Taking a detour from the world of theatre, I wanted to discuss how much films have had an impact on my life. In many ways, the film industry was my first love before ended up truly falling for live theatre…and I think that while the theatre industry is facing various issues with commercialized products like jukebox musicals and an overflow of musicals based on films, there are a wealth of intriguing plays being produced off-Broadway and around the world…and sometimes, those even get a chance to move to Broadway.

 

The film industry, however, has been mostly erratic for me. There are certainly films that have come out that I do love in recent years but the big money always seems to go towards such high-powered action films like those based around the Marvel Superhero comic books. I was never drawn to those kinds of movies and while I may have enjoyed such selections for various reasons (THE DARK KNIGHT, IRON MAN, BLANK PANTHER), I do tend to enjoy movies that seem to be geared towards “Awards Bait” fare…and some people have labeled me as a snob for that reason.

 

I don’t necessarily deny that title…but I also feel like I like enough movies that are certainly what one would consider “frivolous” and “stupid”….and I don’t know if the following list will really convey the “guilty pleasure” aspect, but it is going to be a list of 30 of my favorite movies. Much like my lists for plays and musicals, the key word will be “favorite” rather than “best”…however; I do feel a good majority of these films would also pop up on my list of greatest films ever made depending on how vast that list was. Just because I don’t know if I want to deal with sorting out a numbered list, I am going to list the following 30 films in alphabetical order and I definitely want to try my best to represent all genres on this list as well.

 

8 ½ (1963) Directed by Federico Fellini 

-This will be one of three Foreign Language films on my list…and it is also a film that would rank very high if I were come up with a list of what I consider to be the greatest films ever made. Fellini’s opus revolves around a famed Italian film director named Guido Anselmi, played by Marcello Mastroianni. Guido is currently in mid-life crisis mode while he is being consumed mentally and emotionally by issues with the women in his life and it is causing him to suffer from a creative block while he preps to direct a big Science Fiction film. Italian film critic Alberto Moravia once described the character of Guido as a man “obsessed by eroticism, a sadist, a masochist, a self-mythologizer, an adulterer, a clown, a liar, and a cheat…and afraid of life…wanting to return to his mother’s womb”. In many ways, 8 ½ has the same massive Freudian touches as that of the relationship between Norman and his mother in PSYCHO…only 8 ½ is definitely of the art-house/Avant-garde variety. The film would end up becoming  the basis of a 1982 Broadway musical adaptation called NINE in which composer Maury Yeston along with writers Mario Fratti and Arthur Kopit, would meld the film for the stage. One major change was that the show removed any men from the piece aside from Guido and his young child counterpart (the original production also included a couple of other younger boys to act as young Guido’s friends) and thus, Guido was surrounded by 21 women the entire musical…and it actually worked marvelously well. Sure, NINE may have been satisfying as its own being onstage, but it certainly pales next to its film counterpart.

 

AIRPLANE! (1980) Directed by: David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker

-And now for something completely different….and this goes to show you how off-the-wall this list is going to be when I am going from an artsy Italian film to a film that gave us such exchanges as “Have you ever seen a grown man naked?” or “Don’t call me Shirley”. The truth is that I consider AIRPLANE to be a masterwork when it comes to rapid-fire comedy one-liners, plus a lot of the brilliance comes from the performances, most of them done in such an earnest way that it only makes the film much funnier. While Robert Stack and Lloyd Bridges excel at this tremendously, it was Leslie Nielsen whose career was changed forever as he had been known as a serious character actor and once he played the droll doctor aboard this doomed flight, he became one of the premiere comic actors of his time, following this movie most famously with his Det. Drebin character from POLICE SQUAD and THE NAKED GUN series. I feel like even though I have seen the film too many times to actually laugh out loud much at all, I do still highly enjoy it and think everyone should see it. 

 

AMADEUS (1984) Dir. By: Milos Forman

-Adapted from a fantastic play by Peter Shaffer, AMADEUS is based around the legend of one possible theory on how the famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart passed away…and the one that is focused upon is that fellow composer Antonio Salieri, consumed with bitter envy towards Mozart’s success, sought ways to drive him crazy and eventually worked him so hard during a time of high stress and ill health that he ended up dying. It is told from the perspective of Salieri many years later after he attempts suicide and is confined in an insane asylum. While it is a shame that the original Broadway cast didn’t get a chance to reprise their roles (Ian McKellan as Salieri and Tim Curry as Mozart), they certainly did quite well with the casting of Theatre actor F. Murray Abraham as Salieri, who won a well-deserved Oscar for his performance; and Tom Hulce as Mozart, who got a very well-deserved nomination and, much like his co-star, turned his sights more towards working in the theatre following this film. Considering the Academy’s tendencies to lavish their attention on period piece/costume epics at that time that often don’t hold up years later, I am glad that they singled out this one and that it holds up remarkably well…and I did just revisit it a month or so ago and was quite pleased.

 

BEAUTY & THE BEAST (1991) Dir. By: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

-I wanted to include some animation on this list, and this will be one of two selections. BEAUTY & THE BEAST will go down in history as being the first animated film to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars…and when you read articles or watch interviews or even the actual Oscar ceremony from that year, it amazing how many comments were made by actors who actually looked down on the film and didn’t want its success to mean more and more films would be done as animation because, as Billy Crystal joked, actors “would be out of a job”…which…correct me if I am wrong…but don’t they need actors to VOICE the characters? Also, when presented a clip of the film during the ceremony, Sally Field made a passing snide comment (said with a smile at least) that she hoped this “wouldn’t become a trend”. Well, lucky for them, BEAUTY & THE BEAST may have been a key factor in the Renaissance of Disney Studios but it still remains the only animated film to be nominated for Best Picture while the maximum nomination tally was 5…and even when it recently got increased in 2009, only two have managed to make it in: TOY STORY 3 and UP. Even though I would’ve voted for the film that did actually win that year over BEAUTY (and it is coming up on this list), I still think BEAUTY would have been a deserving groundbreaking winner in its own right…and also, it has such a fantastic Menken/Ashman score.

 

BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir. By: David Lynch

-Few films have had a profound effect on me in addition to shaping my passion and desire for filmmaking as an art than that of BLUE VELVET. I saw this film at a VERY young age: 13…way too young for a film like this…and I watched it with my grandmother…which is also quite awkward…but she left the room in disgust even before the worst stuff happened. The simultaneously dreamy and nightmarish world created by Lynch was instantly alluring and appealing and scary all at once…and I was drawn to the work based on my then-recent discovery of him via TWIN PEAKS and his release of MULHOLLAND DRIVE. Considered a mystery/neo-noir film, it revolves around a college student named Jeffrey Beaumont who returns to his hometown of Lumberton, NC when his father suffers a stroke. Not long after his arrival, he stumbles across a severed human ear in a field and becomes obsessed with trying to figure out why it was there and whose it is. I don’t want to say much else about the plot because I do think the film is worth seeing, but it must be said that the film is often incredibly uncomfortable and, lastly, the performance by Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth is one of the greatest ever and he portrays one of the most despicable villains you can imagine.

 

CASABLANCA (1942) Dir. By: Michael Curtiz

-Has there ever been a more quotable movie to have come out of Hollywood? Even more crazy is this was a movie that was sort of made without much expectation or excitement from basically everyone involved and somehow…this came out…and it is my favorite of the Classic Hollywood movie system when it comes to those that are often put on the GREATEST OF ALL TIME lists. It may not have been the best work of Humphrey Bogart or Ingrid Bergman or Claude Rains, but they work perfectly in this film and the results are truly enchanting. Here’s looking at you, CASABLANCA!

 

A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983) Dir. By: Bob Clark

-Much like IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE before it, A CHRISTMAS STORY was not exactly a success when it was first released but frequent persistent airings on TV during the holidays led it to being considered a modern classic…and even 20+ years since they originally began doing so, TBS and/or TNT air A CHRISTMAS STORY 12 times over the course of Christmas Eve/Day and it often serves as frequent background noise during the holiday if I am not playing Christmas music. A big favorite of my grandmother, I often would watch the movie with her as a young kid so there is a definite nostalgia factor to my love for the film, but also, as anyone that knows me is well aware of, I ADORE the Christmas season so it is no surprise that I got drawn to this film and I still consider it my favorite of the holidays…although another Christmas film had an even bigger impact on me as a young child and that will be coming up soon.

 

CITY LIGHTS (1931) Dir. By: Charlie Chaplin

-Silent films can often be remarkably and surprisingly good…and this particular film was made at a time when the art form was on its way out the door in favor of “the talkies”…even though Chaplin considered talkies a fad and didn’t understand that they would never go away, he spent a lot of time perfecting this film, which I consider to be to epitome of a realistic fairytale romance…but with the slapstick flair that Chaplin always brilliantly provided. The basic premise revolves around a blind flower girl who is convinced that Chaplin’s Tramp character is actually a wealthy man, and after The Tramp befriends a drunken rich man, he uses that “friendship” to try to woo the blind girl by constantly buying flowers from her. For many years, critics often considered CITY LIGHTS to be in contention for the title of BEST FILM EVER until the defactoanswer became CITIZEN KANE…I will go ahead and tell you right now that while I HIGHLY RESPECT many things about CITIZEN KANE, I have never truly loved or enjoyed the movie as a whole. CITY LIGHTS, on the other hand, is a masterpiece that wowed me in ways I didn’t expect.

 

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) Dir. By: Stanley Kubrick

-The greatest American director, in my opinion, was Stanley Kubrick…and his stretch of films represents the finest and strongest body of work of pretty much any director I’ve come across…especially American directors. While some of his films are better in terms of concept and artistic vision like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY or more entertaining while being incredibly well done like THE SHINING, I feel like the best of both worlds were truly combined with this 1971 effort that was darkly quirky and, as the trailer described it, “sardonic”. Based on the novel by Anthony Burgess, it was a futuristic tale set in 1995 (ha..ha..) that revolved around a gang known as the Droods, and they specialize in “ultra-violence” which includes tying up, raping, beating people…but the story mostly revolves around their leader Alex, played by an incredibly charismatic Malcolm McDowell, and how he is eventually caught and an experiment is performed upon him in hopes to change him for the better. Extremely controversial at the time of its release, even getting an X rating (the closest equivalent to NC-17 at that time), it still managed to become the second X rated film to get a Best Picture nomination (the first, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, actually WON the award two years prior).

 

DIE HARD (1988) Dir. By: John McTiernan

-I mentioned earlier that another Christmas movie would be coming up that had a big effect on me as a kid…that was not this film, even though I love it (it is being mentioned here after all), but I do like to think of DIE HARD as a film that can serve both as a Christmas film and a film you can watch whenever you want….but of course, you can watch whatever movie whenever you want but I am stickler in this case. As for DIE HARD, I have always considered it the best of the full-on Action genre. I am not sure why I love it as much as I do, especially considering I am not normally one for action films…but I do appreciate the characters in the film, the one-liners and catchphrases, and one of the greatest and charismatic villain performances ever: Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber…in what was his first major film and I honestly think he was Oscar worthy for it. A movie like this is a prime example of how something you may not typically go for can actually be something that you end up liking a lot…it CAN happen…not always, but it can.

 

FARGO (1996) Dir. By: Joel Coen

-They may have made quite a few amazing films, but I would say their masterwork was this darkly cold but humorous take on a crime gone wrong…and there was also the added dose of humor that they tried to fool people into thinking it was based on a true story. William H. Macy, who is so freaking good in this, plays a car salesman named Jerry Lundegaard who is desperate for money. In order to get this without resorting to asking for help, he hires two men to kidnap his wife and then her father, a rather wealthy man, would front the ransom money which Jerry would give part of to his two goons along with a new car from his lot. As the crime becomes more convoluted than expected, local Police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand in her first Oscar winning performance) begins investigating all the weird events. If you haven’t seen FARGO, I highly recommend it…and it does take some twists in the story that are unexpected but the mixed tones are very well executed and it is a shame that it lost Best Picture to a movie like THE ENGLISH PATIENT.

 

GOODFELLAS (1990) Dir. By: Martin Scorsese

-While THE GODFATHER I and II are the greatest mob films ever made, I would say GOODFELLAS is the most entertaining…and another case of how the Academy backed a lesser film and director (DANCES WITH WOLVES/Kevin Costner) in favor of the film that managed to both stand the test of time and truly win the admiration of most film fanatics. The film is based on the true story of Henry Hill, a young Irish/Italian guy played by Ray Liotta, who actively seeks to join the mafia in NY. The film also gives us some insight into the thoughts of his eventual wife Karen, played by the wonderful Lorraine Bracco, and that element is something I’ve always loved. The film, however, is stolen by Joe Pesci, who had a big year playing a more bumbling villain in HOME ALONE and in this film, a truly despicable and unbalanced mobster who seems to have no shame or fear in challenging or destroying anyone in his path. His Oscar win, which was actually something of a mild upset at the time, was richly deserved. It is truly a shame though that Martin Scorsese lost this Oscar for Directing; that scene at the Copacabana was worthy of the award by itself.

 

THE GRADUATE (1967) Dir. By: Mike Nichols

–Only the second theatrical feature for its director Mike Nichols (his first will actually show up on this list later) and also the film debut for eventual film legend Dustin Hoffman, THE GRADUATE became one of the most iconic films of all time thanks to its score by Simon & Garfunkel, the performances of its cast, the fantastic screenplay by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, and a lot of the more erratic visual flair staged by Nichols and Cinematogrpaher Robert Surtees. Most people remember “Mrs. Robinson” as the main plot point of THE GRADUATE as she is the older woman who seduces Benjamin, a recent college grad who originally plans to attend Graduate School but as the movie progresses, his feeling of being lost eventually leads him to not obtaining a Doctorate and he begins an affair with Mrs. Robinson only to eventually fall for her daughter Elaine. I feel like THE GRADUATE is one of those films everyone needs to see because, despite not fully embracing most of the issues happening in the world at the time (like Vietnam), it is a near-perfect film that still crackles after several viewings.

GROUNDHOG DAY (1993) Dir. By: Harold Ramis

-This is one of those films that did modestly enough at the time of its release but grew to be incredibly beloved over time…but for me, GROUNDHOG DAY is another film that I find to be practically perfect. Its screenplay is absolutely phenomenal and they couldn’t have found a better Phil Connors than that of Bill Murray, the King of Dry Dead Pan and Disdain. Phil Connors is a Pittsburgh News Weatherman who has to do a task he loathes to do every year: drive up to Punxsutawney to do a report at Gobbler’s Knob to see if Phil the Groundhog will or will not see his shadow. Much to his chagrin, he must stay an extra night at the charming Bed and Breakfast he was put up in when a snow storm (that he originally told viewers would bypass the area) traps him in town. Then…the following morning, he wakes up to find it is Groundhog Day all over again. A lot of people have suspected as to how long he remained trapped in the film. It is never explicitly said but the film has a representation of roughly a month’s worth of days but a lot of what occurs with Phil couldn’t happen that fast…and some have speculated that he was trapped in this same day for as long as 10 years and some have joked maybe 1,000 years. Regardless though, the movie’s cynicism is so apparent that even when the film goes for more heart, it feels earned and you really appreciate watching the relationship build between Phil and his producer Rita, played by Andie MacDowell.

 

HOME ALONE (1990) Dir. By: Christopher Columbus

-And here we are…in my childhood, no movie (although its sequel played a huge factor in being my earliest indicator that I would become obsessed with New York City) compared to that of HOME ALONE. I would watch it or its sequel on a DAILY BASIS. I am not kidding…my parents and sister and any other immediate family members can attest to this. I was IN LOVE with these movies…and I think I had a crush on Macaulay Culkin before I even truly knew what I was feeling or even that liking boys could be a thing. I feel like I don’t have to go in depth with the plot of this movie, but all I will say it is that this movie (along with its ridiculous sequel) will always have a special place on my movie-going shelf…and it will remain a guilty pleasure for life.

 

MONTY PYTHON’S THE LIFE OF BRIAN (1979) Dir. By: Terry Jones

-John Cleese always said that he noticed Americans tend to prefer HOLY GRAIL while the Brits tend to prefer THE LIFE OF BRIAN…and MEANING OF LIFE is just kind of the other one, even though it’s good too. I have always preferred LIFE OF BRIAN for its brave tackling of setting itself during the times of the Bible and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. However, the film never makes of fun of Jesus or even Christianity that much…and that is something that most of the films detractors, not surprisingly, chose never to examine. Instead, the film was more a critique on organized religion as a whole and how people can be easily manipulated when it comes to following and being converted into a new religion. From its opening scene where we see Brian is born next door to Jesus and the theme song which parodies that of an old-time James Bond tune to the end where Eric Idle leads all of the crucified men in a round of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, we are witnessing a group of genius men creating one of the smartest and most brilliant comedies we will ever see.

MOONLIGHT (2016) Dir. By: Barry Jenkins

-I wanted to include a more recent movie on this list and it was a pretty easy choice. My favorite movie of the last decade has been MOONLIGHT, a movie that focuses on Chiron, a young black boy at three various stages of his life: childhood, teenager, and young adult. He is often bullied and called a “faggot” by his peers until one day, he is randomly found by a drug dealer named Juan (Mahershala Ali) who becomes something of a father figure to him as Chiron’s father is gone and his mother is a drug addict. The journey Chiron makes is one that is somewhat tragic, but by the end, you are left with a moment that could lead you to believe he may have found a brief (or maybe longer) moment of sunshine in his life. MOONLIGHT was highly praised when it was released but many expected LA LA LAND to take the prize for Best Picture…and it briefly did, until it was announced that the wrong envelope was given to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway and that MOONLIGHT managed to pull off an upset…but it was the most deserved Picture win in ages, not to mention the first winner to contain an all-black cast and have an LGBT theme at its center. Please, please, please watch this film if you haven’t….it is a truly beautiful work of art.

