One of the most interesting lists in the announcement of this year’s Tony Award nominees is the nominations for Best Orchestrations. The range is as wide as the types of shows involved. [Read more...]

The Tony Season has officially begun. Last week’s announcement of the nominees in twenty-six competitive categories set off an avalanche of opinion, prediction and bragging that will continue to cascade until the winners are announced on June 9. [Read more...]

Act quickly – you only have a few days to view one of the greatest concert presentations of a musical that I’ve ever seen … the New York Philharmonic’s staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel.  [Read more...]

Last week I wrote about the coming revolution in access to music, including theater music, fostered by digital technology. It was a look toward the future when virtually all available recorded music will be accessed through streaming technology from digital libraries using the internet, or its successor. This week, let’s look at a different aspect of this revolution, one that is up and running today – the Library of Congress’ National Jukebox. [Read more...]

 A look at the top on-demand streaming music libraries

“Could it be? Yes it could. / Something’s coming, something good.” So Mr. Sondheim wrote over half a century ago.Then he was writing about young love. Now it is time to make that same prediction, but this time it is about all things music. [Read more...]

From time to time I like to pull a disc from the back reaches of my theater shelves. I like to spread the word of things the rush of recent releases might obscure. Staying current with new releases can keep you from some of the delights of the past – especially those which had significant negatives as well as marvelous positives and, as a result, didn’t reach the success or fame that would keep them in the spotlight. Don’t Stop the Carnival is just such a mixed bag from the past. It has enough strengths, however, to make a couple of listens a refreshing return to previous pleasures. [Read more...]

A DVD that should have been titled “Gilbert and Sullivan and Ford” has been released on Video Artists International under the title “Gilbert and Sullivan’s Greatest Hits.” Fewer than 50 of the 96 minutes of the material  are from “Tennessee” Ernie Ford’s television show, but they are the delights of the disc.  [Read more...]

British author and record producer Adrian Wright closes a gap in the available material on musical theater with an interesting and easily read book on just what its title promises – “West End Broadway: The Golden Age of the American Musical in London.” [Read more...]

Sadly, you no longer have the option of setting aside an evening to attend Roundabout Theatre Company’s Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, even if you could get to New York and plunk down up to $142 for a seat. The limited run closed earlier this month after nearly unanimous enthusiasm from reviewers and contributors to internet discussion groups.

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All of last season, the NBC television series Smash chronicled the creation of a new Broadway musical. Each episode gave fans of show music a tantalizing taste of what the score would be like with snippets of songs being auditioned, rehearsed, choreographed, performed or eliminated as the show-within-the-show got closer and closer to its opening night. [Read more...]