuous journey for our protagonist.

‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ from My Fair Lady

Eliza Doolittle’s joyous declaration of love and newfound freedom is captured beautifully in this Lerner and Loewe masterpiece. It is theatrical lore that Julie Andrews, who originated the role of Eliza on Broadway, recorded the song in one take, despite having a cold at the time. The recording went on to become a bestseller and a treasured classic.

‘As Long As You’re Mine’ from Wicked

This haunting duet between Elphaba and Fiyero in the smash hit Wicked represents the intensity and passion of forbidden love. Stephen Schwartz’s evocative lyrics and soaring melody make it unforgettable for its contemporary appeal and its portrayal of love amidst adversity. Idina Menzel and Norbert Leo Butz, as Broadway’s original Elphaba and Fiyero, respectively, enter the canon of musical theatre love songs with this number.

‘Changing My Major’ from Fun Home

In Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s adaptation of the Alison Bechdel memoir graphic novel, Alison’s sexual awakening is depicted with this euphoric tune. She bashfully declares her fascination with Joan, as Tesori’s anthemic melody and Kron’s authentic lyrics beautifully convey the rush of emotions, and the freedom of her self-discovery. It’s both a song about love of another, and also about self-love and finding courage in your own identity. Alison’s vulnerability and newfound understanding of both herself and her feelings for Joan make it a powerful and relatable number.

‘Seasons of Love’ from Rent

This iconic anthem celebrates love in all its forms, urging us to measure our lives in the love that surrounds us. Jonathan Larson’s poignant lyrics and memorable melody have made it an enduring favorite for all theatre kids. Larson is said to have written ‘Seasons of Love’ in just one night, capturing the essence of the show’s themes in a burst of creativity. The act two opener is listed for its universal message and its significance in the modern Broadway repertoire.

‘So in Love’ from Kiss Me, Kate

Cole Porter’s sultry jazz waltz is a declaration of passion and desire. Its sophisticated lyrics and lush melody make it a standout in the Great American Songbook. ‘So in Love’ was famously covered by jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald, whose rendition became a jazz standard in its own right. This song is remembered for its timeless elegance and its portrayal of love’s intoxicating allure.

‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ from Jesus Christ Superstar

Mary Magdalene’s soul-searching ballad in the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice rock opera is a poignant exploration of love and devotion. Its questioning melody and introspective lyrics resonate deeply across generations since the musical’s 1971 debut. Yvonne Elliman, who originated the role of Mary Magdalene on Broadway, was initially reluctant to sing the song due to its religious themes, but was convinced when Webber performed it for her in his flat. She ultimately delivered a captivating performance that became a highlight of the show, with its emotional depth and its unique perspective on love.

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Creative

“My Most Challenging Work” with Director Leigh Silverman

Photo by Joan Marcus

For 20 years, Leigh Silverman has built an impressive directing career in New York and across the country. Since her Off-Broadway debut with 2004’s Well at the Public Theater (which she would restage for Broadway two years later), Silverman has helmed five Broadway and over 30 Off-Broadway productions. 

Her Broadway credits include Chinglish, The Lifespan of a Fact, and Grand Horizons, among others, and her sixth Broadway show is this season’s new musical Suffs, which Silverman brings to the Music Box Theatre following its Public Theater premiere in 2022.

Her awards nods include a Tony nomination for her work on the 2014 revival of Violet and two Drama Desk nominations, one for directing the play From Up Here in 2008 and the other for the musical Soft Power. The latter happens to be the show that came to mind for Silverman when Broadway’s Best Shows asked about her most challenging work to date. See what she had to say about the difficult project, and her eye towards its future… 👀

Conrad Ricamora & Kendyl Ito in Soft Power at the Public Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus

This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.

Broadway’s Best Shows: What has been your most challenging work to date?

Leigh Silverman: This is such an interesting question because every project is rife with its own unique, amazing challenges. I love challenge when it is artistic in nature and forces my collaborators and me to imaginatively and rigorously grapple.

The most challenging work, using this framework, would be Soft Power, a musical I directed at the Ahmanson Theater in 2018 followed by a run at the Curran in San Francisco and was then produced at the Public Theater in 2019.

BBS: What was so difficult about this project? 

LS: This musical had been a dream of David Henry Hwang’s, with music by Jeanine Tesori, and was a true exploration/investigation of what is “possible” in musical theater.  David wanted to write a play that would shatter when the character of DHH is stabbed (a hate crime that did happen to the real David), and then the play would replay/transform into a musical complete with a full orchestra. He loved the structure of Anne Washburn’s iconic play, Mr. Burns, and in his own spin wanted to create an inverse to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. So in his musical Soft Power, America’s struggles are musicalized through a futuristic Chinese musical lens. 

We faced challenges in tone and style as we tried to bend and twist and subvert and articulate why we love musicals, and why, even when they are so very problematic and racist, they still have the power to move us so deeply. All this while commenting on China’s possible future point of view about America as told through musical theater and thereby exerting their “soft power.”

BBS: How did you address and/or resolve the challenges?

LS: We worked tirelessly.  We love musical theater and wanted to make an exciting piece of musical theater that honored the form while interrogating it. We wanted to explicitly address the brutal and constant racism Asian Americans face. We worked and worked and worked and at one point Jeanine said to David, “David! Put your pancreas on the table!” That’s how hard we were all working.

BBS: Are you proud of the result?

LS: Extremely. But also it is unfinished. 

BBS: Is there anything you would do differently with the benefit of hindsight?

LS: The world has changed significantly since 2019 and I believe, when we get back to it, there will be fresh ideas and energy for reinvestigating David’s incredible vision.

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Broadway's Best

Broadway’s Best Shows About Summer

Photo by Joan Marcus

By Katie Devin Orenstein

Now that summer has been officially kicked off, here are our five favorite Broadway shows set during the summer. 

A Little Night Music

Way up north in the Swedish countryside, the sun doesn’t set in summertime. In Stephen Sondheim’s adaptation of the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, this perpetual anticipation is the perfect opportunity for romantic entanglements and chaos, for the aristocracy and their servants alike. The act 1 finale sends everyone and their spouses and lovers to a “Weekend in the Country”:

In The Heights

In The Heights captures everything about a New York summer: Fourth of July fireworks, absurd heat and humidity, block parties, blackouts, and frozen treats from street vendors. Here’s Chris Eliseo as In the Heights’ Piragua Guy, ready to go to war with Mr. Softee:

The Light in the Piazza 

“We’re on vacation!” trill Victoria Clark and Kelli O’Hara in the opening number of Adam Guettel’s rapturous score. The original production’s lighting and set design, by Christopher Akerlind and Michael Yeargan respectively, capture the heat and passion of a Florentine summer. 

110 in the Shade

110 in the Shade is a small-town Western love story set during a brutal drought and heatwave over the Fourth of July, with a romantic score by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones of The Fantasticks. The 2007 revival starred Audra McDonald. 

Carousel

“Just because it’s June, June, June”! Most of this Rodgers & Hammerstein classic takes place during a summer in coastal Maine, and features traditions like community clambakes, and the classic song “June is Bustin’ Out All Over.” And of course, the titular carousel, which traveled up and down the Eastern seaboard as part of summertime traveling carnivals in the 1890s.