 

ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980) Dir. By: Robert Redford 

-This is a movie that is often blasted by many film buffs for being the movie that beat RAGING BULL at the Oscars. RAGING BULL is a well-made movie with fantastic performances, but ORDINARY PEOPLE, which the same could be said about it, just packs a more intense emotional punch that spoke to me on a more significant level when I first saw it and even on repeated viewings, I find it to be stunning…and I did recently rewatch it earlier this month and was not let down. Actor turned director Robert Redford did a good job on this film and his choice of cast was, at first glance, odd but surprisingly effective. Even if I would’ve given the Director Oscar to either Scorsese for RAGING BULL or David Lynch for THE ELEPHANT MAN, I commend his work on this film and for his brave and unique casting choices. First of all, casting Mary Tyler Moore, whom had primarily been known for her work on her titular sitcom and THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW as the cold and emotionally drained mother Beth was a stroke of genius and Judd Hirsch was the star of the sitcom TAXI but Redford cast him as the Psychiatrist that our protagonist Conrad visits. We also get Donald Sutherland as the father Calvin, who is definitely more eager to try to help out his son than his mother, and then there is Timothy Hutton as Conrad, one of the best film debuts you can possibly imagine as a teenager coping with the loss of his older brother in a boating accident for which he was there to witness. When it comes to the “kitchen sink” drama genre, it is hard to top ORDINARY PEOPLE.

 

PAN’S LABYRINTH (2006) Dir. By: Guillermo del Toro

-When I first saw trailers/clips of this film, I assumed it was a children’s movie…so imagine my surprise when I discovered it was an absolutely brutal R-rated one. On top of that, its fantasy angle didn’t appeal to me as it was never a genre I was drawn to…but if there was ever a movie that exceeded my expectations and made me feel stupid for judging it so fast, it was this one. PAN’S LABYRINTH was one of, if not THE, greatest film to come out in the 2000s, which was a rather lackluster decade for film…and also, it came out specifically in 2006, which was easily the best year for film in that sorry decade. I’ve only sat through the film twice and each time (though more so the first) it left me feeling so much by the end of it. I feel like going into it without knowing as much is certainly the best way to go, but it definitely acts as a more gruesome and dark version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

 

PSYCHO (1960) Dir. By: Alfred Hitchcock

-At his most minimalistic and lack of budget, Hitchcock created what could quite possibly be his most iconic film. Even those who haven’t seen PSYCHO tend to know about the shrieking violin score or have heard the name Norman Bates (and I am sure the TV series BATES MOTEL also helped in recent years) and I would hope that a lot of those people eventually sought the movie out. PSYCHO is one of those movies where I saw it young but still pretty much knew the plot and all of its twists (including the shower scene)…and it didn’t affect the experience negatively in the slightest. It was smart of Hitchcock to shoot this in black & white because that helps the atmosphere tremendously plus it does reduce the gore output whenever we do see it…and we also get the iconic chilling performance of Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, a performance that sadly pigeonholed and typecast him in a way that he never really recovered in his career after the fact.

 

THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (1985) Dir. By: Woody Allen

-By this point in his career, Woody Allen not only wrote/directed all of his films but he starred in them too. Aside from 1978’s INTERIORS, this was the second film he devised in which he didn’t appear at all. While at this stage having Allen in a film was certainly not a bad thing, it ends up being kind of a refreshing change of pace for this particular film. Set in a small NJ town in 1935, a waitress named Cecilia played by his then-partner and frequent muse Mia Farrow, is in somewhat of an abusive and unhappy marriage and she takes solace in going to the movies. One particular movie, that is titled THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, comes to town and she ends up seeing it several times to the point where one of its supporting characters notices her frequent attendance and actually STEPS OFF THE SCREEN to meet her. In terms of whimsy and romance, it is certainly Allen in top form…but there is a lot more to the film than meets the eye, especially as the story progresses. I was actually unaware of how the movie ended when I first saw it…and I am so glad I wasn’t aware because the feeling it gave me was…I actually don’t want to say…but I couldn’t believe what it made me feel and I was actually grateful other people had the same response.

 

SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (1974) Dir. By: Ingmar Bergman

–When asked who my favorite director is, I usually consider Bergman to be the greatest director to have ever lived. His films aren’t necessarily what I tend to revisit frequently but in terms of his artistic vision and the atmosphere he always creates, he was so distinctive and powerful. The sad thing about SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE is that it got no major awards attention in America because it got its starts as a Television Miniseries in Sweden, which was then cut to shreds to serve as an appropriate length for a feature film. While that cut is certainly great, I cheat a little bit and consider the full 6-hour miniseries to be the true work of art in which we see this marriage fall apart in front of our eyes at a time when divorce was a word that most people didn’t even want to say out loud and the act itself was incredibly frowned upon….plus, I am just a sucker for domestic dramas.

 

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) Dir. By: Jonathan Demme

-The Academy, and pretty much any award show voting body for that matter, typically frown upon genre pictures like horror, action, fantasy, or animated films but in 1991, the Academy nominated not only the first animated film ever (the previously mentioned BEAUTY & THE BEAST) but also nominated THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, which was certainly more of a crime/suspense thriller but it had horror-like elements thanks to the fact that it dealt with not one but TWO serial killers. LAMBS became the first film of its kind to win BEST PICTURE and as of 2019; it is the only film of its style to do so. It has become a truly iconic film thanks to the performances of Jodie Foster as feminist icon Clarice Starling and the sinister work of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. It is hard to believe that a film like this that was released over a year before it actually won the Oscar even won the Oscar in the first place!

 

TAXI DRIVER (1976) Dir. By: Martin Scorsese

–After making movies like MEAN STREETS and ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, it was really TAXI DRIVER that cemented Scorsese as a masterful filmmaker…although at the time, it was more overshadowed by movies like NETWORK (which I also love), ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (a film I like a lot but am not super crazy about), and ROCKY (a movie I barely even tolerate). Also, I have always greatly appreciated TAXI DRIVER, but it is one of those movies where I have grown to love it more over time and find myself thinking about it a lot more than I ever expected to. It captures to the true grit and grime that NYC was drowning in during the 70s and in many ways, seemed more realistic than the genteel feel that Woody Allen films often gave NYC, even if that was truly his world and how he saw the city. You can’t go wrong with Robert DeNiro and he is truly fantastic in this as our anti-hero Travis Bickle, not to mention a great ensemble that includes a stellar young Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Albert Brooks, Cybill Shepard, and Peter Boyle…oh yes, and Bernard Herrmann’s score which he composed right before he died is a jazzy bluesy masterpiece.

 

TOOTSIE (1982) Dir. By: Sydney Pollack

–This may be hyperbolic, but whatever…I think TOOTSIE is close to perfect and I can’t think of many things I would change, if any…and in fact, I would gladly keep watching the movie had it gone on an hour longer just to see more of the fall out that Michael Dorsey faces when he reveals himself to be Dorothy Michaels. So, for a quick synopsis, Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey, a very talented but stubborn and opinionated actor who is having problems finding work due to that stubborn, opinionated attitude. Thanks to indirectly hearing about a part on a soap that his friend (Teri Garr in a brilliant comedic/neurotic performance) tried to audition for but wasn’t even seen…and feeling challenged by his agent (director Sydney Pollack who is quite wonderful in this role), Michael decides to go for the ultimate challenge: going to the audition in drag and he ends up winning the part of Emily Kimberly, the new hospital administrator on the daytime soap opera SOUTHWEST GENERAL, an obvious homage to the likes of GENERAL HOSPITAL. Michael ends up becoming a rousing success acting as his female counterpart Dorothy Michaels, but things get more complicated when he finds himself starting to fall for his female co-star Julie Nichols (played by Jessica Lange, who won her first Oscar for this performance). TOOTSIE is just a film that I have always been drawn to and I always enjoy it no matter how many times I sit through it…and it must be said: the movie’s love theme It Might Be You has got to be one of the sweetest and most underrated movie songs of all time.

 

TOY STORY 3 (2010) Dir. By: Lee Unkrich

-The funny thing about the TOY STORY series is that I think I appreciate it much more as an adult than when I was a child…and needless to say, I was HIGHLY skeptical when TOY STORY 3 was first announced as I figured it couldn’t possibly be worth our time. I WAS SO WRONG! When I first read the reviews, I was floored at how rapturous they were and soon became incredibly excited to see it. All I will say is that the film was incredibly heartwarming, very funny, and surprising at nearly every turn…and the ending…my god…I have now sat through the film about six times and each time, it makes me cry…and I don’t mean misty eyed crying, I mean tears strolling down my cheeks kind of crying. The timeline of the films are a little wonky but in terms of age range, I was starting my senior year of college whereas Andy was heading off to college for the first time (though the first film, released in 1995, had me roughly around my actual age but whatever)…and the ending almost felt like a passing of the torch from old to young…and it was perfectly executed. TOY STORY 3 was easily one of the biggest surprises and one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve had going to the movies.

 

VERTIGO (1958) Dir. By: Alfred Hitchcock

-The Master of Suspense gave us his best film with VERTIGO, which wasn’t exactly scary, but it felt like a sensual romantic suspense thriller about a man whose obsession with a woman leads him to basically trying to recreate her when he finds another woman who bears a striking resemblance to her. The lush colors combined with the fantastic Bernard Herrmann score made for such an unbelievably dreamlike environment and it also helped that Hitchcock adored San Francisco, which he considered America’s Paris, and he films it in such a way that it feels like a love letter to the city. Once again, at the time of its release, it was a film that was sort of liked but not overly praised…and now, it is often considered one of the 10 best films ever made…and even more shockingly (though to my personal joy), it unseated CITIZEN KANE as the greatest film ever made in the 2012 Sight and Sound Poll; a title it held for each poll made since 1962.  It is another example of how much time can affect the feeling towards a movie.

 

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989) Dir. By: Rob Reiner

-In the world of RomComs, I would say that WHEN HARRY MET SALLY is probably my favorite of the last 30-40 years. It is quite possibly Nora Ephron at her finest in terms of her writing and this was also a time when Rob Reiner was actually a legit good filmmaker who had an impressive string of successes before he basically crashed and burned (THIS IS SPINAL TAP, THE SURE THING, STAND BY ME, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, MISERY, A FEW GOOD MEN…that is a very eclectic list. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan continue that great tradition of love/hate relationships that we watch grow over time…and in this case, YEARS. While other films that came out in 1989 would probably get more notice from me on an artistic level (DO THE RIGHT THING for example), there is a charm and whimsy to this RomCom that made me feel like it needed to be mentioned here.

 

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966) Dir. By: Mike Nichols

-This is often the movie I cite as my personal favorite of all time and a lot of that has to do with the fact Nichols was about to get a fantastic performance out of Elizabeth Taylor as Martha who was definitely much too young for the role and having her be backed up by a stellar ensemble that included her then-husband Richard Burton as George, Sandy Dennis as Honey, and George Segal as Nick. The other thing about the movie is that the screenwriter, Ernest Lehmann, wisely stuck to most of the Edward Albee text…and it certainly didn’t hurt since I consider the play to be my favorite play ever. It simply feels like a piece of work that just came together so perfectly to the point where I have never fully understood what drew me to it. I was still pretty young when I saw it (13 or 14) and it was, at its most basic core, a story of one couple’s drunken downfall being witnessed by a younger unassuming couple who wanted nothing more than an evening of cocktails and conversation. My only complaint about the piece, and that obviously goes for the play too, is I have never really liked the ending….and I don’t mean the whole scene, I just mean the final line…but it wasn’t enough to truly tarnish the entire work.

 

THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) Dir. By: Victor Fleming

Judy Garland. The songs. The story. The rest of the cast. The great lines. That’s all.

 

 

Considering I’ve been dealing with a lot in terms of stresses with work and finances, it has been rather joyous to be in the mindset of thinking about theatre again. Focusing on these particular songs from musicals has been a great way for me to pass the time while I have down time at work, so…I can’t complain about that aspect!

 

So now, I give you another set of 25 of my favorite showtunesto be followed by another set of 25 soon to make a full 100.

 

Here we go!

 

 

Days & Days from FUN HOME (Tesori/Kron)

-When I first moved to NYC, the musical FUN HOME was just starting previews at The Public Theatre; tickets were hard to come by and expensive and…considering I JUST moved here and I was on a limited budget, I ended up missing the show. I had a feeling I would get the chance as it seemed more and more likely that it would be getting a Broadway transfer…and that it did. I’ve already discussed FUN HOME a little, but I do have to add that seeing that original Broadway production was one of my favorite theatrical experiences EVER…bar none. One of the many highlights in that show was the beautifully restrained performance by Judy Kuhn, who is known to most as being the OBC Cosette in LES MISERABLES…which, frankly, was a thankless role for her in my opinion. She showed more range playing such roles as Florence in CHESS and also her very heartwarming take on Amalia in the 1993 revival of SHE LOVES ME…but in this role as Helen Bechdel, the suffering wife of the volatile Bruce, she sort of coasted through the show as this fragile figure. Towards the end, she gets to sing DAYS & DAYS to her daughter Allison, who just came home from college with her newly minted girlfriend Joan. We learn firsthand, even though it was very obvious, that their marriage is basically one of convenience and appearance and that she isn’t happy in the slightest…however, at the end of the song, she gives Allison some very straightforward advice that shows she will in no way hold her daughter back. I managed to see the show doing Standing Room as it was frequently selling out at the time; I was standing next to a gay couple and whenever this subtle song ended, the theatre erupted and you would’ve thought myself and the couple were at a slightly subdued rock concert. It was such a nice moment for Ms. Kuhn and a lovely song at that.

 

Everybody Says Don’t from ANYONE CAN WHISTLE (Stephen Sondheim)

-We just can’t escape him…but this particular song comes from a flop that was even more disastrous than that of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. In the case of ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, it closed after 9 performances and was considered another failed attempt by Sondheim to try to get himself known as a composer…which is what he always identified as and not a lyricist. Sondheim has said many times that he never truly wanted to be a lyricist; he only really wanted to compose, but taking the lyricist gigs for WEST SIDE STORY and GYPSY slightly pigeonholed him. The premise of the show is intriguing: a bankrupt town being run by a corrupt mayor has several other idealistic residents fighting to take over and save it. It is told in three acts with the end of the second act being this particular number led by Hapgood in which he begins leading the same type of crusade that riles up those around him by having the simple of philosophies of “try” and “do” and “don’t be afraid”. A lot of the cynicism and dark quirks that would become synonymous with Sondehim due pop up in this particular musical and it is interesting to listen to this musical as something of a bridge between his work on FORUM and his eventual work on COMPANY and FOLLIES a few years later (his work on EVENING PRIMROSE could fit into that mode to a lesser extent).

 

Getting Married Today from COMPANY (Stephen Sondheim)

-Speaking of COMPANY, it took a couple of decades for it to truly find great success and admiration in some ways. It was definitely polarizing to so many when it opened and basically won the Tony because there wasn’t much else option. Of course, it DESERVED its wins but I am sure if something that was both more traditional and well-received came out, it would’ve won out. Considered the first “Concept Musical”, COMPANY was told in a non-linear fashion in which a 35 year old bachelor named Bobby is being pressured by his friends to settle down and get married…but he seems unsure of what he wants…and I would argue even these same friends seem to be unsure what they want from him. One friend in particular is the neurotic Amy, who is about to marry Paul, and she is having wedding day jitters…and not just any jitters, she is full-on freaking out saying she may commit suicide and be found floating in the Hudson River. The song is quite humorous in its darkly comedic approach and is quite possibly one of the hardest patter songs ever written. A few women have greatly sold this song, such as the original Amy, Beth Howland along with Vivenne Cox, Heather Laws, and more recently, the male version sung by Jonathan Bailey.

 

I Can Cook Too from ON THE TOWN (Leonard Bernstein)

–Three soldiers are on 24-Hour shore leave and they manage to have their own whirlwind romances as they zig-zag around the isle of Manhattan “right from Yonkers on down to the bay…in just one day”. The quirky, wholesome Chip who is a homespun boy from the Midwest ends up getting into the cab of Hildy, a brash Bronx gal who instantly takes to him and wants Chip to come up to her place…which is its own humorous song. However, once she gets him to her apartment, he has food on his mind…but she is determined to sell the “specialty of the house” as herself. Thus begins a great song filled with double entendre after double entendre that eventually leads Hildy and Chip to the bedroom. The recent revival in which Alyssa Umphress played Hildy and Jay Armstrong Johnson played Chip was a true definitive smash performance of this number…the sex appeal and brassiness by both her and the orchestra were a perfect match. I have always questioned those who instantly took to that of the Lea Delaria/Jesse Tyler Ferguson version because while both are good, you listen to the upbeat scat version of the song and you’re like “Wait…these two are going to have sex????”

 

I Know Him So Well from CHESS (Andersson/Ulvaeus/Rice)

-The 80s boom of British musicals is certainly a boom I was not fond of. I definitely like EVITA and, to a lesser extent, LES MISERABLES and MISS SAIGON, but I will gladly pounce on basically any of the other Andrew Lloyd Webber shows. When it comes to a score though, my favorite of these is actually CHESS. While the history with how the show has been presented is incredibly problematic, the score is what saves the day…and this duet, giving 80s pop flair in all its glory, has always been a song that I am surprised I like as much as I do. However, if there was ever a song that would royally fail on the Bechdel Test, it would easily be this one.

