Also not exactly Burt Bacharach, but Oscar Brown Jr was a pop/soul/jazz composer on Columbia Records who had composed songs for Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone before he wrote "Buck White."
Paul Jabara was a pop composer before he wrote "Rachael Lily Rosenbloom and Don't You Ever Forget It."
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
I think I am the only musical fan who is remotely excited about Rebecca, I just love that genre of sung through musicals, if Rebecca is as half as good as Les Miserables, then you will have a tremendous show, I know you can't really gauge shows like that, but just wanted to make a point.
I am not excited about 'Chaplin' nor 'Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple Mcpherson', if that is anything like the title, then that is going to be a yawn, even with the otherwise excellent Carolee Carmello,
The Mystery of Edward Drood, I will see it, but I can take it or leave it.
Annie not a fan of the show, but looking forward to seeing this show for some strange reason.
Matilda, seen the show three times in London and absolutely love it, no reason to see this on Broadway, but I will, to see if there are any changes.
Kinky Boots, So looking forward to this one, I think this show will be a hoot.
Cinderella, I will see this, if the show makes it to the end of March start of April, however not excited by it.
Jekyll and Hyde, love Wildhorn's score, some lovely ballads in the show, very high up on my radar.
And Broadway has proven many times over that you don't have to be "established" to have a critical or financial hit on Broadway. The following composers wrote a hit with their first Broadway musical score:
Charles Strouse Jule Styne Leonard Bernstein Stephen Sondheim Jason Robert Brown Jonathan Larson Bob Merrill Claude Michel-Schönberg Andrew Lloyd Webber Stephen Schwartz Jeanine Tesori Galt MacDermot Marc Shaiman Mel Brooks Eric Idle & John Du Prez Mark Hollman Stephen Flaherty Leslie Bricusse Lin-Manuel Miranda Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx Burt Bacharach Meredith Willson Sandy Wilson Lionel Bart Marvin Hamlisch Henry Krieger Maury Yeston David Yazbek Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison Duncan Sheik Tom Kitt David Bryan Mark Charlap Albert Hague Frank Loesser Gene DePaul Mary Rodgers Marguerite Monnot David Heneker Mitch Leigh Sherman Edwards Gary William Friedman Micki Grant Charlie Smalls Alex Bradford Carol Hall Roger Miller Frank Lazarus John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel, and Jim Wann
And others, I'm sure.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
I'll always give shows a go before I make my final judgment, but i'm not to excited about the selection that'll be hitting Broadway soon. Matilda seems like it could be fun for a while, and I'm sure Annie will be around for a year or so, but aside from those two shows, nothing is tickling my fancy.
I suppose this means I should just take my kick butt "The Sleeping Beauty" retelling off the shelves and make a frickin' fantastic Broadway musical out of it.
Whizzer, Paul Jabara didn't have much in the way of hits or even recorded material when he wrote Rachael--he was still pretty much a performer foremost (as I expect he wanted to continue to be, but of course his solo disco recordings didn't give him the mainstream hits his material recorded for Donna, Barbra, etc, did).
However, I worded my post clumsily. What I meant to say was, when JV, who I think does have a fair enough point to some extent, complained about all these new shows coming from pop composers who hadn't worked in theatre before or relatively unherd of names, that the irony there is I'm sure many felt the same way when they heard about Holmes and Drood--or at least the same ocmplaint could have been made: "a musical by the composer of the Pina Colada Song?!" Of course there have been pop composers who made the move to theatre, with some success, before then--Bacharach/David probably being the most notable name, but also people like Bob Merrill (How Much is that Doggie in the Window?), Frank Loesser, Jule Styne all had radio pop hits before any major theatrical success. Of course back then pop and show music was often more or less the same thing, but...
Well since taking everyone's advice and feedback, I am more enthused about the upcoming musicals...but I guess we are waiting for the next BIG thing. Is it Matilda? We shall see...their advertising looks promising and a West End success story can't be a bad thing.
Yea, I think it's a pretty accurate assessment to say that Matilda is the "event" show of the season if for no other reason than the amount of accolades the show has received already.
I don't understand why a composer or writing team needs to be proven for the show to be worthy. Even Rodgers and Hammerstain had to have a first show right?
As for Matlida, I don't know how well-known Tim Minchin is in the US but he's a super talented guy. I wouldn't be putting Matilda into the same box as Annie or even Billy Elliot, it's so much more than that.
Lets be honest, you can have the most perfect score in the world and the wrong creative team and casting can screw it up royally. Just as a mediocre score can be lifted by good creatives and strong leads. At least that's how I feel. So it's really going to be difficult to tell whats what until they start previews.
On the bright side, you're doing better for new shows than the UK...we're getting a frickin Spice Girls musical.
'The musical isn't about the spice girls... thank goodness - just features their very well written songs!'
God i hope you were been sarcastic about the 'very well written songs'
And whilst Matilda has done very well and audiences here are loving it (i enjoyed it but did not LOVE it) i think it's a stretch to call it the 'Best British musical of the past decade', did they not say the same thing about Billy Elliot when it opened?
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
Stannard and much of the crew who wrote the bulk of the Spice Girls material are fine pop composers, IMHO. But nothing about them is remotely theatrical.
Matilda is a great show. Not a great score (similarly to Billy Elliott that way). However, Act 2 opens with a potential (probable) classic called "When I Grow Up".
Saw Matilda in London. Totally over rated. The set and Mrs Trenchbull are fabulous as are the first 15 minutes and then it crash lands into boredom with some really bad music.
I think it may not get the kudos here it got in London. Just a prediction. I could be wrong.
So I watched the movie on Netflix. Again, I loved the first 15 minutes and then it crash lands into dull.
I am will to give Chaplin and Scandalous the benefit of the doubt. Aimee Semple is fascinating fodder for a musical as is Chaplin so I will reserve judgement on those two.
Didn't love Edwin Drood the first time around so not excited. Have to be excited about Katie Finneran in Annie. She is wonderfully skillful and funny.
Listened to the cast recording of Matilda last week for the first time and I think that the score is absolutely brilliant. Melodic without being bland with some incredibly clever lyrics. The opening number alone ("Miracle") is enough to place the score above Billy Elliot's. Even so, there are so many wonderful numbers like "Naughty," "Loud," "When I Grow Up," "The Smell of Rebellion," "Quiet" and "My House" (to name a few). If the rest of the show is half as good as the score, I think that Matilda will do just fine in the States.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
