GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY – FALL 2024 VIDEOS

Lead Coordinator: Peter Dichter

Give My Regards to Broadway is a performing arts course that explores all aspects of Broadway productions and the people who create them.

NOTE: To view a video click on the link below its description. Once the video window comes up (in a new tab), click on the start button to begin.

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY
Ten Musicals that Changed Broadway

Presenter: Peter Dichter
Presentation Date: September 9, 2024

What a challenge! In the roughly 150 years the Broadway musical became a beloved form of entertainment; thousands of musicals have been produced. Many have been hits. Many more have bombed. But as wonderful as the winners have been, only a handful have evolved the concept, impacted audiences in novel ways, and demonstrated that extra something special.

What are the benchmark Broadway musicals that broke new ground and shaped the evolution of this unique art form? Let’s examine ten of the familiar titles that have advanced the Musical by altering our perception of it. There are more, or course (though not that many), but these are universally acknowledged as game-changers. Each in a different way for a different reason. Enjoy!

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY
Ten Musicals that Changed Broadway

Presenter: Sol Makon
Presentation Date: September 23, 2024

During the 1940’s and 1950’s, Leonard Bernstein composed music for the Broadway stage that revitalized the musical theater. Bernstein’s musical language was rhythmically energized and intense. He merged the genres of classical, jazz, blues, Latin sounds, popular tunes, and others to create his own unique style.

First, we will explore Leonard Bernstein’s life until 1958, when he became the musical director of the NY Philharmonic. Next, we will examine, in depth, the four Broadway musicals that he composed during that early part of his career: On the Town (1944), Wonderful Town (1953) , Candide (1956) and West Side Story (1957). We will watch two film clips for each musical—the overture, followed by a song and/or dance number.

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY
Annie Get Your Gun

Presenter: Ellie Schaffer
Presentation Date: October 7, 2024

Mention the 1946 delightful Irving Berlin hit musical, Annie Get Your Gun, about the romance and rivalry between sharpshooters Annie Oakley and Frank Butler, and those who know it invariably smile and sing a line from “I Can Do Anything Better Than You” or “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” My favorite, “a man may be hot but he’s not when he’s shot,” is from Annie’s frustrated lament, “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun.” Come listen as we explore the genesis of the show, the real Annie Oakley, the musical’s creators, and the brilliant songs of this love story and tribute to show business.

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY
Andrew Lloyd Webber

Presenter: Lauren Gee
Presentation Date: October 21, 2024

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber became the king of mega-musicals from the late 1970s to the 1990s, ushering in an era of excess and extravagance on Broadway. We will survey and view clips from his longest running hits: Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, Starlight Express, Phantom of the Opera, and Sunset Boulevard (all but one originating in London’s West End) and examine the reasons for their commercial success and continued popularity.

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY
The Secret Life of the American Musical

Presenter: Steve Allen
Presentation Date: November 4, 2024

Jack Viertel has been involved in the production of Broadway musicals for 40 years, including 20 years as the Artistic Director of New York City Center’s acclaimed Encores musical revivals. He turned his lectures at New York University on the structure of successful musicals into the book The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway shows Are Built. This presentation will offer key insights from Viertel’s book and illustrate them with video selections from Broadway musicals.

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY
Show Boat

Presenter: Michael Wellner
Presentation Date: November 18, 2024

Oklahoma! South Pacific! Cats! My Fair Lady! — and there are so, so many more Broadway shows that many of us love and remember. BUT — who can tell us where it all began? What is generally agreed to be the very first Broadway musical? At today’s class Michael Wellner will make the case that SHOWBOAT was indeed, the very first, true Broadway musical. Come and hear the fascinating story.

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY
Yiddish Theater’s Influence on Broadway

Presenter: Hedy Shulman and Debbi Honorof
Presentation Date: December 9, 2024

From its beginnings, America’s Yiddish theater intersected with the mainstream English-language stage. Reviews of Yiddish plays appeared in the English-language press as early as 1884. As the Yiddish theatrical establishment grew, English-speaking journalists and actors began to recognize that Yiddish theater offered something that was absent from uptown stage productions. The work of crossover actors, playwrights, and set designers helped to firmly situate the Yiddish theater as an important cultural phenomenon. Yiddish theater became part and parcel of the American theatrical experience which led to a profound influence on Broadway to this day.