 

Is Someone Out There? from IN THE BEGINNING (Maury Yeston)

-After Maury Yeston drafted his own adaptation of Fellini’s 8 ½ that ended up winning him and  the show itself Tony Awards, he came up with the idea of a Bible show but with this little clever twist: What if we learned about the supporting players who were neighbors of those in the Bible but never actually made it in? This kind of theme was similar to that of Monty Python’s LIFE OF BRIAN, but it made for a very quirky little musical in the Yeston canon, which was originally titled “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” as if to represent the first five books of the Bible. This musical has never appeared on Broadway and is rarely ever produced, but certain key songs have made it out into the musical world thanks to various artists tackling them on their solo albums. I first heard this song on the Maury YestonSongbook album way back in 2004 sung by my favorite Elphaba, Eden Espinosa…which that automatically makes any song better. In some ways, the idea of a show like IN THE BEGINNING and this exact song gives everything a feeling of melancholy, even if most of the show is presented as a comedy. Adam and Eve screwed up in The Garden of Eden and now our main characters are suffering because of it. I wish more girls would discover this song because it would perfect for those belters looking for a great ballad for auditions. 

 

I’ve Decided to Marry You from A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER (Lutvak/Freedman)

-The little show that could if there ever was one, GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE opened in the fall of 2013 and managed to limp along for a few months and then, just before its cushion was set to fall out, it swept the awards season and won Best Musical…and a lot of that was due to weakened competition and the fact that the show with the best chance of unseating it was a jukebox musical: BEAUTIFUL. While some looked down on GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE as being too slight or twee and somewhat dull, I personally welcomed the show with open arms and thought it was all around delightful. I’ve Decided to Marry You has become the show’s signature tune primarily due to its use as being the go-to performance at events like the Tony Awards or the Macy’s Parade. The Edwardian era Music Hall-style trio is set around socialite Phoebe proclaiming, without prompting, to our leading man Monty, that she will marry him amongst her recent grief…all while Monty’s married lover Sibella sings from the other room.

 

The Lady Must Be Mad from ILLYRIA (Peter Mills)

–A small off-Broadway musical based off of Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT, ILLYRIA was part of the whole “classical work done with a modernized score” brigade but a lot of the inspiration of the style of the score was actually that of the off-Broadway scene of the 60s that included such successes as LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE, THE FANTASTICKS, and JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE & WELL & LIVING IN PARIS. The song is sung by Sebastian near the end of the show right before he and Viola are reunited amongst all of the chaos that preceded this…and I would say that it is one of the most delightfully written songs to come from a musical post-2000. Melodically, its rapturous and charming; it has a whimsical, romantic feel lyrically, and it is great passionate song for a baritenor/tenor to belt out. While no video exists of him doing it, there was a reading of the musical done at the Lucille LortelTheatre years ago in which the sexy Gavin Creel played Sebastian and his performance of this song is pure decadence. 

 

Lonely Town from ON THE TOWN (Bernstein/Comden & Green)

-When I saw the 2014 ON THE TOWN revival, the curtain rose on the scene that was to include the song Lonely Town, and it was set in Battery Park with the Staten Island Ferry and Statue of Liberty in the background with dusk approaching…the entire audience let out a delightful gasp at this absolutely glorious image…and considering Battery Park is my favorite place in Manhattan, I was in love…and it didn’t hurt that this song was also being sung by the delicious Tony Yazbeck. Lonely Town represents the more somber reality of how a bustling city like New York can be; it may be a city of 8 million people but much like a lyric from COMPANY, it is also a “city of strangers”. For Gabey, he is longing for love and for conversation but he can’t seem to find much luck…it’s a beautiful song drenched in melancholy and quite possibly my favorite song from that show and among the best in the canon of lyrical work from Comden & Green.

 

The Man I Used to Be from PIPE DREAM/STATE FAIR (Rodgers & Hammerstein)

-I am actually a little surprised by how many R&H songs I have been putting on this list, but I think the truth of the matter is thatthey did write some great songs…I guess my only problem is that I can’t often take a full evening’s worth of their material. This song is one of their lesser known efforts because it came from a show that never lived up to their biggest successes but it did find new life in both the revue A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING and the revamped STATE FAIR production from 1996. I feel like the song had a bounce and swing that felt more comparable to Rodgers’ work with Lorenz Hart, which, admittedly, I do have more fondness for in some ways.

 

Model Behavior for WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (David Yazbek)

-If I were to choose a composer/lyricist to be the tentative choice of the “best” working today in terms of consistently produced work, I would probably give the title to David Yazbek. While you could make a case for Jason Robert Brown and especially Jeanine Tesori in terms of her music compositions, Yazbek has been quite eclectic bouncing from the rougher edges of THE FULL MONTY to the quirky cosmopolitan nature of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS to the Latin-infused WOMEN ON THE VERGE to the wholly original BAND’S VISIT (although his latest work on TOOTSIE was mostly bland in my opinion). Despite only working on movie-to-musical adaptations, he has given us great scores to accompany them…and while he has written many wildly different songs that deserve praise, I singled out this particular song from his biggest flop: WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. The musical had its problems, but its score was certainly not one of them…and this song should definitely go own in the book of Greatest Patter Songs of Musical Theatre. Laura Benanti’s performance as Candela was a masterclass in comedy…which is no surprise considering she is incredibly versatile. I highly recommend listening to this song to witness the great comedic timing.

 

An Old-Fashioned Wedding from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (Irving Berlin)

-While not written for the original production and only added for the infamous 1966 revival in which a way too-old Ethel Merman reprised her role of Annie Oakley, this Berlin duet is easily one of the greatest in the history of musical theatre. Why? I wish I could tell you. I feel like the lively counterpart duet was something that Berlin did very well, even if the personal sentiments of the character of Annie in the moment don’t necessarily match up with how she is often perceived throughout the evening. It’s a just a charming little duet with a nice addictive melody…and a good follow-up to another duet by Berlin which will be making an appearance on my final batch of 25 songs.

 

Only in New York from THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE (Tesori/Scanlan)

–MILLIE is problematic now due to the whole Mrs. Meerssubplot, but the stage adaptation did include some wonderful songs, which is no surprise when you have Tesori writing the music. As someone who grew up obsessed with and loving everything about the glamour and gritty vibe of NYC, I instantly took to this jazzy number sung by Sheryl Lee Ralph as Muzzy that is part of the “Love Letter to NYC” song genre. Considering the song starts with the lyric: “The wonders of the world are said to stop at 7, but truth be told, my figures don’t agree…”… I have to say that it had my heart almost instantly. Tesori’s composition captures that jazzy vibe that I’ve always just instantly related to the feel of NYC.

 

Pour Me a Man from MISS GULCH RETURNS (Fred Barton)

-Not as well-known nowadays, but MISS GULCH RETURNS was quite the popular cabaret act by Fred Barton who bounced around from such venues as Don’t Tell Mama’s, Birdland, and The Duplex performing as Miss Gulch, the character from THE WIZARD OF OZ who would serve as  the real-life counterpart to whom would become The Wicked Witch of the West. Barton gives Almira Gulch the kind of life you’d expect her to have, complete with a mother who obviously loved a drink or seven…and it also must be said that Gulch is man-hungry…and she wishes that the bartender could pour her someone who could give her pleasure rather than the alcohol. Sort of in the same vain as I Can Cook Too, this song takes on the double entendre theme by comparing men to alcoholic beverages…and actually, Pour Me a Man contains one of the most brilliant rhymes I’ve ever heard in show tune, involving vodka and a man’s body…I would write it down but I would rather you listen to it and listen to how seamlessly brilliant it is.

 

Roses at the Station from GRAND HOTEL (Maury Yeston)

YESTON: But…but…HE’S DEAD!!!! 

TOMMY TUNE: Yes, I know…but he’s gotta have a song.

Maury Yeston was brought in to help save the lagging musical adaptation of the famed novel/film GRAND HOTEL, which included rewriting songs originally written by the famed team of Wright & Forrest of KISMET and SONG OF NORWAY fame while also writing new songs of his own. One of his assignments was to give the Baron, originally played by the heavenly David Carroll, a big song after he gets shot…and after freaking out about it, he had the perfect brilliant solution. “When you die”, he thought, “shouldn’t your life flash before your eyes?” With that, he went back to the original novel and found various tidbits of info about the Baron’s life to give the song more emotional weight combined with the fact that he had planned to meet Elizaveta at the train station as they planned to live Berlin and begin a new stage of life together. As Carroll would sing, a blood-pack would leak out blood and as the song ended, he would flail back to the floor. Yeston once said (among other composers) that the proper answer to the question: “Which comes first: the words or the music?” is actually “The premise”. The jumbled harried feel of the song along with said premise is genius, and I think that Yeston found gold in that moment and he helped make that musical better than was originally hoped.

 

Satisfied from HAMILTON (Lin Manuel-Miranda)

-In terms of style and storytelling structure and just all-around awesomeness, the best song in HAMILTON has got to be Satisfied, the song sung by Hamilton’s sister-in-law Angelica as we discover she has her own designs on her brother-in-law but represses them due to her sister Eliza. The idea of not being satisfied has multiple different connotations but it is certainly not surprising that the song has a certain sexual charge along with the obvious vibrant and intellectual personality that Angelica has. It may not be the show’s catchiest song, but is the most impressive with how Miranda structured it.

 

Someone Else’s Story from CHESS (Andersson/Ulvaeus/Rice)

-The 1988 Broadway production of CHESS bombed royally thanks to the fact that they tried adding a book to the show, which only stretched it out to the point of feeling bloated and lumbering. One amazing addition, however, was this solo ballad sung by Florence, who was played by Judy Kuhn fresh off of her one-two punch in LES MISERABLES and the underrated Strouse/Schwartz musical RAGS. Considering the hot-mess of four-hour long preview performances and debate over the book additions and Trevor Nunn completely scrapping material originally devised by the show’s recently deceased director, Michael Bennett, I think I can say that the effort of this song could be worth all of that trouble…or rather, they should try rewriting it again but make sure to never omit this song.

 

Something Wonderful from THE KING AND I (Rodgers & Hammerstein)

–I thought I was alone in praise of this song, but I have come across many that have singled it as one of the best songs in THE KING AND I and the R&H canon…and the crazy thing is that it is another example of a song that doesn’t really have much of a melodic range and has a very simple, straightforward feel (which does make sense due to the environment and the character singing it), but something about the song has this dreamlike trance quality…and from a storytelling standpoint, it helps to humanize the King…as much as such a character COULD be humanized. The recent rendition by Ruthie Ann Miles was lovely.

Somewhere That’s Green from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (Menken/Ashman)

-I’ve considered this to be the precursor to Menken & Ashman’s Part of Your World from THE LITTLE MERMAID, but this song is incredibly sweet while being also quite cheesy and humorous…and another layer is added when later in the show when (SPOILER ALERT!) Audrey dies, she does find her “Green” via death by Audrey II: The Plant. You care greatly about Audrey and Seymour and you love knowing that his love of her is shared…and you root for them…but we know it’ll never end up truly happening for them when his quest to keep becoming successful to keep her around is what ends up leading to her death.

 

So in Love from KISS ME, KATE (Cole Porter)

-Cole Porter’s magnum opus gave us one of the most rapturous soprano ballads to ever grace the Broadway stage. Considering that Fred and Lili are of the love/hate relationship variety, this song taps into that feeling of feeling something for someone and not really wanting to admit it to them. While I preferred Marin Mazzie’s performance in the whole musical as a whole in terms of recent productions, I really loved Kelli O’Hara’s stunning take on this number.

 

Summertime from PORGY & BESS (George & Ira Gershwin/DuBose Heyward)

–For a song to have such long lasting appeal that we even still hear it pop up on such talent competition/reality shows such as AMERICAN IDOL and AMERICA’S GOT TALENT is quite the impressive feat. While a lot of the versions opted for a sultrier jazz/mezzo take on the song as opposed to the soprano of the original, no matter the version, this song is truly a gem and one of the best songs ever written for the stage. It truly catapults us into the world of Catfish Row in a way that very few songs could ever emerge us into the world it wants us to go into.

 

Unlikely Lovers from FALSETTOLAND/FALSETTOS (William Finn)

-Not discussed as much as other songs from this musical, I’ve always loved this duet that becomes a quartet in which we get to see a gay couple and a lesbian couple sing about their love for each other. The setting itself is saddened by the fact that Whizzer is dying of AIDS, but the passion we see these four people share for their lover and their friends, bound by sharing this lifestyle that was (and in many ways, still IS) being treated with disgust by a good portion of the world, is beautiful. Once we reach the ending crescendos, Finn puts his gift of tremendous harmony writing to good use as the quartet dips along complimenting each other perfectly.

 

A Way Back to Then from [title of show] (Bowen/Bell)

-Very few musicals, if any, tapped into the geekdom of musical theatre like that of [title of show] which, quite frankly, didn’t last long when it transferred to Broadway because…let’s face it…your average tourist from Des Moines is not going to get a kick or even be able to GET the humor of discussing musicals like KWAMINA or TENDERLOIN or the horror at the thought of Paris Hilton starring in a production of THE APPLE TREE (which they changed to MAME for the Broadway production). The show was described as being about “two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical” with so many meta-references to the work of actors and writers and composers that it was like a theatre lover’s wet dream. Despite being so hilarious, the song that struck the deepest chord was the sentimental A Way Back to Then in which Heidi Blickenstaffsings about comparing the joy of being “in the craziest of company” with your fellow actors from college and beyond to the same imagination of being a child singing along with Andrea McArdle’s voice blaring from your record speaker. For someone who is currently slaving away at a day job and often envies though who steadily get to perform, I do long for a way to be back in this world again because, let’s face, it is best to be in the company of crazy actors who just want to do nothing more than sing a tune and play with a sword.

 

When the Earth Stopped Turning from ELEGIES: A SONG CYCLE (William Finn)

-William Finn’s sadly more forgotten song cycle that came out a few years after A NEW BRAIN was his response to the tragedies following the 9/11 Attacks while some of the songs also spoke to many of Finn’s friends who had died of AIDS and also, an another personal level, the passing of his mother Barbara. The amazing thing about ELEGIES was that it never felt morbid or mawkish, but it was mostly incredibly touching, sentimental in the best ways, and even charming and humorous. This particular song was one of the more heartfelt of the evening of as it deals with the feeling of dealing with someone you love that is dying and them trying to encourage you to move on with your own life even if you may feel your own world is ending. 

 

And that’s that! One more batch of 25 will be coming up soon! I will probably save that additional post for tomorrow.

 

 

Considering the amount of attention the Favorite Showtunes list got me, I figured I would take advantage of the fact that the blog exists to simply throw more of my thoughts out there into the world regarding showtunes that I really love.

I decided that I am still going to follow the same formula more or less, BUT the big difference is that I am going to make a list of 75 split up into threes, so that way, I have a list 100 showtunes total counting the first round.

Also, since I have this in mind and I know 75 is a big number, I am just going to list 25 songs in alphabetical order and not do a ranking. I feel like just discussing them will suffice. 

So, the following are 25 more of my favorite showtunes, with another set of 25 to come out over the weekend more than likely. ENJOY!

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Almost Real from THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY (Jason Robert Brown)

-Despite the fact the show never found an audience and was shut out from the Tonys in most of the major categories, the show still managed to net a win for Jason Robert Brown’s score, which I have to say is incredibly well deserved…although the score contains a few filler songs that pale in comparison to the fantastic compositions given to Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale. I will probably include a couple of other songs from the musical on my remaining lists so I won’t discuss others here…but this one is a very emotional ballad in which O’Hara’s Francesca gets to show off every inch of her luscious soprano range while she tells Pasquale’s Robert of her life in Italy until she was discovered by her soon-to-be husband who was serving in WWII and brought her back as a war bride. I think it is a shame that Kelli O’Hara didn’t won the Tony for this performance because she has quite possibly never been better…but thankfully she is still young and I am waiting for the day she comes full circle and plays Margaret in THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA.

 

A Call from the Vatican from NINE (Maury Yeston)

 

Come Back with the Same Look in Your Eyes from TELL ME ON A SUNDAY (ALW/Black)

 

Franklin Shepard Inc. from MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (Stephen Sondheim)

 

I Think I May Want to Remember Today from STARTING HERE, STARTING NOW (Shire/Maltby)

 

Maybe This Time from CABARET (Kander/Ebb)

 

The Miller’s Son from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (Stephen Sondheim)

 

Mister Snow from CAROUSEL (Rodgers & Hammerstein)

 

Not A Day Goes By from MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (Stephen Sondheim)

–Sondheim yet again…and the return of MERRILY. In the multiple different incarnations of this musical, Not a Day Goes By has been bounced around from various singers and reprises have been added…but in the original version, it was a big song for the character of Frank, our male lead.In more recent years, it has become a brilliant and emotionally charged addition to the brilliant concert repertoire of the one and only Bernadette Peters, who basically was sobbing less than 10 seconds into singing it and brought me down with her when I saw her do it live. It falls right in line with that recurring theme of songs that seem so simple and yet are so profound and moving and have that hook that just gets to me. It has been a proud inclusion in my own repertoire if I ever need a ballad for an audition.

