The Simpsons has a lotof theatre references, including a parody of My Fair Lady with Groundskeeper Willie as the Eliza character. He sang the song "Oh, Wouldn't It be Adequate".
They also had an On the Town parody:
(Sung to the tune of New York, New York)
BART AND MILHOUSE
Springfield, Springfield, it's a helluva town!
The school yard's up and the shopping mall's down.
The stray doys go to the anaima pound.
Springfield, Springfield!
SAILOR
New York, New York!
BART (spoken)
Hey, New Yrk is thataway man!
SAILOR (spoken)
Thanks kid!
BART AND MILHOUSE (sung)
Its a helluava town!!!!!
Anger Management...
Not only is there the obvious "I Feel Pretty" scene, but when Adam's character is in court, the African-American judge mentions that her son is starring in Fiddler on the Roof, and Adam replies with "I'm sure (name) will be a wonderful Tevye." None of my friends got why that was funny.
Most episodee titles of Desperate Housewives reference Sondheim songs. Has that been mentioned?
There was an episode of Gilmore Girls last season where they referenced Taboo, Cabaret and one other musical, but I'm blanking as to which.
What about the Nanny?
In every episode Mr. Scheffeild(sp?) was bitter about how Andrew Lloyd Webber was so successful with Cats.
And I just saw an episode in which Fran went to see the Beauty and the Beast on Broadway with a mob boss.
just watched will and grace - not sure whether we've already had this one, but karen's been looking for lorraine finster (the fabulous minnie driver) and when she finds her, lorraine says she's been hiding out in the chorus of taboo.
later on, she says she's off to the taboo rap party "we have one every night, you know, just in case...."
On "Saved by the Bell" yesterday, the gang was going out for the musical. The girls suggested "A Chorus Line," "Cats," and "Phantom of the Opera." Then Schreech suggested "Snow White." There were also a couple of posters around the room, such as "Grease"
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
This isn't a tv show, but in the book series Everworld, one of the characters April loves the show Rent. And later, when one of her friends does, she sings (or recites?) Without You at the funeral.
Swing Joined: 4/17/06
The wierdest one I saw was recent. I just saw a movie with Christian Bale called American Psycho (the name speaks for itself) and he's obsessed with Les Mis in it, he has posters in his bathroom and stuff haha!
Will and Grace is filled with Broadway References... my faves:
When Jack is trying to sue Karen for alimony
Karen:"You ain't gettin 88 cents from me Rose!"
When Will is addicted to pain killers:
Will: "I'm in pain!"
Jack: "Effie, we all got pain!"
Jack: "Last night Rosario rolled over and shook hands with Master Harold and the Boys. They were not amused"
Gilmore Girls is always good for a Broadway reference. Aside from the episode which featured Kirk as Tevye in "Fiddler", Loreli referes to Emily and Richard as George and Martha, references to having seen Spamalot and Caroline, or Change
Along Came Polly had the guy in Godspell or Jesus Christ Superstar. I forget exactly what happened but he had a small part but he wanted to be the star and kept stepping in to be Jesus?
I'm glad this got revived because after losing my DVD of To Wong Foo about a year ago, I finally got a new copy and I always forget about the part where Chi-Chi is going on her little rant towards the end of the movie and Noxeema just goes "Okay Jennifer Holliday, don't forget to write."
Another Will & Grace one that I love:
Jack goes on a big rant thinking Will has kicked him out of the apartment, talking about being homeless and whatnot.
Will: Listen...Eponine...
On Gilmore Girls, they refer to a HS character who had been away from school for awhile and has now returned (I forget the character's name). The reason given for his absence is that the character had been performing in Into The Woods on Broadway. The twist? The actor who played the character, Adam Wylie, had taken a hiatus from Gilmore Girls to play Jack in Into The Woods.
This might not count, but, in MATCHPOINT, Jonathan's character sees THE WOMAN IN WHITE with his fiance's (maybe wife's?) family. I'm not sure which part they played.
