Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Playlist For Sunday, June 5, 2016: Let them eat, Antoinette!

I needed an excuse (since when?) and found one! An excuse to play all my favorite blockbusters IN ONE SHOW, with no regrets. And what do I find? The Antoinette Perry Awards... just one week away, so what better time to pack in selections of as many past winners (and a couple of hopeful winners-to be) as possible. There, that was easy. So justifiable. Now I get to wallow in Hermans and Loessers and Sondheims for 2 hours, for a REAL REASON, not just a pet peeve. Which is usually how I operate. I mean, it IS my show. Harrumph.

What's interesting is that as you listen to this semi-chronological list (with an accent on SEMI) of Broadway winners is the evolution...and range of the material. The first Best Musical Tony was awarded in 1949 to Kiss Me, Kate, that Cole Porter bauble...a parody of Shakespeare really (what's on Broadway now? Something Rotten! Shakespeare is still shakin' it up!)...then Guys and Dolls slick, Pajama unions with frisky employees, librarians and con artists, kings, Don Quixote, matchmakers. Then drag queens. Then murder. Funny murder with tap dance. Then...Hamilton, with its roots in history and head in rap...the old and new smashed together. And it'll win. It. All.

Bright Star? Bluegrass? Uh, no.  Waitress, wait and see. Disaster? School of Rock? Well, every family has its genetically challenged.


If You Knew My Story (Carmen Cusack, Bright Star)
Why Can't The English? (Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, My Fair Lady)
Marian The Librarian (Robert Preston, The Music Man)
Heart (Jean Stapleton, Ensemble, Damn Yankees)
The Oldest Established (Sam Levene, Stubby Kaye, Johnny Silver, Ensemble,
          Guys And Dolls)
Too Darn Hot (Lorenzo Fuller, Ensemble, Kiss Me, Kate)
I Whistle A Happy Tune (Gertrude Lawrence, The King And I)
Her Is (Stanley Prager, Carol Haney, The Pajama Game)
Spanish Rose (Chita Rivera, Bye Bye Birdie)
Lovely (Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To
          The Forum)
Getting Married Today (Beth Howland, Company)
The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues (Gene Nelson, Follies)
Pirelli's Miracle Elixir (Ken Jennings, Ensemble, Sweeney Todd)
Everybody Loves Louis (Bernadette Peters, Sunday In The Park With George)
I Don't Know What To Do (Lisa O'Hare, Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman's Guide
          To Love And Murder) 
Once You Lose Your Heart (Emma Thompson, Me And My Girl)
Send In The Clowns (Glynnis Johns, A Little Night Music)
Brotherhood Of Man (Robert Morse, Ruth Kobart, Ensemble, How To
          Succeed In Business Without Really Trying)
To Life (Zero Mostel, Ensemble, Fiddler On The Roof)
Put On Your Sunday Clothes (Charles Nelson Reilly, Carol Channing,
          Company, Hello, Dolly!)
I Really Like Him (Irving Jacobson, Man Of LaMancha)
Gimme Gimme (Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Ti Voglio Bene - Be Italian (Kathi Moss, Nine)
Hello! (Andrew Rannells, Josh Gad, Ensemble, The Book Of Mormon)
Betrayed (Nathan Lane, The Producers)
Be Prepared (John Vickery, Ensemble, The Lion King)
The Big Dollhouse (Harvey Fierstein, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Hairspray)
Dear Theodosia (Leslie Odom Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton)
Wait For It (Leslie Odom Jr., Ensemble, Hamilton)
The Best Of Times (George Hearn, Gene Barry, Company, La Cage Aux Folles)

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