 

Putting it Together from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (Stephen Sondheim)

-God, Sondheim and I need to get a room apparently…and I don’t necessarily mean his supposed sex dungeon…haha. I think the marvelous thing (out of many) regarding this particular Sondheim musical is that if you don’t have knowledge of the full show in advance, you might be thrown off when at the end of Act One, Georg finishes the painting. Where does one go from there? Well, we fast forward 100 years and meet his great-grandson George who is now an artist of his own sort…and in the freewheeling more modern era, he will do whatever it takes to schmooze and get the funding for his next project. The main lyric that always stood out from this song aside from its title, of course, is that of “Art isn’t easy”…It stuck with me so much in its blunt simplicity that I even made it my username years ago on my OkCupid profile….it was an easy way for the artsy people to know where I stood. Aside from being a great solo for the actor playing George, we get a lot of fun interactions from the actors in the ensemble with whom George is trying to interact with and learn who can be a good benefactor for him. A lot of what makes SUNDAY so beloved by artists is that even though it is about a painter or “sculptor” as the modern George briefly calls himself, the main idea of creating art is all the same in many ways, and this song is a major example of speaking to the idea of what it all takes to make something happen.

 

The Room Where It Happens from HAMILTON (Lin Manuel-Miranda)

 

Run Away with Me from THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SAMANTHA BROWN/THE MAD ONES (Kerrigan/Lowdermilk)

 

Send in the Clowns from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (Stephen Sondheim)

 

She Loves Me from SHE LOVES ME (Bock & Harnick)

 

Someone to Watch Over Me from OH KAY! (George & Ira Gershwin)

 

Some People from GYPSY (Styne/Sondheim)

 

The Streets of Dublin from A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (Ahrens/Flaherty)

 

Suddenly Seymour from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (Menken/Ashman)

 

A Summer in Ohio from THE LAST FIVE YEARS (Jason Robert Brown)

 

Ten Minutes Ago from CINDERELLA (Rodgers & Hammerstein)

 

They Were You from THE FANTASTICKS (Schmidt/Jones)

 

Vanilla Ice Cream from SHE LOVES ME (Bock & Harnick)

 

What More Can I Say? fromFALSETTOLAND/FALSETTOS (William Finn)

 

You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through from FOLLIES (Stephen Sondheim)

 

And there we are! 25 more songs to add to my list of 100 Favorite Showtunes. I hope to put up another list of 25 sometime this weekend, but we will see where life takes me.

 

So long, farewell….

I used to live for making lists but I feel like the task of making a list of pretty much any topic can be quite daunting. A couple of months ago, I did a list of my top 25 Favorite Musicals and looking back at the list now, I am already thinking “Oh no! I forgot that one!” or “Actually, maybe I shouldn’t have put that one in”.

 

I think an even more daunting task than that list would be separating the topic down even further: WHAT ARE MY FAVORITE SHOWTUNES OF ALL TIME?

 

I certainly have my favorite composers/scores/musicals themselves but then you have those random songs you may love that pop up in a show you only marginally like in full or maybe even hate….and then you have the issue of overcrowding the list with multiple songs from the show or by the same composer…and also, is this list more based on what you think is BEST or is it more about personal favorites?

 

My lists for musicals and plays were definitely more geared toward FAVORITE rather than BEST…although some would undoubtedly have overlapped between such lists.

 

I think I will stick to that criteria for this list as well…and also, just to try to keep the variety up, I will try to refrain from doing multiple songs from one particular show unless I feel like I truly can’t make a choice between them…like a very old show queen-tinged Sophie’s Choice, if you will.

 

So, let’s see where this is going to take us:

 

#25–(I’D RATHER BE) SAILING from A New Brain (William Finn)

–William Finn’s musical counterpart Gordon Schwinn is in a coma due to an Arteriovenous malformation and he will require surgery. Most of the show takes place in his comatose state where he longs not to die because he feels he has more to give to the world in terms of his music…which is something that happened to Finn himself. In his dreamy state, Gordon imagines his boyfriend coming to the hospital after a day of sailing…and he sings of the fact that he would rather be sailing and then come home to Gordon. Lyrically, it is simple and feels very real and honest but what makes song is its peaceful blissful melody that truly captures the mood of breezily sitting on a boat feeling the wind and feeling the sun on your neck. It is a song that maybe didn’t even necessarily have to be included in the show, but instead, it stood out in a way the others didn’t (not to say the rest of the score is weak, because the show is fantastic).

 

#24-THE SPARK OF CREATION from Children of Eden (Stephen Schwartz)

–My personal history with CHILDREN OF EDEN has been very mixed. There was a time where I said I flat out hated the show but now I will just say…it’s complicated. I do acknowledge that a lot of the music is some of Stephen Schwartz’ best work but there is also a lot of filler and a flimsy book that only makes the show feel more bumbling and bloated when it is all put together. However, the good songs are all truly MORE than good and I particularly single out this one which is sung by Eve, straight from the famous Garden. A lot of the drive of this song, as does a lot of the score, has a similar feel to that of Schwartz’ most recent success: WICKED, another show that is highly problematic but when it peaks, it is quite high…but when it gets bad, it gets baa—aaa—aaa—dd….you had to see it…haha. Anyways, The Spark of Creation is a great mid-tempo song that gets to show great belting range for its singer not to mention the energy of it is quite infectious. 

 

#23-TIME HEALS EVERYTHING from Mack & Mabel (Jerry Herman)

–After finding great success with HELLO DOLLY and MAME and sort of hitting a slight slump with DEAR WORLD, Jerry Herman’s world plummeted further when his next musical MACK & MABEL bombed quite significantly. Herman has always maintained that this was his greatest work and in many ways, I actually do agree with him (although some of the songs seem too similar in content while the song “When Mabel Comes into the Room” is a cheap knockoff of both the title songs of his biggest hits). Mabel was originally played by Bernadette Peters which, not surprisingly, made everything a thousand times more brilliant since the woman is a goddess. While her costar, Robert Preston, got to sing more songs in comparison, Peters’ Mabel gets to sing three big numbers (plus a small reprise of one of Preston’s songs): Look What Happened to Mabel (in which she gets to be peppy and joyful); Wherever He Ain’t (in which she is rueful and bitter); and lastly, Time Heals Everything (heartbreak over a failed relationship in which she isn’t sure she will ever recover). The song is not very long and the sentiment of it seems rather straightforward….but sometimes that is all it takes, and when you have a performer like Bernadette Peters leading the way who basically can cry for  you in a second, watch out. 

 

#22-THE STORY GOES ON from Baby (Shire/Maltby Jr.)

–Amidst the rivalry of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and the star-power mixed affair that was THE RINK, there was BABY…a charming little musical about three different couples at different stages of their lives learning that they are expecting. In many ways, this musical ended up being rediscovered in recent years due to this particular song becoming popular with young girls at auditions…and at the time, it was first performed by one of the loveliest ladies to ever grace the stage in a musical, the sweet Liz Callaway. The Story Goes On is the Act One closer and the basic premise of it is that young Lizzie feels her baby kick for the first time…and that is when she truly realizes that she is creating a life on a chain “that has no ending” and she is finally experiencing something that even her “mother’s mother felt and hers before”. The song also represents how a musical can end with just one person singing certain stage and it can be just as compelling if not more so than several people dancing up a storm for no apparent reason.

 

#21-MOMMA, LOOK SHARP from 1776 (Sherman Edwards)

–1776 is a musical that seems to divide people that either really love it or find it to be an utter bore. The truth is I am probably more prone to say I love it more than dislike it…but that is only when the show is done well and has a great cast/director leading the way. 1776 is also highly unique in that it is a lot more sparse song wise when compared to other musicals, and in fact, there is a famous portion where the musical goes without a song for nearly an entire half hour. Most of the songs are of a peppy, patriotic variety but things change when the Congress floor clears for a recess and we are left with the custodian and the courier whom we’ve been seeing delivering telegrams from Gen. Washington for the first portion of the show. In order to truly engross us in the true horrors of war that we haven’t really truly gotten a hold of so far, he sings of a soldier lying in a field dying while he can see his own mother looking for him. The somber chilling tone is very unsettling and considering this song was first heard at the height of the Vietnam War, I can only imagine how many related to the anguish.

 

#20-I HAD A DREAM ABOUT YOU from December Songs (Maury Yeston)

–There are musicals and then there are song cycles, which don’t really have a script but rather an ongoing theme. Things like STARTING HERE, STARTING NOW or SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD or CLOSER THAN EVER for example…but in contention for my favorite song cycle would have to be Maury Yeston’s DECEMEBER SONGS, which may very well be my favorite thing he has ever written. I first heard Andrea Marcovicci sing this song on a PBS concert in the late 90s and remember really loving it and instantly wanted to find other versions of the song to discover (which was not as easy in the pre I-Tunes era of the late 90s/early 2000s. I think the definitive version of this song has to be Laura Osnes’ take which is absolutely beautiful and one of the most lovely covers of a song I’ve ever heard. Certain songs just strike a chord within you and make you feel a little bit of everything…this was one of those songs. Seek it out along with the rest of DECEMBER SONGS (or the PS Classics produced Laura Osnes album IF I TELL YOU: The Songs of Maury Yeston which includes all of DECEMBER SONGS in addition to some of Yeston’s other lovely work like New Words from IN THE BEGINNING or a medley of I Want to Go To Hollywood/Shimmy Like They Do in Paree from GRAND HOTEL/DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY respectfully).

 

#19-YOUR DADDY’S SON from Ragtime (Ahrens/Flaherty)

–RAGTIME is a musical that I love which is no surprise to anyone who knows me…and I debated a lot as to which song I wanted to single out from the show. I ended up choosing Your Daddy’s Son primarily because once it hits you in Act One, you aren’t prepared for the intensity. By this point in the show, we only know the character of Sarah as a young uneducated African-American girl who was spared going to prison when the wealthy white “Mother” character takes her in despite the fact she tried to bury her infant son alive in her garden. She doesn’t speak a word and is barely seen prior to this (aside from the snippets in the Prologue), so once this song comes along, you finally get a sense that this woman felt truly tortured and scared and alone at the thought of raising her son alone and the fact that he resembles his wayward father (whom will soon be coming back into their lives with the intent of staying for good). A lot of my love for this song stems from the original Sarah’s performance: Audra McDonald in what was her 3rd of 6 Tony Award winning performances. Sitting at center stage holding her infant son who managed to survive, she belts out this song with such emotional intensity that when I first saw her do it at such a young age, it almost terrified me. 

 

#18-CHANGING MY MAJOR from Fun Home (Tesori/Kron)

-I have to take a moment to bash the former theatre “critic” of the New York Post named Elisabeth Vincentelli. When FUN HOME was first produced, she said on the now defunct PBS program Theatre Talk that she was not drawn to FUN HOME and found the musical to have a “beige score”. On one hand, I get what she means, but on all of the other hands, the woman is a nitwit. She meant that score fell under the whole “it isn’t catchy or hummable” mumbo jumbo that people used to bitch about when talking about Sondheim. FUN HOME isn’t a show I go to for a catchy score, but rather a score that makes me feel so many emotions and I get swept up into the story. So many selections like DAYS & DAYS or RING OF KEYS and MAPS and EDGES OF THE WORLD and TELEPHONE WIRE are unbelievably wonderful in their own ways and, for me, the song that stood out and spoke the most to me was Changing My Major. The musical is based on Allison Bechdel’s brilliant graphic novel of the same name that tells the story of her childhood in which she realized she herself was gay and also the realization that her unstable father was a closeted homosexual in an unhappy marriage with her mother. The adult Allison tells the story like a memory play with Small Allison representing the childhood (of course) and Medium Allison representing the college years where she truly accepts the fact she is a lesbian. When Allison meets Joan in the hallway outside of a Gay Alliance meeting, she senses she feels something for her and it eventually leads to her sharing a night of passion in her dorm room…and the results the following morning are that Allison has completely succumbed to the idea of living this life. When I saw this show on Broadway in 2015, right after it won the Tony Award, this particular song made me tear up with joy because I related to Allison in this moment in the same way that I felt when I first spent the night with a guy after denying who I was for my entire youth. The song is sweet and funny and relatable and a true gem.

 

#17-IF HE WALKED INTO MY LIFE from Mame (Jerry Herman)

–There is no denying something like Rose’s Turn from GYPSY as being the mother-load of ultimate 11 O’clock numbers…but I have always had a certain fondness for the number that Jerry Herman gave Angela Lansbury in MAME. As is pretty well known, MAME is about a wacky care-free lady who takes in her dead brother’s orphaned son Patrick and despite his expressed wishes to not lavish him in her lifestyle, she puts him into it full force…but by the end of the show, when Patrick is slipping away and may be marrying into a stuffy society family, Mame questions how she raised her young nephew and thus wonders what would happen if she had another chance to raise this young “boy with the bugle”. Outside of Lansbury, I also quite loved the cover done by the delicious Edyie Gorme, for which she won a Grammy. 

 

#16–JUST ONE STEP from Songs for a New World (Jason Robert Brown)

-As someone who is a character actor and tends to enjoy a lot of the songs that don’t get as much notice as some of the “hits” of various productions, it was no surprise that I was drawn to the songs sung by Woman #2 in JRB’s SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD when compared to those that were sung by Man or Woman #1. The Women #2 track, originally performed by the amazing Jessica Molaskey, is both fun and dramatic and she gets to run the gamut. While she makes you gasp in awe with The Flagmaker or Stars and the Moon, she will make you laugh as a scorned wife standing on a ledge threatening to jump in Just One Step, a very jazzy and peppy mental breakdown song of a different variety. A lot of people remember the song as the “Murray” song as the character bemoans “Murray! I am out here Murray!” Lastly, I think the song represents the best example of the type of song that makes me wish I could be a woman for an evening to portray this role…or maybe just participate in a Broadway Backwards event. 

 

#15-A LITTLE PRIEST from Sweeney Todd (Stephen Sondheim)

–These two people are suggesting that they murder anyone and everyone just to both service Sweeney Todd’s revenge streak and to also give Mrs. Lovett an endless supply of meat for her precious pies…and you’d think it was the most delightful song by just hearing the melody by itself. This sweetly sinister song is an Act One closer that truly sets us up for the game changer that is Act Two…and we get a lot of clever and fun wordplay based on how various kinds of people would taste based on their particular career field…for example, the titular priest (“Then again they don’t commit sins of the flesh, so it’s pretty fresh”) or the humorous General (“With or without his privates”). It must also be said that a lot of these contributions could also be a contribution of book writer Hugh Wheeler…and the whole scene itself is a masterwork.

 

#14-THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT from Little Shop of Horrors (Menken/Ashman)

–Seymour is quite the epic role as he gets to sing on so many great songs like Grow for Me and Suddenly Seymour while the show has such delicious efforts like Dentist and Somewhere That’s Green, but for me, the emotional peak has to be The Meek Shall Inherit. By this point, Seymour allowed Audrey’s abusive dentist boyfriend to die so he could feed him to the plant, Audrey II; he led his adopted father Mr. Mushnik to his death when he discovered Seymour’s crimes; and now he is living with that guilt amongst the fame and fortune and, now, various offers to star on a gardening TV series and getting featured in prime magazine cover stories. After a slew of agents and the street urchin Greek chorus comment on it all, Seymour steps up and has a moment to himself where he acknowledges this has gone too far…but then assumes (even though he should know better) that Audrey won’t love him anymore if he didn’t have the success thanks to the Audrey II…and he signs the paperwork to continue the journey, which will soon end in tragedy. I have always considered LITTLE SHOP to be a perfect musical and one that its success is quite remarkable. Considering its source material, you have to be amazed that Menken/Ashman mined as much gold out of this one as they did.

 

 

#13-I’M BREAKING DOWN from In Trousers/Falsettos (William Finn) 

-THE MARVIN TRILOGY means a lot to me and I adore it very much. So many of the songs deserved mentioned for various reasons…and it is a show (especially the FALSETTOLAND portion) that can make me cry multiple times…although before THAT happens, I usually end up crying with laughter….hahahaha!!! Clichéd phrase, party of one, your table is ready!!!!….anyways, FALSETTOS almost feels like the 1980s version of MODERN FAMILY in some ways. A man, named Marvin, comes out of the closest and leaves his wife Trina and young son Jason, for a younger man named Whizzer. To add to the mix, Marvin’s psychiatrist Mendel also ends up treating young Jason and falls in love with Marvin’s ex-wife Trina….and then there are the lesbian neighbors from next door thrown in for good measure! Trina is obviously drained over the idea of her husband being gay and developing feelings for his and her son’s shrink, so while preparing dinner one night, she lets us in on her mental state: I’M BREAKING DOWN! Never has someone’s breakdown been so deliciously told in the way that William Finn drafted this comedic epic. Also, you haven’t lived until you have watched Stephanie J. Block belt out the ending with bananas in her mouth.

 

#12-BEWITCHED, BOTHERED, & BEWILDERED from Pal Joey (Rodgers & Hart)

–I do have to admit that I don’t have as much knowledge or history with PAL JOEY in the same manner that I do with pretty much every other musical on this list, aside from a few songs (the famous Zip for example). However, there is one song from this show that I have always found to be the quintessential jazzy female ballad…and that is this one sung by the character of Vera Simpson in the musical but it has since been covered by so many singers both male and female. It works well enough as a song about the quarrels and trials of love that you don’t really need to be that involved with the plot of the show (as is often the case with the songs from that era of musicals).

