April 15, 1961. Care to guess what happened on that date? Well, if you guessed that it had something to do with the title of today's blog, then you would be right. On that date, the Broadway production of The Music Man closed at the Broadway Theatre, following a total run of 1,375 performances. The show, which originally opened at the Majestic Theatre on December 19, 1957, won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical of the Year, as well as being the very first winner of the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. Pretty impressive stats right?
Now as you all know, there is a brand new production of the show scheduled to open this October at the Winter Garden Theatre, headlined by two-time Tony Award winners Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. As expected, tickets have been flying out the door since going on sale last year. When 2020 began, a revival of this classic musical seemed like so far away. After all, there were still five more months left in the 2019-2020 Broadway season, with over twenty shows still set to open. Cut to three months later, and Broadway is shutdown for the immediate future, with no idea what shows will be still be open when it is time to come back.
After 9/11, Broadway was in a slump. Then Mamma Mia opened, and it was just what we needed. A simple, lighthearted musical that allowed us to escape, if only for a couple of hours. Anyone remember the theatre where it opened? That's right. The Winter Garden Theatre. Same place that The Music Man will be playing six months from now. Who knows, maybe an old-fashioned musical like The Music Man, will be just the thing we need to escape once again. Stay safe everyone, and keep looking out for each other. Until next time theatre fans.
JWB
Applause Theatre and Entertainment Service, Inc.
165 West 46th Street
Suite 1107
New York, NY 10036
212-307-7050
or 1-800-451-9930
http://www.applause-tickets.com/
Facebook:Applause Theater and Entertainment Service
No comments:
Post a Comment