Stand-by Joined: 3/7/06
Friends actually had a ton of references to broadway through Chandler.
One, he's singing Annie while putting away CDs with Monica and she thinks he's weird.
Two, When Chandler's trying to convince Monica to let him take the job in Oklahoma, he says something like, "It's got a musical named after it!"
Three, In the tenth season, Monica and Chandler take the woman who is having their baby to do touristy things in New York. Chandler later walks in and declares that he and Monica are seeing The Music Man.
I don't know if this was already posted but on the Will & Grace halloween episode, Jack was singing "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney to Karen.
Gilmore Girls-they perform Fiddler for a school play. I believe one of the tour Gavroches from the Les Miz tour was in the episode.
*Edit for grammar
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/04
There was a Simpsons episode that was basically a spoof of Evita. I think the episode is called "The President Wears Pearls", and they had a disclaimer saying that they never heard of a musical about Eva Peron.
There are two references I can think of from Sanford and Son. One has Lamont taking Julio's sister, Maria out and Fred being very against it says "You remember that movie West Side Story?, Yeah those Sharks attacked that one guy that took their Maria out and he was italian/irish(I forget what he is). Imagine what they would do to you." Episode is called "Watt's Side Story".
The other one has Lamont taking Fred out for his birthday, and they go see Fiddler on the Roof. Fred and Lamont argue about it and Lamont says "This happens to have been a very popular hit in New York," to which Fred says "That figures theres alot of Jews there", prompting Lamont to say "It was also a big hit in Japan," to which Fred says "There must be alot of Jews there too." Later they go to a restaurant and Fred talks to a guy and says, "We just came from Fiddler Up On The Roof."
In the comic book, Batman:The Long Halloween, a couple is coming out a theatre and the marquee reads How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.
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"The music is the story, not the excuse for it."
-John Lloyd Young
Chorus Member Joined: 11/19/04
There have been several "Fiddler" references on Gilmore Girls...I was recently watching a re-run from a few seasons ago, and Rory was making some phone calls for someone, and when she asked who was next on the list, they replied "Sheldon Harnick" ("Fiddler"'s lyricist). That was the most subtle one I've seen or heard on that show...and I was the only one laughing at my house.
One, he's singing Annie while putting away CDs with Monica and she thinks he's weird.
Two, When Chandler's trying to convince Monica to let him take the job in Oklahoma, he says something like, "It's got a musical named after it!"
For the Annie:
Chandler: *in a giddy voice* BET you bottom dollar that tomorrow...
Monica (and Rachel, I believe): O_o
Chandler: *in a deep, "manly" voice*...there'll be SUN!
For Oklamhoma: Another time is when he walks into the hotel room singing a song from 'Oklahoma!'.
Gilmore has other musical references too, doesn't Rory talk about going to see Caroline or Change with Lorelai?
The Joss Whedon 'verse has a lof of great Broadway/musical references (most notably the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Once More With Feeling", which is a fantastic musical in its own right). Here's a good one, from "Angel". Spike and Angel (who are vampires, for those who are not familiar with the show) are on a plane, on their way to England:
SPIKE: Back to the mother country. Hey, after we save Fred, we should hit the West End, take in a show.
ANGEL: I've never seen Les Mis.
SPIKE: Trust me, halfway through the first act, you'll be drinking humans again.
Resurrecting this old thread to alert people to an episode of the Simpsons called "The President Wore Pearls". The whole episode is a parody of Evita, including the musical numbers. A great homage to a great musical. Check it out on that site .
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/10/06
From The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
" . . . he went through he bag and dumped out his copies of Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar, he knew wouldn't need them where he was going."
As if . . .
don't quote me on this, but i'm pretty sure that there is a broadway reference in every episode of will and grace. at least the ones i've seen.
i love when grace calls will "anal annie."
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet but on King of Queens, Doug's mother mentions how she wants to see Spamalot.
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