 

#11-TILL THERE WAS YOU from The Music Man (Meredith Wilson) 

–Everyone has their guilty pleasures…and for me, I think my ultimate guilty pleasure has to be THE MUSIC MAN. It has a very creative opening number with Rock Island (“You can talk, you can bicker, you can talk, you can bicker, you can talk talktalk talk, bicker bicker bicker…”) and a lot of great character songs that set up the quirky residents of River City, Iowa. However, even at a time where I didn’t fully appreciate the musical, I always loved Till There Was You. The relationship between Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian is certainly one of the that love/hate & misunderstood variety…and you certainly know that Harold is a rather shady character to say the least, but you completely buy their relationship and you love that the stuffy Marian finally feels alive and that Harold is willing to change his life for this small-town librarian who dabbles in piano lessons on the side. The song’s beauty was so strong that even Paul McCartney found great appeal in it (originally from the Sophie Tucker cover) and The Beatles performed it on The Ed Sullivan Show and it was interpreted as the song that could reel in the parents of the world who were probably recovering from their ears bleeding to the response to them singing I Want to Hold Your Hand. 

 

#10-WILL HE LIKE ME? from She Loves Me (Bock/Harnick)

–There are certain musicals that I just love so many songs from them that I could make a case for having several of them on this list…but I decided to go with a choice that even surprised ME a little in regards to She Loves Me. This score is a true confectionary gem and I could’ve made a case for the title song, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tonight at Eight, Dear Friend, and A Trip to the Library…but I ended up choosing Will He Like Me primarily because it is a beautiful song in that it speaks so truthfully to the feeling of how we all feel when we are planning on meeting someone new in a romantic sense. For all we know, we could be meeting the person we end up spending years or the rest of our lives with…or it could end up being a disaster or a one-sided love affair. While most of the show is played for quirky humor, this is one of the moments where the true heart and soul peer through and you realize how much you care about the journey of both Amalia and Georg. I have alway

 

#9-LOSING MY MIND from Follies (Stephen Sondheim)

-When it comes to the canon of Sondehim, I actually don’t put Follies high up on the list as a whole. There are select songs that I do really love, but I’ve never actually been fond of the whole show like in the way I feel for his other efforts like SWEENEY TODD, COMPANY, ASSASSINS, SUNDAY, or MERRILY…but the to-the-point emotional pain and longing that Sally sings about in Losing My Mind has to be singled out…and it is definitely the more serious counterpart to William Finn’s I’m Breaking Down or JRB’s Just One Step. My personal favorite version of this song is probably that of the one sung by Barbara Cook during the 1985 concert version which, thanks to the transposition of the key, seems more potent. I also think the song’s sort of stifled structure which occasionally does become somewhat more flowing in the phrases, helps show Sally’s mental state in that she feels trapped and so unsure of everything she has ever wanted or felt. Sondheim has struck again…no surprise there!

 

#8-I GOT LOST IN HIS ARMS from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (Irving Berlin)

-Here’s my take on ANNIE GET YOUR GUN: it’s not a good show. It is offensively bad in terms of its treatment towards Native Americans (which the 1999 revival tried to fix, but that one just had its own problems arise in the process) and it just feels hopelessly hokey. Having said, the score to ANNIE GET YOUR GUN is probably the best example of a collection of songs that I really like that come from a very problematic show. I quite like or even LOVE quite a few of these classics, but the one I chose to single out is I Got Lost In His Arms, which isn’t often brought up in discussions regarding the musical (and frankly, I do quite love An Old Fashioned Wedding which was written originally for the 1966 revival and it remains one of my favorite duets). When drafting this list, I’ve realized a lot of my selections are actually quite simplistic at their core and not overly verbose or complex musically…which is sort of surprising considering my frequent praise of someone like Stephen Sondheim. I have always tipped my hat to many of the great composers of the 30s & 40s because they did create such classic songs with such wonderful and memorable melodies…and the almost lullaby nature of this particular song is quite beautiful to say the least…and you see the warmth in the brash Annie Oakley truly coming out. 

 

#7-THE I LOVE YOU SONG from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (William Finn) 

-I have talked about the story of when I first saw SPELLING BEE. It had just opened and I knew next to nothing about the show other than the fact that the score was by the man who gave us FALSETTOS and A NEW BRAIN and that it was directed by the great James Lapine. The result was an evening that I really needed at that troubled time: I laughed my head off and fell in love with this quirky and oddball bunch…but I remembered thinking “This show doesn’t have a William Finn ballad a la The Games I Play or the previously mentioned I’d Rather Be Sailing”…and then Lisa Howard began singing “We…always knew you were a winner” and my jaw dropped…THIS was the ballad I wanted and it stood out immensely in a show that had been basically a laugh fest for over the past hour. The emotional power of the song, based around a young girl longing for love from her estranged parents, is definitely heartbreaking but then you are also marveling at the magnificent harmonies that Lisa Howard, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Derrick Baskin zig-zagged through with amazing ease. The night I saw it, which really felt so emotionally intense for some reason, caused the audience to leap to its feet as soon as the song ended…it is still one of the few times I saw a standing ovation given in the middle of a show…also, it was one of the only times I would’ve stood even if no one else around me chose to. It simply moved me that much.  

 

#6-SUNDAY from Sunday in the Park with George (Stephen Sondheim)

-Other Act One closers are rousing brassy production numbers or some kind of massive epiphany or cliffhanger that leaves us wanting more. In the case of Sunday, it is somewhat brief but powerful moment where the artist in question finally finishes the hat, to put it in his terms. His grand painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, is complete and the people immortalized in his pointillist masterpiece sing of how they are pausing in this moment “forever…by the blue, purple, yellow, red water”…and speaking of the word “forever”, I found it incredibly emotional to know that Sondheim himself actually said he cried when he wrote the word on paper originally. To this day, when that ensemble sings “forever”, I get chills…but that is also the true power of art. It IS forever and that painting along with this musical, will always live on.Whenever I listen to this song, I just simply feel blessed that it even exists. 

 

#5-LILY’S EYES from The Secret Garden (Simon/Norman)

–Two brothers singing about a little girl who has the eyes of a dead woman. Well okay…that’s a concept…but it somehow ends up working and marvelously so. Archibald was married to Lily; his brother Neville loved Lily but the love was unrequited….and now, the visiting orphaned Mary (the niece of these two men), happens to bear a striking similarity to the deceased Lily: her hazel eyes. The song basically repeats the idea of the resemblance while they both acknowledge the love and pain towards losing Lily. It sounds like a song that shouldn’t work, but thanks to the sweeping melody by composer Lucy Simon, it gives the men a chance to crescendo to an emotional belt by the end. The final result is actually my favorite duet in all of musical theatre.

 

#4-UNUSUAL WAY from Nine (Maury Yeston)

-Very few songs have sort of hit me in the stomach in terms of relatability than Unusual Way, which was Claudia’s proclamation to her lover Guido in Nine. I think it must be said that Nine works very well in its own right, even if it does pale greatly to its inspiration: Federico Fellini’s masterpiece 8 ½ . There are a few moments in the musical where the magic of the film was captured and I feel like this song was the pinnacle moment. Musically, the song sort of follows a somewhat repetitive melody but it is incredibly haunting and also, the lyrics feel emotional and passionate…after all, this is a woman who is in love with a man who has too much on his plate and is basically choosing to nix her while still having his wife Luisa and another mistress, the fiery Carla Albanese. Eventually, we do learn Claudia moves on by moving to Paris and starting a relationship with an older investment banker as she continues taking acting classes…it is her passion and her new lover Michel, doesn’t distract her. Honestly, Claudia gets short shrift compared to that of Luisa and Carla and, to an extent, Liliane…but the power behind her big Act Two opening number packs the biggest punch.

 

#3-IF I WERE A RICH MAN from Fiddler on the Roof (Bock/Harnick)

-The “I Want” song has become a staple of musicals when it comes to expressing the lead character or characters’ desires or needs early on in the show. FIDDLER already had given us what may be one of, if not the PERFECT opening number in Tradition, which set the tone and feel of the show and established its characters with a deft and entertaining touch. When it comes to If I Were a Rich Man, we get what is the best of the “I Want” song genre. As a kid, I just found it amusing because this guy was dancing around with his arms open wide while he jiggled and spoke gibberish…but a few years later when I revisited FIDDLER as a teenager, the song hit me as perfect. It goes without saying that song gives the actor playing Tevye a chance to be funny, but the song also has a sentimental sense about it without being mawkish. I think it helps that Tevye isn’t a man who hates his life, but hey, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have “a small fortune” as he puts it…I certainly wouldn’t mind a small fortune at this point. 

 

#2-IF I LOVED YOU from Carousel (Rodgers & Hammerstein)

-I feel like when it comes to the history of musical theatre in terms of the “Book musical” concept, you can’t really against the importance of the Bench scene in CAROUSEL, where two practical strangers are soon transported into love/lust territory as the navigate the testy waters and discuss the hypothetical possibilities if they were to pursue a romantic relationship. CAROUSEL as a musical is definitely very problematic in today’s world (although I still much prefer to their prior work OKLAHOMA), but the score itself might very well be their masterpiece…or at least tied with SOUTH PACIFIC (which is their most entertaining/well-made show overall). Hammerstein, as a lyricist, had a tendency to be overly poetic which his protégé, Stephen Sondheim, often attributed to the fact that Hammerstein was schooled in the Operetta craze by Otto Harbach, who, despite his flowery and cheesy lyrics, was an important pioneer for believing musicals could be more than just frivolous song and dance routines. Hammerstein, at his best, was truly a sterling lyricist…but that was only when he wasn’t referencing birds doing such questioning acts as bursting in song or learning how to pray. This song represented how he could be at his poetic best when he was in his most simplistic state. Rodgers, with whom I’ve always had problems with based on the accounts of his demeanor and beliefs in his real life, was certainly a remarkable and surprisingly versatile composer in his prime. In many ways, it is hard to believe that the same man that wrote the music for CAROUSEL is the same man that gave us the bouncy tunes from such musicals as BABES IN ARMS or THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE. For a scene that is two people sitting on a bench confessing that they may be possibly falling in love practically in first sight, it ends up feeling incredibly monumental and majestic thanks to the combined efforts of the legendary R&H.

 

#1-MEADOWLARK from The Baker’s Wife (Stephen Schwartz)

-This is one of those selections that will be anti-climactic for those who know me well and may have seen my often repetitive posts on Facebook of my favorite rendition of this song: Liz Callaway at Carnegie Hall with a massive orchestra blasting it out with gusto. I do acknowledge that some of the lyrics aren’t completely masterful, but a lot of my love for this song is thanks to the sweeping melody that gives the actress a chance to really belt (or mix-belt if you are one of those ladies) up a storm…and even more surprisingly is the song comes from one of the most legendary flops in the history of musical theatre. THE BAKER’S WIFE closed out of town in 1976 (a great account of this would be Patti LuPone’s autobiography in which she says that the perfect punishment for Hitler would’ve been to join the company of a failing musical in trouble such as this one), but despite its massive problems, the score was not one of them. It is the perfect example of no matter how good the score may be, if the structure (among other things) isn’t good, then odds are you are going to fail…unless it is PIPPIN…which just happens to be yet another Schwartz score. As for Meadowlark, it is sung by Genevieve, which was first placed by Carole Demas who was then promptly fired and replaced with newbie Patti LuPone who proceeded to develop a Valium addiction during the lengthy and laborious out of town tryout. For those that don’t know, THE BAKER’S WIFE is about….the younger wife of an older baker who feels like she is stifled and takes an interest in a virile young man who just so happens to take an interest in her. Near the end of act one, Genevieve sings Meadowlark, which is used to set up her dilemma by comparing it to her favorite childhood story, about a Meadowlark who chose to remain loyal to her King instead of flying away with the Sun God. The heartbreak of this regret ends up killing the Meadowlark…and due to that, it drives Genevieve to leave her husband, Aimable and he is devastated once he discovers her departure the following morning. Eventually, she does return to him. The song also had a bit of a storied history during the troubled out-of-town tryout as composer Stephen Schwartz, who also served as a co-producer, felt his song was among his best work while the other producer, the infamous impresario David Merrick, despised the song with a passion. He was overheard saying in a Boston bar: “I’ll get that song out of the show if I have to poison the birdseed”. From there, Merrick actually stole the music charts from the orchestra pit, put them in his attaché case and returned to New York rendering the song cut from the show for that matinee. Once Schwartz discovered this, he reproduced new charts and the song was back in for the evening performance…and then it became a battle of wills: the song was in and out and in and out…and Schwartz even wrote a truncated version which loses a lot of its impact due to hasty lyric cuts that didn’t quite land. Even though the show closed out of town in Washington D.C. (after making the record of the least attended performance in Kennedy Center history), the score and, in particular, this song, have managed to have a long lasting life…and it didn’t hurt of course that LuPone would be able to trot it out at her famous Les Mouches cabaret act at the height of her EVITA fame. One last side note: the song WHERE IS THE WARMTH from the same show is also fantastic and shares the same musical motif for its ending.

 

When it comes to the world of Broadway Theatre, a lot of the buzz and money stem from that of the musical. I am not going to lie when I say that musicals are always something that I have loved and enjoy being a part of…and anyone that knows me would not be surprised by that statement. However, the art form of the musical is in something of a crisis…at least if you strictly view it from the perspective of Broadway. Every now and then, we get an original piece with an original score but the landscape is being dominated by musicals that are based off of films or, worse, jukebox/bio musicals that tell a story set to the music of an artist/musician/band…whether it is a random story or the life/lives of the artist(s) in question. 

 

In the last few years, I have become more engrossed and interested in seeing straight plays more so than the musicals that have come through…and that isn’t to say I never had an interest in them. I often read the text of plays frequently and have had many evolving favorites over the years. It isn’t as common for most theatre people to sit down and rattle of several of their favorite plays in the same way that many will rattle off musicals. So, considering I did a favorite musicals list already, it seemed obvious that the next step would be to tackle my favorite plays. Much like that list, the key word is “favorite” rather than what I feel is “the best”…although some of these would undoubtedly match up on both lists.

 

And since I feel like classical plays from the Greeks or Shakespeare, for example, are in a class of their own in some ways, I am going to keep this list focusing more on plays from the 19th Century to the present. With that, I give you the following list:

 

#25-Glengarry Glen Ross (David Mamet)

-In many ways, you could say Mamet is this era’s Tennessee Williams if only for the fact that he was once a glorified and worshipped playwright…and now, even though his newer works are still frequently produced, the quality has dipped dramatically. It also must be said that his more conservative political views certainly make him something of a pariah to some in the theatre community. Regardless, early Mamet material was quite electrifying and I do think that this particular play represents his best work.

 

#24-Oslo (J.T. Rogers)

-This was one particular playwright that I had no knowledge of prior to seeing OSLO.  I think what really impressed me about his particular piece was that it dealt with what could be seen as a stuffy topic (lots of talking and negotiating related to the peace treaty between Rabin and Arafat) and, to add further to this, was driven by lots of expositional monologues told by Jennifer Ehle’s character Mona. The final result was a very sterling piece of work that, despite its long running time and interesting structure that allowed for a shorter first act and a longer second act (quite unusual), contained great performances from its ensemble and an almost cinematic direction by Bartlett Sher. I will be curious to see how it end up translating to screen as they are intending to adapt it.

 

#23-Beyond the Horizon (Eugene O’Neill)

-I feel like this early O’Neill tragedy is often forgotten about when discussing his canon even though he did with the Pulitzer Prize for it in 1920. I discovered it in college my freshman year when my Acting Professor Jeffrey Ingman assigned me the play and then my given partner and I were to choose a scene from it. The main premise of the piece is that two brothers, Andrew and Robert, both have affection for a young girl named Ruth. She marries Andrew, but seems to have taking a liking to Robert…and her desires seem to consume any form of compassion she may have for anyone. I remember being struck by how simplistic it was, and yet, it felt so immensely tragic. To this day, I’ve been curious and anxious to revisit it as an actor.

 

#22-The Flick (Annie Baker)

-A three hour play that takes place in a run-down movie theatre and is basically just three young people talking about movies and life with a random handjob thrown in for good measure….and somehow, it becomes mesmerizing. A more recent effort and another winner of the Pulitzer Prize, THE FLICK was one of the best examples of realism I have seen performed onstage. The popular saying goes that SEINFELD was “a show about nothing”, but I think something like THE FLICK takes that to a whole new level. Also, it must be noted, that even with its long running time and simplistic plot, it is hard to find anything you’d be pressed to take out of the piece to speed it along. It just exists as it is and we should be grateful for that.

 

#21-Six Degrees of Separation (John Guare)

-Recently revived on Broadway starring Allison Janney as Ouisa, this play is more famous due to the fact that it was adapted into a 1993 film starring the original Broadway Ouisa, Stockard Channing. While hosting a dinner party, a young black man named Paul appears at the doorstep of Ouisa and her husband Flan’s home, battered and bloodied…but he claims that he is not only a friend of their Ivy League children but also that he is the son of Sidney Poitier. SPOILER ALERT: He is not…and after that is discovered, their lives seem to remain focused on his presence since he entered their lives. Guare has always been such an eclectic writer and for some reason, this was the particular show that I found to be both the most accessible while attaining his usual quirky appeal.

 

#20-King Charles III (Mike Bartlett)

-British playwright Mike Bartlett had been something of a brash writer whose plays included such blunt titles as BULL and COCK….so it could be said that a play about the Royal Family written in iambic pentameter would be something of an unusual departure for him. It is still fairly subversive in its own way as it is set in an alternate reality where Queen Elizabeth II has passed away and her son Charles is finally in the position to take the throne. However, his family has other things in mind…particularly his son Prince William, who has his wife Kate Middleton, in pure Lady Macbeth mode; out to get Charles to abdicate the throne and having him pass the torch to William. To add to the Shakespearean atmosphere, we also have the ghost of Princess Diana popping up throughout the proceedings. 

