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by Steven LaVigne It was Martin Charnin’s idea to transform Harold Gray’s comic strip, Little Orphan Annie, into a musical. However, when he first suggested it to playwright Thomas Meehan and composer Charles Strouse their response was negative. They gradually came around to the project. At the time, the United States had survived the Nixon/Watergate…
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by Steven LaVigne Although it didn’t happen often enough, several movie musicals managed to capture the brilliance of their stage beginnings. This production of Show Boat, brought to the stage in 1927 by Florenz Ziegfeld and considered the first great musical of the Twentieth Century is a perfect example. Released by Universal, the 1936 version…
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by Steven LaVigne As anyone who’s read about or taken a class in the history of musical theater knows, Oklahoma! was an innovative musical whose original production changed the genre forever. Prior to 1943, musicals usually opened with a chorus of pretty girls singing and dancing in order to draw in the audience, especially the…
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by Seven LaVigne Theater directors generally stay in the theater, but some have branched out with films – not always successfully. For every Mike Nichols, Bob Fosse or Joshua Logan, there’s someone who should have known better. Harold Prince (1928-2019) is one of them! Fortunately, he only made two movies. Winner of an unprecedented 21…
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By Steven LaVigne If writer and director Colin Higgins (1941-1988) is remembered at all, it’ll be for both the novel and screenplay of the 1971 cult film, Harold and Maude, which began as his Master’s thesis at UCLA. Due to the films’ popularity (including a 3-year engagement at Edina’s Westgate Theater, which has since been…
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Little did I know that day in 1982 when I walked into the Corcoran Neighborhood Center in south Minneapolis that it would become a huge part of my life.
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Steve LaVigne wrote a series of essays on film directors who made one musical during their careers. This month’s subject is Gene Saks and “Mame”.
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One of the most popular Broadway hits of the 1960s was Man of La Mancha. United Artists brought Man of La Mancha to the screen, directed by Arthur Miller.
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Steve LaVigne wrote a series of essays on film directors who made one musical during their careers. This article’s subject is William Wyler and “Funny Girl”.
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Steve LaVigne wrote a series of essays on film directors who made one musical during their careers. This article’s subject is Ken Russell and “The Boy Friend”
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Steve LaVigne wrote a series of essays on film directors who made one musical during their careers. This article’s subject is Joseph L. Manciewicz and “Guys & Dolls”.
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Steve LaVigne wrote a series of essays on film directors who made one musical during their careers. This article’s subject is Howard Hawks’ “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”.
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Steve LaVigne wrote a series of essays on film directors who made one musical during their careers. We kick the series off with Richard Attenborough and “A Chorus Line”.
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Chita: A Memoir is beautifully written and filled with the type of theatrical experiences you wish we could all have.
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“Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” is an outstanding biography of a fascinating woman, and a must read, especially for those intrigued by the history of musical theater!
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It’s not fair that paying audiences should be confronted with an actor’s personal arrogance and unprofessional nonsense.