 

#19-I Am My Own Wife (Doug Wright)

-Another Pulitzer Prize winner, although I feel like what I really love about this piece is the fact that it is a one-man show in which an actor gets the chance to play upwards of 30+ characters throughout the evening and it is a DAUNTING task to say the least. It is based on the life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, born Lothar Berfelde, who had killed her father as a child and managed to live through both the Nazi and Communist regimes in East Berlin living as a transgender woman. In this role, Jefferson Mays won one of the most deserving Tony Awards ever and became an idol of mine.

 

#18-Three Tall Women (Edward Albee)

-It appeared that from the late 70s up through the early 90s that Edward Albee hit a slump that was going to put him in the same boat that I referred to earlier regarding Williams and Mamet: a highly prolific and respected writer who can’t seem to drum up the fire and passion of his earlier works…the only difference is that Albee overcame that and then some. THREE TALL WOMEN netted him yet another Pulitzer Prize and it also acted as a play that gave three women a chance to play such delicious roles. The creative spark came alive within him again and with it, we got one of his most indelible works.

 

#17-Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Tennessee Williams)

-I have to admit that I sort of have a personal affection for some of Williams’ somewhat forgotten efforts (at least in terms of his earlier work) like THE ROSE TATTOO or SUMMER & SMOKE, but there is no denying that CAT is easily the pinnacle of domestic dramas and family dysfunction. Set on the plantation of the Pollitt family, the cast of characters are incredibly vivid and vibrant…particularly that of the bombastic portrayal of Big Daddy that was immortalized by Burl Ives.

 

#16-The Goat: or Who is Sylvia? (Edward Albee)

-Albee is back and he gave us a true firecracker of a show that I still love was able to make it to Broadway…and win the Tony at that! In THE GOAT, a middle-aged architect named Martin causes a huge riff in his family when he admits he is in love with someone else…a goat. His wife Stevie, an absolutely cynical and deliciously hilarious role that was played to perfection on Broadway by the underrated Mercedes Ruehl, is obviously not too thrilled…and it certainly isn’t going over well for their sensitive, gay teenaged son Billy. I feel like THE GOAT is a play that needs to be read (or seen if you are lucky enough) to get the full tragicomic experience…so that is all I will say regarding this one.

 

#15-Noises Off (Michael Frayn)

-Farces or comedic plays are often looked down upon by many. They may be liked, but some don’t acknowledge them as “high art”. If there was a “high art” when it comes to farce, there is no doubt in my mind that the title belong to NOISES OFF. Structured in three acts as a play within a play, act one is a rehearsal, act two is a performance where we see the action from backstage, and then act three is us watching an actual performance going horrifically…and hilariously…wrong. You do need a very vibrant cast of people and a solid director to  make it work to its fullest potential, but for the true set-up and the hilarious dialogue and repetitive motifs, Frayn delivered a masterwork in terms of slapstick comedy…and I almost forgot, I have to leave the sardines.

 

#14-4.48 Psychosis (Sarah Kane)

-And now for something completely different. Sarah Kane was a promising playwright who caused quite the stir in the 90s, particularly with her unbelievably brutal and bleak play BLASTED. This particular play that I single out here deals with a “character” who suffers from clinical depression, which Kane herself suffered from and it led to her suicide in 1999, a year and a half before it got its official premiere in London. It is definitely the most abstract play on this list as it doesn’t take on any kind of cohesive structure or setting throughout the evening and doesn’t even have a true set character. It is a series of 24 sections that have varied styles of dialogue that range from naturalistic to poetic to oddly abstract. When I was in college, I remember having to read BLASTED in a Text Analysis class, but it was when hearing about 4.48 PSYCHOSIS that I became enthralled by the abstract tragedy that Kane was able to put onto paper.

 

#13-A View from the Bridge (Arthur Miller)

-When it comes to the legends of the playwriting world, I would say that one of the names on the list that I don’t have any real passionate opinion about would be Arthur Miller. Gasp! I know…so sacrilegious. I certainly do admire and respect plays like DEATH OF A SALESMAN or THE CRUCIBLE and even some of his more forgotten efforts like THE RIDE DOWN MT. MORGAN, but for me, I have always found BRIDGE to be my favorite of his works. Also, I had the privilege of seeing the recent revival directed by the avant-garde Ivo van Hove, who stripped the show down to its barest essentials. The results showed that the text and characters held up remarkably well and even cast the show on an even higher level of esteem than I had for it previously.

 

#12–Fences (August Wilson)

-I don’t think I could stress how much I truly love August Wilson. His 10-play series that is commonly referred to as “The Pittsburgh Cycle” is absolutely fantastic with only maybe 2 of the plays not fully matching the magnificent grace of the other 8. In terms of Broadway, Wilson only had MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (one of my favorites of his) in terms of exposure, but it was FENCES that got him the admiration and his first Pulitzer. I don’t even want to really go into the plotline of FENCES, even though it isn’t anything abstract or difficult to explain, but I will say that the Maxon family (Troy, Rose, and Cory) are fantastic characters and particularly Rose gets to deliver one of the best monologues of all time as she responds to her husband’s ludicrous excuse for committing adultery and fathering a child with his mistress. 

 

#11-Zoo Story (Edward Albee)

–In what could be called the play that put Albee on the map, ZOO STORY is an intense and peculiar piece that is driven by Jerry, a rather disillusioned man who is desperate for human connection and tries to get it from Peter, a wealthy and repressed family man. It takes place in Central Park as the two sit on a bench, but when Jerry’s behavior is about to scare Peter off, Jerry decides to challenge him further. The less said about ZOO STORY the better…it is another piece that you need to read (OR SEE!) to really appreciate.

 

#10-Miss Julie (August Strindberg)

-This one of the oldest plays on my list (although another selection will beat it by roughly a deacde) and it has always had something of an effect on me as I tend to love domestic tragedies as a genre. Miss Julie has an affair with a senior servant named Jean that escalates into pure despair. In many ways, this particular play shares a similarity with another classic piece that is coming up soon…except this one has a woman who is presumably giving into the pressures of another man; the other play I mention is the opposite…and even the door that the character shuts will mirror that of the other play as well.

 

#9-Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (Tom Stoppard)

–With a recent production of the play GARY, which takes place after the bloody events of TITUS ANDRONICUS or even something like WICKED, which takes two supporting characters from THE WIZARD OF OZ and shows us their lives before intertwining with that famous film’s timeline, I think the best example of this kind of genre/structure has to be R&G ARE DEAD…and that is quite remarkable considering it is taking from what may be in contention for being the most famous and revered play of all time, HAMLET. Stoppard has gone on to write many other classics of varying styles and has proved to be quite the remarkable writer, but this play will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

#8-Copenhagen (Michael Frayn)

-The same man that gave us NOISES OFF gave us this play that revolves around three people sitting in some form of an afterlife talking about why a particular person came to Copenhagen. The people in question are physicist Neil Bohr, his wife Margrethe, and another physicist, Werner Heisenberg.It is Margrethe that starts off the play: “Why did he (Heisenberg) come to Copenhagen?”…and then the rest of the play shows us various representations of debating and rejecting theories as to why this meeting originally occurred …which had been about the moral dilemma of constructing an atom bomb. It pulled off the win for Best Play at the Tonys over DIRTY BLONDE and the first Broadway incarnation of Sam Shepard’s legendary TRUE WEST, both great in their own right, but something about COPENHAGEN’s dreamlike and cold state has always stayed with me.

 

#7-Angels in America (Tony Kushner)

–A typical but very well deserved selection. While I do tend to prefer the MILLENIUM APPROACHES portion to that of PERESTROKIA, the whole 7+ hour event is easily worth the long day spent at the theatre. I almost feel like I don’t even need to say much about this particular show. I feel like its presence in the theatre world is gigantic and monumental and that basically every character in the show would be a dream for any actor to have a chance to play whether it be Roy or Louis or Prior or Harper and so on…

 

#6-A Doll’s House (Henrik Ibsen)

-This will be the oldest play to be included on my list, and it is definitely the more feminist take on MISS JULIE in that Jean told Julie the only way out is to kill herself, which leads her to close the door presumably to slice her wrists with a razor. In A DOLL’S HOUSE, Nora stands up to her husband Torvald by leaving him and her slamming the door behind her in resilience has to be one of the most iconic endings in the world of theatre. Much like ROSENCRANTZ, this show led to a play call A DOLL’S HOUSE PART II, a new sequel written recently by Lucas Hnath which shows what happened to Nora and Torvaldin the decade following her departure. 

 

#5-The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams)

–I’ve never really understood why I love GLASS MENAGERIE the most out of Williams’ work, but I have always been drawn to it more. Also, this was the play that truly began his career and I suppose it could be said that a lot of the autobiographical elements from his own life are what gave it such a strong emotional core. It is set up as a memory play told by Tom, who is remembering his overbearing mother Amanda who is trying to set up her emotionally fragile and handicapped (with a limp due to a bout of polio) daughter up with a gentleman caller, which doesn’t end too well. Laura, and especially Amanda, are fantastic characters for women to play…and it is no surprise that we frequently see revivals time and time again.

 

#4-The Seagull (Anton Chekov)

-I feel like people either love or hate Chekov…and I can distinctively remember reading his plays in college and having it be pretty evenly split down the middle from those who loved his work and those who found him to be a pretentious bore. He is, in many ways, the playwright whose material is often the hardest to produce and get right due to the delicate nature of his text…but when it is done well, it is GLORIOUS and when it is done bad….my freaking god….

This was the first of what would be followed by 3 other plays which are considered to be his defining four works: THREE SISTERS, UNCLE VANYA, and THE CHERRY ORCHARD…all 4 of them are magnificent but I ended up only choosing to single out THE SEAGULL in this case. It does often feel like his most vibrant. 

 

#3-The Piano Lesson (August Wilson)

-The pinnacle of Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle has always been THE PIANO LESSON for me. Set during the Great Depression, the primary drama comes from the brother and sister of the family arguing over what to do with the heirloom piano in their home, the former wants to sell it for money to buy the piece of land where their ancestors worked as slaves while the latter wants to keep it for emotional reasons…primarily because the faces of their ancestors are carved on the piano. It led to Wilson’s second Pulitzer win only 3 years after winning for FENCES…two of the most deserving wins I could possibly imagine.

 

#2-Long Day’s Journey into Night (Eugene O’Neill)

–In terms of family dysfunction, I don’t think you can really top that of the Tyrones. Not only are the dysfunctional, but it is probably dysfunction at its most bleak. It is considered by many, including me, to be the magnum opus of Eugene O’Neill…and it is also semi-autobiographical to the point that after he completed writing it in 1942, he couldn’t bear to let it see the light of day which led to it not being produced until 1956, three years after his death. The biggest drama comes from the mother Mary, who is incredibly bitter with the life she has had with her former actor husband James and has become addicted to morphine; and Edmund, the youngest son who suffers from Tuberculosis. Set in four acts spanning over the course of one day, its massive length may drive some away but I fell in love with it the moment I read it my senior year of high school. It was a true honor for me to be able to see the recent revival with Jessica Lange, who truly did a fantastic job with the role of Mary. I think it must be said that despite O’Neill’s tendency to be known for being overly depressing and bleak, he does have a slight witty streak within him, and with the right director/actors, you can make his work more bearable if you don’t like the constant woe…and this play is no different that way.

 

#1-Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Edward Albee)

-We arrive at my number one choice, and for those people that have known me for a while, they probably have heard me give this choice several times. Some people can analyze an idea until they are blue in the face, and I probably did better explaining thoughts about several of the plays prior to this…but I honestly don’t know if I can truly say why it is that this has always been my favorite play from the very moment I read it, only for it to be strengthened when I saw it onstage and also the 1966 film which is very faithful to the original Albee text. I think it is easier to see the plot twist coming nowadays, but it still doesn’t compare you for the emotional blowup from Martha, who had spent the evening being a steamroller towards her husband and their young house guests. The married relationship between George and Martha has become synonymous with that of the husband and wife at odds cliché….and the dichotomy of watching them interact with the younger couple, Nick and Honey, is fascinating as these people are watching a truly warped couple in the most vicious evening of “Fun & Games” imaginable. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was not awarded the year this play was first produced and many believed it was because the committee didn’t feel comfortable giving it to a play that had such foul language….that is a shame, to say the least…and it probably gave them more of a push to reward Albee the prize a couple of years later for his more subdued take on couples drinking together called A DELICATE BALANCE, which is very good of course, but it pales next to some of his best efforts.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

 

When drafting this list, I knew a few plays would be definitive selections that I would never question their placement. I also tried to spread the wealth amongst playwrights to try to get a little variety in terms of the writer or the genre or the era in which the plays were first produced. I would say the final result is a list I am happy with…but I will say that there are several other plays I wish that I could acknowledge….I just felt like I should only leave the list at 25 selections. As with any list, I feel like I could change my mind and move things around….but I think it is noticeable based on his frequent appearances that my favorite playwright is the late Edward Albee…and due to that, I featured more of his work and didn’t even acknowledge other plays of his I greatly enjoyed, like TINY ALICE or SEASCAPE or his very surreal THE PLAY ABOUT THE BABY. I am also incredibly fond of Eugene O’Neill and August Wilson, but ended up singling them out less. Most of the O’Neill canon is worth mentioning while Wilson has his “Pittsburgh Cycle”, which is mostly masterful with only 2 plays that I would consider less remarkable by comparison to the others. I am also a very big fan of Chekov and wanted to be sure to include a couple of his, while I also managed to leave out one playwright who deserved a mention: Lanford Wilson.

 

So, that is my list…and we shall see what other crazy list I will try to tackle next.

 

Perhaps: FAVORITE SHOWTUNES

I know I am not alone on this…but I also know that I would be facing a passionate fan base that has been worshipping this show since its premiere in the mid-90s and anyone who may have discovered it in the years after during its continued 10+ year run in New York.

 

When I was in high school (circa 2003-2007), there were two musicals that seemed to drive those in my theatre department crazy: one was WICKED which was still pretty brand new at the time, but the other was the show I began describing, which was RENT. In fact, one of the guys referred to any time in which he wasn’t listening to RENT was having “RENT withdrawals”.

 

I do feel like I should tread lightly with this, because I cannot deny the importance of RENT and what it does still mean to many, many people. Its phenomenon was very close to that of the one that HAMILTON is experiencing today and that of the one A CHORUS LINE had before it. 

 

RENT was the first true “rock & roll” musical to truly succeed in Broadway (or, at least, the first to sustain power after HAIR) and in addition to that, it dealt closely with such issues as drug addiction and AIDS at a time when it was still incredibly fresh in the minds of the New York community in particular.

 

I will say that a lot of my personal criticisms of RENT also stem from a matter of musical tastes, because I have always been drawn to the darker character pieces written by composers like Stephen Sondheim or certain selections by Maury Yestonor William Finn. I don’t typically end up wanting to revisit musicals with “rock” sensibilities (although some exceptions include HEDWIG or BLOODY, BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON)….but I do still like some of the songs from RENT. I think my biggest problem is strictly based on the character dynamics in that I don’t find myself particularly caring about a lot of them…and the ones I DO care about, are the ones who ended up facing extreme heartbreak or death (Collins and Angel, respectfully). 

 

A lot of the issues for me, and I know I am not the only one who has expressed this concern so I know I am not necessarily expressing anything new or groundbreaking, stem from the character of Benny.

 

He is portrayed as a sell-out who betrayed his friends for the good life…and sure, while some of his dialogue/songs give him a condescending tone, I don’t exactly HATE him. In fact, you sort of see him as a person who chose to make something of his life rather than be an underachiever. 

 

I also know that saying “underachiever” also undermines the fact that the people I am referring to here are “starving artists” which is a lifestyle I know of all too well…but the big difference is that I PAY MY RENT! Have I and do I struggle? Obviously I do, and that is even having a steady paying full time job.

 

Would I love the chance to just not pay my rent? Hell yes! What kind of question is that?! It would be a dream for everyone, especially in my age group, to catch a break and be able to rebuild their lives considering we’ve been drowning in student loan debt, among other things.

I get the appeal of wanting to “stick it to the man” but there is a certain entitlement to these characters who feel like they deserve to coast by for months on end not paying their rent.

 

In terms of other characters in the piece, I feel like there are a lot of problems with Maureen, who is built up throughout Act One and then she is introduced as a bombastic performance artist who doesn’t seem to have any real interest or feelings in those she has been involved with: Mark and then Joanne. I think Joanne is another example of a character that is portrayed as something of a straight-laced well-adjusted professional…and just like Benny; Joanne is typically played by a black performer. I actually find it interesting that this is often how they are cast; on one hand, it seems admirable that two black people are being shown as having their heads above water and making something good of their lives…however, the problem with RENT is that they are presented as the “killjoys”.

 

My two favorite characters in the show, Collins and Angel, are usually cast as Black and Hispanic…and their new love affair feels both equally sweet and passionately sensual….and then Angel dies from AIDS, which leads to the show’s most heartbreaking and emotional scene where Collins sings a reprise of their earlier duet “I’ll Cover You”, which also happens to be my favorite song from the musical. Sure, the death of Angel was profound and it made me cry the first time I saw RENT, but it also seemed incredibly manipulative…especially when you take into account that the two leads of the piece are STRAIGHT. WHITE. MEN.

 

The legend of RENT was also buoyed up by the fact that its creator, Jonathan Larson, suddenly passed away at the age of 35 on the same morning that RENT was due to premiere off-Broadway. While some people over the years have grown to think that he actually died of AIDS (which I have encountered a handful of times), he actually died of aortic dissection which is something that he actually could have had fixed but he was not properly diagnosed when he originally sought medical treatment.

 

His death gave the musical a significant boost in terms of press and attention and within a couple of months, its off-Broadway run turned into a sudden run on Broadway at the then-somewhat dilapidated Nederlander Theatre which is situated on W 41st St. At the time, this street was considered even seedier than that of 42nd Street and in some ways, the success of RENT along the restoration of the New Amsterdam Theatre and eventual cleanup of Times Square, helped revitalize the safety of that particular part of the city.

 

Before he passed, Larson had expressed that RENT was inspired by the legendary opera LA BOHEME and indeed, certain situations and characters names are connected and reworked to fit the new setting of the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the peak of the AIDS crisis. 

 

However, there is one aspect about RENT that becomes bothersome to me and that is the fact that Larson did indeed take a lot of inspiration from Puccini’s opera but that was especially linked to the straight people of the story. It becomes more hairy if you were to read a plot description of a book that was published in 1990 and is now out of print: PEOPLE IN TROUBLE by Sarah Schulman. 

 

In an article written for the Chicago Tribune in 1997, they began with this plot synopsis:

 

“Here’s the story: A self-involved East Village performance artist dumps her male lover for a lesbian social activist, leaving the guy in a funk, and creates a performance piece that targets an avaricious landlord and causes a riot. All around them, people are dying of AIDS and neglect. Their best buds, a gay male couple in which one of the guys in HIV Positive is eventually consumed by the disease. His death now adds meaning to the lives of the survivors, who are redeemed by love”.

 

So, as we know, Maureen is a performance artist who dumps Mark in favor of a woman. They are also challenging their landlord Benny while many around them are crumbling due to AIDS and drug abuse…and let’s not forget, Collins and Angel are the gay couple with the latter eventually dying of AIDS.

 

The big problem is that the plot description above was for Sarah Schulman’s book PEOPLE IN TROUBLE and not for RENT. 

 

The whole thing becomes even stickier when it was said that Jonathan Larson actually read this book, which was only a modest success but loved by many that read it. 

 

The same article from above, which was written by Achy Obejas, had an interview with Michael Korie, who was known as an Opera Librettist who had worked closely with Schulman on a stage treatment of her novel. He claims that Larson told him in 1994 that he read Schulman’s book while he was finishing up his first drafts of RENT.

 

Korie asked him if he had heard of PEOPLE IN TROUBLE which Larson, seeming somewhat surprised, apparently said “It’s funny you should mention that…I didn’t think too many people were familiar with it” and added that he took inspiration from it while writing his own piece. Korie didn’t think much of it at the time, but soon after both he and Schulman realized that he, essentially “ripped her off”.

 

Now, of course, Larson’s death added a whole new level of mystique to this as they now had to deal with the Larson estate rather than Larson himself. The Estate Lawyer released a statement saying:

 

“I’ve never heard of Sarah Schulman and I’ve never heard of Jonathan being familiar with her book. No one has a copyright over AIDS, the East Village, homosexuality, performance art, or watch alarms”.

 

*Watch alarms referred to the timed regiment in which AIDS victims needed to be reminded to take their medication

 

Schulman, a truly dynamic and fascinating woman it must be said, was one of the first to challenge RENT for the fact that, aside from the similarities to her own work, she claimed that it was problematic for the reason that it takes a lot of the focus off of the LGBTQ characters and focuses on the straight white filmmaker and another straight white musician (although, unlike Mark, he was infected with HIV via his girlfriend, who committed suicide after she learned her diagnosis).

 

I do think a story like Roger’s is worth being told but I feel like the significant focus and how a lot of the story is seen through Mark’s eyes is what made RENT seem even less soulful than it could have been…and it was something I never even fully realized until recently.

 

The Schulman controversy, which can be read about at more length in another book of hers called STAGESTRUCK: THEATRE, AIDS, AND THE MARKETING OF GAY AMERICA, is not the only controversy that RENT ended up facing.

 

While RENT was being prepped at the New York Theatre Workshop, they hired a dramaturg named Lynn Thomson to help Larson rework the musical. She claimed that just a couple of months before his death in January 1996 that she and Larson sat down to rewrite a significant portion of RENT in October 1995. She stated that while Larson was incredibly gifted as a composer, the musical had no real cohesive structure and that she helped give the show its core.

 

With that, she ended up suing the Larson Estate (something that Schulman actually didn’t do) seeking $40 million and 16% in the show’s royalties. Not much is known about the settlement that eventually occurred out of court, but during the original case, the judge ruled against her and gave full credit back to Jonathan Larson.

 

One has to wonder how this would’ve panned out had Larson not passed away. Could Thomson’s claim have been one of greed? I do feel she contributed something to the process of RENT but I know I don’t have any right to say what or how much that might be.

 

I do think Sarah Schulman has more of a case due to the fact that her novel has so many striking similarities that you can’t even deny it. When I first heard it, I really thought it WAS the synopsis of RENT.

 

As it stands, RENT remains one of the biggest legends and most beloved musicals to come from the NY Theatre scene…it is a juggernaut that is up there with FIDDLER, HELLO DOLLY, GREASE, A CHORUS LINE, CATS, PHANTOM, MISS SAIGON, THE PRODUCERS, THE BOOK OF MORMON, and HAMILTON in terms of its cultural staying power.

 

I do think a lot of RENT can be problematic…and I even thought that before I learned about the controversies from Schulman and Thomson, but I also acknowledge its importance in that it did inspire and provoke a lot of new musical theatre fans. 

 

I acknowledge that I am often snobby when it comes to musicals. I was the closet case high schooler who was pushing the likes of musicals like THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA or GREY GARDENS over SPAMALOT or SPRING AWAKENING and felt Sondheim was God and that Andrew Lloyd Webber mostly wrote schlock material (although I STILL stand behind that statement). RENT did move in many ways, but the true heartfelt moments felt drowned out by the characters that I felt less compelled by (Mark, Mimi, Maureen…and to a lesser extent, Roger) instead of the ones I wished more time would be given to (Collins, Angel).

 

In terms of very personal work…not to mention a show that had a more modern musical score…I have always been more drawn to Jonathan Larson’s “tick…tick…BOOM!” which took a lot from his own personal life while he was still a waiter at the now defunct Moondance Diner in SoHo. I always recommend people to check out that musical if they’ve never listened to it, and thanks to the power of Lin Manuel Miranda, we will soon be getting a Netflix film of it…hopefully it turns out well.

 

One last thing about RENT:

 

Part of me does feel like I am too hard on it, primarily because of its importance in how it did shine a light on a certain community in a big way…but I will always feel like it suffers from the entitlement of its main characters (particularly its straight white leads) at the expense of the true heart and soul of the piece: Collins and Angel.

 

She would’ve been 97 years old today…and just to give you an idea, she was born just a few months after Betty White.

It just feels very fitting that she both came into the world and left it in June, the month that is now synonymous with LGBT Pride…and not only that, her death occurred a week before the Stonewall Riots. As a kid, I always assumed her death somehow fueled the riot…which, of course, was a silly notion.

 

I had started a “series” of sorts where I hoped to post various clips of my favorite Judy Garland performances and I wanted to be sure to definitely do so today considering this was her birthday.

 

Today, I decided to focus on her short-lived but now legendary variety series aptly titled THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW, which aired for one season on CBS from 1963-1964. It was a typical case of a series that had a small but strong fan base and relative critical pedigree but they just so happened to air it opposite one of the biggest successes on television: NBC’s western BONANZA.

 

Garland had always been wary of the idea of performing on TV, as a lot of film stars often were, but due to her many trials which also included hefty debts and back taxes, she ended up taking the gig in hopes that her TV salary would help her jump from the red to the black. Garland did end up saying she wanted to spend more time caring for her children so with that and the low ratings, CBS cancelled the show and Garland never truly recovered in the financial department.

 

Her variety show was wonderful, but also incredibly flawed. Garland herself knew her strengths so as the season went along, we got more of Garland singing as opposed to being in sketches…and if she would only have a rapport with her singing guest stars which worked out a lot better.

 

The show also gained a significant boost when after the series began airing, critics and the small audience alike instantly took a dislike to the show’s resident comedian, Jerry van Dyke. After filming his 10th episode, they fired him on the spot and then the remaining episodes proceed much more smoothly.

 

Garland’s performances were splendid on the show, but I am going to limit myself to discussing five as opposed to…well…all of them.

 

“AS LONG AS HE NEEDS ME”

 

https://youtu.be/eT0ms9UdxcE

 

–This would’ve been pretty much brand new to most people at the time considering it originated from the musical OLIVER, which had just opened on Broadway the previous year. Definitely one of her more subtle efforts (although it ends with some nice belting and some of her trademark tics) and this is always the version I go to if I ever want to hear the song. I also love the violin accompaniment in the background.

 

“BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC”

 

https://youtu.be/e4Xz7WV_qJs?t=16s

 

-Judy Garland was a close friend of then President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie…and obviously was devastated by his infamous and legendary death in 1963. Following this, she wanted to perform a special song on the show, which in the clip, states that it has been rarely heard on TV. She never explicitly says that it was meant as a dedication to JFK but the story behind it was well known and she got it on the air despite CBS not really wanting the religious song on the air. The result was a very militant and emotional performance that, despite a small lyric flub during the second verse, moved the audience to leap to their feet for a standing ovation. In some ways, I think this is a contender for one of her best performances ever.

 

“GET HAPPY/HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN”

 

https://youtu.be/zFVxX3RtyhQ

 

-I do have to say that when it comes to my Gay Card, some people might want it revoked when I say that I have never been a passionate fan of Barbra Streisand. Having said that, her early work which was much more brassy and raw than what she would eventually become by the 70s, is usually always stellar. In many ways, this duet is a passing of the baton and  you can truly sense how floored Garland is by Streisand’s intense presence and unique timbre…and remarkably enough, Garland lets Streisand steal the spotlight because she earned the moment.

 

“OLD MAN RIVER”

 

https://youtu.be/5g4wnWILwSI

 

-Not much to say about this one…but I guess I will come up with something. As a true classic originating from one of the most important musicals ever written (that being SHOWBOAT), I feel like Garland’s take on this song is just, simply, quite powerful. She was always great at finding such rich emotion in whatever she sang.

 

“WEST SIDE STORY Medley” 

 

https://youtu.be/BnYd41IwiJo

 

-I do have to mention that I have never exactly been a big fan of WEST SIDE STORY. I certainly acknowledge its groundbreaking importance in musical theatre and it does have some lovely music at times, but it just never really latched on to me as one of my all-time favorites. The reason I include this particular duet (which was actually lip-synched but whatever) is because both her and Vic Damone sound great together but also, Garland ends the medley while belting an F, which was a higher note than she typically would hit in songs. The first time I recall seeing this clip, I noticed the key change in the final stanza and I thought “Wait, is she going to hit the note I think she is going to hit?”…that she did…and it was glorious. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason it was not done live was because she was afraid of the note.

 

So, those are some random selections that stood out for me from her show, and that isn’t even going to her duets with her daughter Liza Minnelli or Ethel Merman and…I could go on but I will stop because they joy will be too much and I am already distracted at work now!

 

Happy Birthday Judy…you were one of a kind and no one will ever come close to what you achieved.

A few years ago, I was dating this really adorable Jewish guy named Ethan. He was a couple of years younger than me and very in tune with the modern trends and lingo in a way that made me feel ancient even though I was only 26 and he was 23. He grew up in Queens and never really had to deal with the worries of “coming out” or fearing what his parents might think…and in fact, a lot of the guys that I would go on dates with during that particular single phase would often ask about where I came from and usually people are taken aback when I say West Virginia. Sometimes, it really all comes down to who is in your life as to whether or not you can fully come out and be yourself…but at first, I didn’t have that luxury.

 

I bring up Ethan specifically because he was in college at the time and he was doing an assignment where he had to ask several people to write 13 words on a piece of paper that you could say to your 13 year old self.

 

I just remember thinking how my pre-teen years and my early teenage years were, perhaps, the worst time of my life and how much I would refuse to ever relive or thoroughly discuss them again…but then I thought about the-then popular “It gets better” campaign that was flowing around online and how there were so many things I wish I could tell my younger self in hopes that “he” could cope.

 

I eventually decided on this:

 

“You haven’t met the real ‘you’ yet; take more chances and you will”. 

 

When I was 15 years old, I had enrolled in the Intro to Theatre class at my high school because, as I will go into, I loved the idea of being in the arts world since childhood…but I was also INCREDIBLY and PAINFULLY shy and awkward. Then, near the end of the year, the teacher, Kathy Casuccio, had made the final decision that the upcoming Spring Musical was going to be one of my favorites: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.

 

She highly encouraged everyone to audition and I remember just sort passively thinking about it and then as I was leaving the classroom, I saw the sign-up sheet and almost as if there were a spotlight shining on it, there was one single slot left open on it…and I distinctly remember her saying “You will never know if you take the chance”.

 

I ended up shocking everyone and got cast as the lead, Seymour Krelborn. 

 

I was not trained as a singer at the time, but I was passable enough…however my own insecurities certainly helped with how Seymour was scripted. Playing this role was perhaps the most important thing that could’ve happened to me. It gave me the drive and the confidence to further pursue the idea of wanting to act. Then came the moment of conflict: Casuccio told us DO NOT MAJOR IN THEATRE IN COLLEGE. We would regret it if we did.

 

For the record, I DID end up doing it. It actually wasn’t my choice to an extent because I went into orientation not really firmly selecting a major but when I got there and my first transcript was handed to me, it said: ANTHONY JAMES HOST, Major: Theatre…so I was just kind of like “Well, okay…I guess I will just stick with this”.

 

It wasn’t that I hated the idea. I was just scared by what she said about how it wouldn’t help us…and to an extent; she was right because most people don’t like the idea of hiring a Theatre major in New York because they are worried we will gladly jump ship the moment we get cast in a big show.

 

Then there was the next hurdle: telling people I was a Theatre major. I felt ashamed about it. Keep in mind, this was a small college in WV and I certainly knew that most of the guys around me in orientation would probably judge me for it.

 

It wasn’t until my freshman year of college began that I faced the first snide comment about my major. It was the first day of my English 101 class on a Tuesday morning bright and early at 8am and the teacher did one of my least favorite things: “Let’s all go around the room and introduce ourselves and tell us your major”. Oh, great. Now, I could’ve lied. It’s not like the teacher would know or that the class would know, but I remember thinking “I like theatre so I don’t want to hide it”.

 

So, it got to me and I just simply said, “Hi. I’m Anthony. I am a Theatre major”.

 

A couple of seats behind me, a frat boy type quietly chuckled and then mumbled: 

 

“YOU’RE GAY”.

 

I can’t tell you how much that hurt and made me feel uncomfortable. I also hadn’t accepted that side of me yet because I was convincing myself for several years at that point that any weird urge I felt towards guys like my best friends Michael or Stephen were just sort of flukes because I was mistaking feelings for friendship…and I had known both for over 10 years at that point.

 

Following that class was my Intro to Theatre History class, so I walked over with my Starbucks in hand and sat in the hallway waiting for the class to start and I was just so numb and terrified. One of my good friends, Sean, whom I had known for years as well and was also an actor (he had been my Orin in LITTLE SHOP), was also in this class. Sean was straight and always had somewhat of a slight conservative edge about him but he also wasn’t opposed to homosexuality. I told him about what happened and I even went as far to say “I think I should consider getting a new Major” and thankfully, he was willing to talk some sense into me. He said “That would be stupid. Why do you care what that guy thinks….or anyone would think for that matter? It is your major and it is what you want to do”. After that, I never gave it a second thought….and that was what began my real journey to truly accepting me for who I was. 

 

So, why all of the fear and paranoia aside from the fact that I grew up in WV…it shouldn’t come as a surprise: religion.

 

Truth be told, the town I grew up in was sort of a rare breed for WV. Morgantown was home to West Virginia University and thanks to that, we got a lot of business and culture that seemed to consistently pour in and it caused the town’s population to rise and the economy to prosper so strongly that right after the 2008 Recession, Brian Williams did a segment on NBC Nightly News devoted to Morgantown and how, unlike all of WV and a lot of the U.S., it was on the rise in more ways than one and even had the lowest unemployment rate in the country. 

 

Morgantown is probably the closest thing WV has to a liberal bubble, but it is nowhere near close to being completely blue (even though Obama carried the county in 2008). The culture within the county, and our close proximity to Pittsburgh, allowed me to be able to take in a lot of artistic opportunities, which proved to be a very vital outlet during a very trying time.

 

As a kid, my family attended Riverside Apostolic Church, which was an Evangelical/Pentecostal fire and brimstone preach fest. When I was REALLY young, I don’t recall having any real aversion to going to church but it was around 1995 that I began to sense something was wrong.

 

I was 7 years old and for that particular week, a husband and wife and their son were coming into town with their Christian Puppet Ministry and one of their stops was our church. I loved puppets as a kid so I was definitely excited and I can recall the week being fun. However, there is one thing about that type of church that some people may not know. As with all organized religion, each denomination almost seems to have their own set of beliefs and picky Christians certainly love to do their Cherry Picking of the Bible.

 

The Apostolic Church believes in order for you to enter the kingdom of heaven, you must repent, be properly baptized, and then you would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost: AKA Speaking in Tongues. I knew about speaking in tongues and as a kid, it was certainly jarring to see people yelling in what appeared to be languages that sounded like Latin or Arabic.

 

After one of these particular youth services, the wife of the Puppet team…and I can’t remember her full name but we referred to her as Sister Hopper…came up to me because she wanted to try to talk to as many of the children as she could. She asked me questions about whether or not I read the Bible every day and if I prayed every day…I said yes. She then asked if I had accepted Jesus as my savior and if I received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I said that I accepted Jesus but that I had not spoken in tongues.

 

With that, she offered this little pearl of “wisdom”:

 

“Well…you know what it means then. You definitely want to get on that, because if Jesus were to come back tomorrow to take us all home to heaven, you wouldn’t be saved and you would go to hell”.

 

I WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD.

 

And she said it with the same urgency as if she were a mother telling her son that he shouldn’t run around the house as opposed to…you know…warning someone that they were going to live for eternity in a land of fire and torture.

 

I’ve never forgotten the sound of her voice or how she looked…and honestly, I would gladly slap that woman in the face now if I had the chance. I definitely put that kind of fear behind me a long time ago, but for what I DID go through and for her to have the audacity to tell a child such a thing was truly abhorrent. Yet, that seemed to be par for the course for many people in that denomination.

 

Since we were fast approaching the end of the 20th century that also meant the early stages of that infamous conspiracy theory Y2K were starting to form. Most people remember Y2K as being a big technological meltdown in which computer systems would crash and airplanes would fall out of the sky and we’d all have to stay in bomb shelters and stock up on bottled water and Ritz Crackers. Religious people seemed to use it as yet another opportunity to claim that Jesus was planning the Second Coming. I even vividly remember during the summer of 1999 seeing a tabloid in the checkout line of a Super Kmart (may it rest in peace) that had some crazy religious zealot claiming he was told that Jesus would be coming back within weeks.

 

This kind of thing freaked me out to no end, even if I was told that his return would be akin to a “thief in the night”…and surprise, surprise, 20 years later, we are still here….perhaps Stephen Sondheim should add a verse to I’m Still Here that taps into this plight.

 

I felt so engrossed in the beliefs of my church that I almost found it incredibly jarring when other people’s lives didn’t match up to mine. I was surprised that other religions didn’t believe in certain things that we did and was even more surprised when I learned that people didn’t even believe in Jesus…or God…or that people considered Jesus and God two different people… but hey, I would rather not go into that stuff. I will probably just irritate myself far too much.

 

I do want to make note of how my first response to atheism was, because we were told they were “lost souls” who were truly sad at heart and that we should pity them. I felt like they were all missing out on something great…but deep down, I still sensed something was wrong with me….and it turns out that the only person missing out on something great was me. 

So, how exactly did I end up coping with a lot of my worries and insecurities?

 

The arts, of course.

 

I began doing everything from watching old and current TV shows, renting movies, reading history books, and exploring various websites on that new hot thing of the time: the internet. In a life where I felt so afraid and nervous and shy and unsure of so much, I found my solace in the entertainment world and the history behind it. First it began with television but then truly expanded to film and theatre and music.

 

By the time I reached college, my original goal was to be a writer/director with less emphasis on acting…but eventually that would be flipped. I wasn’t fully comfortable my freshman year of college not just because of that English class incident, but I was still a guy who had this weighing influence of religion on him…and I was sensing more and more with myself that I wasn’t the person I thought I was. The real journey to coming out began in the summer of 2008, between my freshman and sophomore years of college.

 

I had been cast in a production of 1776 and was going to get a chance to play a small but pivotal supporting role opposite a Theatre Professor whom I adored and a member of the community who was pretty much a legend for his work in the theatre…and that I also quite adore. I remember going to the first read through feeling quite excited about what was going to happen and then I noticed…him.

 

This was “Joey” (name changed out of their request), a guy that I sort of knew only because he had been dating a guy who was also in the Theatre program with me…but I had never met him and only saw him one other time in person and only knew his name thanks to Facebook.

 

I saw him sitting across the room and I instantly thought “God, he’s beautiful”. It was the first time I truly thought something “gay” about a guy but didn’t stop to justify it. Instead, it just felt good…and that isn’t to say I wasn’t scared emotionally, but I can’t deny that it was nice to acknowledge it.

 

Of course, I was never going to approach “Joey”…I was still convinced I was being sinful and I also thought he was too good for me. I can also still envision him in my head with his shaggy, trendy brunette hair and his tight fitting clothes with a shiny studded belt. I began fantasizing about him and it began feeling both amazing and depressing all at once because it was just this mixture of elation and sadness because I felt like I was being a bad person for wanting this…and yet, it felt GOOD to feel it.

 

Not long before 1776 opened, “Joey” got into a car accident that totaled his car. He wasn’t seriously injured but he was definitely in pain. I can recall several people asking him how he was doing and he was talking to people more than he ever had (he primarily kept to himself, which there was a reason for that which I won’t go into here). I saw this as a chance to try to talk to him and I finally mustered up the courage to do it after the rehearsal. I am not sure what I really expected to gain from this as I didn’t feel like I was ready to pursue this side of me…not to mention, he was dating someone.

 

I did approach him and I distinctly remember he was texting on his phone and he barely looked up at me while I asked him about how he was feeling. After a brief moment, I just said “Well…take care”…and with no acknowledgment, he just looked down at his phone as if he was just happy to have me go away (and there was a reason for this). At that point, I kind of just wrote him off as being an asshole and let it go.

 

Then, that fall, he enrolled into the college and began taking classes in our Theatre program…and I found out he broke up with his boyfriend. Around that same time, other people in the department were talking about how fun “Joey” was: catty, loved to drink, social butterfly…and he was an amazing pianist to boot on top of being an amazing singer.

 

I got angry. Why the hell did he brush me off?! I became semi-obsessed with him at that point trying to figure out his deal.

 

This continued into the Spring Semester when we both got cast in a murder mystery play called THE MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS OF 1940, which was fun to be in but the writing was not exactly stellar. During the process, I talked to the other cast members to be sure but I rarely said much to “Joey”…however, by the end of the run, he and I began talking some and it eventually led me to do something that was rather self-serving.

 

Back in those days of Facebook Notes (remember those?), I decided to post one about my experience doing the murder mystery because at that point, it was my first time getting to play a lead while in college and I thoroughly enjoyed my role and working with that ensemble…but I used it as a way to connect with “Joey” behind the guard of a computer. I remember gushing about how much I was impressed by him and, also, that he made a beautiful woman. In the show, he played a man in drag…and in real life, he was beginning a career as a drag queen…but there was more to my pointed comment than I intended.

 

So…as I had found out not too long before from someone else in our department, “Joey” was intending to have a sex-change operation. To me, this was basically a gift from the heavens. I was literally telling myself that this was the most perfect thing that could happen: he would become she and then I wouldn’t have to come out.

 

Oh, silly 20 year old me.

 

That April, about a month after the show closed, he and I actually started messaging each other and I began flirting with him. At first, he wasn’t sure what to make of it but he opened up and said that he felt the same way about me but didn’t really know what to do about it because everyone thought I was straight (or rather, a closet case). We agreed to hang out the following day…and in whirlwind fashion, we fell in love.

 

After a couple of weeks of dating and fooling around and sleeping with each other, I officially asked him out on May 5, 2009 after coming back from dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I can remember being in my car driving back to his apartment. I expressed concerns about my family or certain people back in my hometown learning about it, but he said he was willing to be a secret of sorts since he actually came from a more intense religious environment than I did (even though he was out to his family, the tension among them was incredibly uncomfortable as they were true Southern Baptists). Once I heard that, I just said “Well I don’t want to wait anymore, so will you be mine?” And I remember he started crying and repeatedly said “Yes!” over and over again.

 

So, as it stands, “Joey” eventually got a legal name change and is living her life as a Trans woman here in New York. We were together for 6 years and despite it being incredibly rocky for the majority of the time, I think she and I both agree that it had a profound effect on us both. She was the first love of my life.

 

As for coming out to EVERYONE, to this day, I still haven’t fully done it…my parents sort of figured it out on their own but they never really confronted me about it. After they divorced, my father met a woman who had a more liberal mindset on social issues and she was very key to helping him accept that I was gay. Even though I have never blatantly said to my father that I am gay, he knows I was with “Joey” and he knows I have a boyfriend named Brian now and whomever I may be dating, they would be welcomed in my home should I bring them back to visit…in the end, that is all I can ask for. Other family members, such as my sister Rachel and Cousin Laura definitely know and I’ve been more candid with them about it…because frankly it was always easier. 

 

When I moved to New York City over 6 years ago, I was still with “Joey” but then after living here for a year, we broke up after a very tumultuous relationship and it was the right thing to do. However, I came out (so to speak) when I was 20 and jumped into a relationship with “Joey”. I never really got to fully explore this gay side of me and now here I was, just about to turn 26 in New York City and I hadn’t been on a date with a single guy.

 

I guess you could say I was lucky that I had the exposure of being in a city like this to be able to explore and have so many opportunities but it was also incredibly daunting at the same time.

 

I met guys, went on dates, hooked up a lot, had my heart broken, and sadly I know I hurt a guy or two at the time, but in the end, I sort of found myself…or at least I found more of me that I didn’t even know was there.

 

During that time, I got especially attached to that Ethan fellow I mentioned at the beginning of this novel of a blog post. Him asking me to come up with that phrase for his school assignment was a big turning point for me emotionally: I did feel like I had found “me” and despite everything I had gone through emotionally, I felt like it was all worth it in the end. I have no shame for acknowledging that I am gay…and I would hope that any other young kid out there who has the same fears I did will have the same chance to come out of their shell and be able to accept who they are and be happy. 

 

So, as I currently sit here in June 2019 with the 50thAnniversary of the Stonewall Riots approaching, I am definitely proud that I accepted who I am and I am beyond grateful to those brave souls who fought for our civil rights during that time.

 

And with that, all I can really say is…I could use a drink.

June is Pride Month for the LGBT community and the allies that stand beside us…and it almost seems fitting that one of the true first Gay icons both entered and left the world during that month…in fact, her death happened just a week before the Stonewall Riots occurred in 1969. So, it is the 50th Anniversary of those riots that lead us to celebrating LGBT Pride every June and it is also the 50th Anniversary of the death of my favorite entertainer to have ever lived: that brassy, eccentric, witty icon that was born Frances Gumm but became Judy Garland.

My obsession with Garland came at a very young age and I always like to joke that my love for her was the earliest sign that I was an old queen who was unaware of his throne because I was in a bolted up closet. I think most people were introduced to Garland through THE WIZARD OF OZ and it goes without saying that I adored the movie, and still do. There was something enchanting about her voice and I can still vividly remember when I first heard her sing “Over the Rainbow”…I was probably 3 or maybe 4 years old.

Moving ahead a couple of years, I was at my Grandmother’s house and she wanted to watch MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS on TV because she hadn’t seen it in quite some time and she told me, “Judy Garland is in this…that lady from THE WIZARD OF OZ. Maybe you’ll like it”. I was maybe 7 at this point…and I had already developed a love for the past when it came to movies and television and music so I was perhaps more gung-ho at watching this movie set in 1904 rather than watching what my then-best friend was obsessed: the Power Rangers.

It was this movie that truly set off my admiration for her. Not only was the movie so glorious to look at with all of its rich colors, but Garland herself never looked more inviting and warm…and it came as no surprise when I learned Vincente Minnelli intentionally sought out to give Garland the best showcase possible.

I was curious to check out more of her work, so I turned to the hot new craze of the time: the World Wide Web. After a few minutes of connecting via dial-up, and knowing I only had a few minutes as my mom didn’t want me to keep tying up the phone lines (if only these young kids knew the struggle of early internet usage), I sought to print out a list of her entire filmography.

Several minutes passed as the dot-matrix printer slowly went line by line printing off each film she made…and from there, I tried to seek out her movies whether it had been through renting them or finding them on cable.

So, for the next couple of weeks, I am going to post a few selections of her work that I love and discuss them (albeit briefly or in rambling mode).

Since I brought up MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, I will start with that and focus on three particular performances from that film:

“THE BOY NEXT DOOR”

-In what is not often discussed as much as some of her other classics, this sweet and sensitive song has always been what I think of when I think of Garland at her most beguiling…and so much so that I chose an image of her from this song to be my Facebook cover photo to coincide with her birthday, death, and Pride. I think the song works so well because it taps into something that many of us have always felt: a longing for someone who is so close but, in some ways, feels so far away.

“THE TROLLEY SONG”

-In what was the biggest success from the film at the time (for example, winning the Oscar for Best Original Song), I would say that “THE TROLLEY SONG” is one of my personal favorites for sure…and I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten on the subway here in NYC and think about this song. In fact, a few years ago, I was on a date with this really adorable guy. After dinner, we walked through Washington Square Park to get to the train and once we got on the crowded train, he rested his head on my shoulder and snuggled up against me…simply put, I was in heaven. At the time, we both lived in Queens, but he lived at the end of the train line in Forest Hills whereas I lived in Astoria several stops before him… I offered to stay with him till his stop. Once we reached Forest Hills, he said to me “I almost feel like I had the closest case of THE TROLLEY SONG I will ever have!”…and with that, I planted a big kiss on him for sharing the same thought I was having. Even though I ended up parting ways with that guy, I often think back on that moment fondly because I, too, never thought I’d get to have my own little “Trolley” moment.

“HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS”

-Every Christmas, this is my go-to post to put up…sometimes traditions are just worth keeping. While this version of the song is somewhat different from the more well-known versions nowadays that slightly alter the lyrics and take on a more hopeful tone, I still can’t help but love the haunting nature of this one. It is such a peak emotional moment in the film and in some ways, it felt like the first moment in Garland’s career where she took on a more adult role as she cared for her younger sister.

So, I leave you with that for now but I do intend to continue my Judy Parade over the next several days!

I began this blog way back in December…and for the first couple of months; I would say I was pretty good about posting a fairly decent amount of output. Getting a new dog in February sort of distracted me, especially since I felt a little overwhelmed with all of the trials of making sure she was healthy and buying her food and chew toys, etc…and it sort of just drained me to the point where it became hard to focus on much else. That isn’t to say that I don’t love the dog, but on one level, having a dog that doesn’t have the capability of being left alone out of fear that she will destroy the apartment, not to mention won’t really take to being crated, has sort of left me feeling out of the loop in terms of being involved in a lot.

 Last year, I had the privilege of performing in a friend’s play for a Theatre Festival but during that same time, I was also dealing with a lot of emotional stress as I was planning a move to a new apartment and then found out my then job would be ending due to the business closing…and it was a really mixed up affair because I obviously wanted the financial stability but at the same time, I HATED that job and was at a point where I simply couldn’t stand my boss and how she treated myself and her other employees. I basically stopped going on auditions around that time because I felt like my main job in life needed to be to find a steady day job so I could get my head above water again. Every interview I went on, and I probably only went on 7-8 out of several dozen applications I applied for, just seemed to go nowhere and it would get so incredibly frustrating that it was hard to remain positive about the whole thing.

 I was so desperate that I had to do the very last thing that I wanted to do, which was return to my old UPS job which paid so little and was run with such horrific laissez-fairemanagement…on top of dealing with the general public…something I was DYING to get away from after doing it for over 5 years. 

What I missed was working in an office, because there, I often felt like I only had to deal with a core group of people and there was a sense of sameness and routine that I craved. People would often wonder why I wanted that “same” feeling but frankly, I think due to the fact that I want to be an actor, I am sincerely not going to have that much passion for a job that isn’t related to the arts in any way…and I have managed to avoid being a waiter so I never really had that path to fall back on as many other actors do (and I do feel that it is the ideal in terms of flexibility).

Eventually, with the recommendation of one of my cast mates from the Shakespearean show I did early last year, I went into a Temp Agency and after a couple of months, I was eventually hired as Office Services Coordinator for a Private Investment company. In terms of pay, it wasn’t stellar but it was certainly much better than what I was making at UPS and was actually a little more than what I was making at the job I had just gotten laid off from.

So, for the past several months, I have sort of just been trying to maintain myself financially but it has been incredibly hard. Even before getting my dog, I feel like it was almost impossible to maintain a savings account and I felt like I was getting less of a chance to do what I wanted to do…and sure, I may have chosen not to audition (except for a couple of stray auditions here and there) but I also wasn’t seeing nearly as much theatre as I would’ve liked and it got to a point where that would both frustrate and depress me. It was just that feeling of “I am living in New York like I have always wanted to do, but I am not getting to be a part of or witness what I wanted to be here for”.

I eventually let my subscription to Backstage slip because it was hard to pay to renew it, plus I feel like I have become incredibly ill-prepared in that my headshots are not that good and I no longer have a wealth of monologues or songs at my disposal…and a lot of that costs money that I can’t really spare. So, in many ways, I have shut down…but I feel like I am getting to the point where I need to bounce back.

I need to try really hard to rebuild my repertoire and find a way to gain the money to get new headshots and renew my subscriptions to get audition notices. As it stands, I am 30 years old and I feel like that while on some level, a lot of my frustrations and lack of pursuing things have been valid, I also can’t deny that it is still something of an excuse towards being a lack of motivation. 

While I certainly don’t dislike my current job, it also isn’t what I hope to be doing for several years, especially at the pay rate…and it has its occasional downsides like any day job does. I just feel like I need to try to force myself to do more but I’ve been having problems trying to find that spark to get me going.

 Here’s hoping that in the time between now and 2020, that some big changes come my way…or at least that I am TRYING to pursue things rather than letting the parade pass me by…It is time to let Ephraim go.