by Malina Saval, Variety In 2013, Disney’s Frozen hit screens like a 100 mile-per-hour snowball, sparking a pop cultural phenomenon in which little girls and boys pranced about dressed in Anna and Elsa and Olaf costumes while belting aloud “Let It Go,” Elsa’s feminist anthemic response to the ice powers that rendered her a societal... Continue Reading →
MY FAIR LADY: The Original Makeover Story
By Sheryl Flatow Americans love a good makeover. If you doubt it, there have been more than a dozen reality TV shows and countless magazines showcasing the benefits of transformation: new clothes, new makeup, new grooming, new hairdo and, voila, a new you. These external changes might seem superficial, but it’s apparent to anyone who’s... Continue Reading →
Producer Paula Wagner on Happily Ever After in PRETTY WOMAN
Hollywood power player – and Youngstown, OH native – Paula Wagner spearheaded bringing the beloved film Pretty Woman to the Broadway stage. Broadway in Cincinnati caught up with the showbiz mogul to talk about why she loves this story. Broadway in Cincinnati: Your career started in theatre, then shifted to movie production in Hollywood, and... Continue Reading →
Andy Blankenbuehler’s Pride and Joy in HAMILTON
Bridgett Raffenberg from 365 Things to Do in Cincinnati caught up with Cincinnatian Andy Blankenbuehler in NYC to talk about choreographing HAMILTON. Bridgett Raffenberg: Tell us a bit about your background and career. Andy Blankenbuehler: I’m a director and choreographer in New York City. I grew up in Cincinnati. I moved to New York City... Continue Reading →
Disney’s THE LION KING Fun Facts
Fun Facts Tony Award-winning director and designer Julie Taymor, along with designer Michael Curry, hand sculpted and painted every prototype mask that now appears in the iconic “Circle of Life” opening of the show. Their department of skilled mask makers, sculptors, puppeteers, and artisans spent 17,000 hours to build the characters for the original Broadway... Continue Reading →
From Concept Album Roots, SUPERSTAR’s Legacy Continues
by Genevieve Holt Believe it or not, theatrical juggernaut Jesus Christ Superstar wasn’t actually written to be a stage musical. It started as a rock concept album, because while creators Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice – just 23 and 26 years old at the time, and fresh off the success of their Joseph and... Continue Reading →
ANASTASIA Costumes Raise the Bar
by Genevieve Holt Anastasia costume designer Linda Cho and costume builder Eric Winterling have raised the bar on Broadway costumes. Literally. Some of the dresses they created for the Broadway production of Anastasia are so heavy, a pulley system had to be rigged up at New York’s Broadhurst Theater to lift the more elaborate pieces.... Continue Reading →
License to Chill
Escape to Margaritaville tour director Amy Corcoran chats with Kathrine Nero about taking Jimmy Buffett’s music to the Broadway stage KN: Tell us the story of Margaritaville. AC: Escape to Margaritaville takes two people at different stages in their lives and looks at how they meet. One of them, Tully, is incredibly talented, but he... Continue Reading →
Beyond the Dream we Dreamed
The multiple award-winning Les Misérables has become a global success on stage and screen, sweeping audiences through an epic tale of broken dreams, passion, and redemption, against the backdrop of a nation seething with revolution. Les Misérables is now the longest running musical in the world. Here, writers Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg discuss the... Continue Reading →
You’re Lookin’ Swell, Dolly
by Genevieve Holt Younger theater fans may not realize it, but Hello, Dolly! was the Hamilton of its day. The show, which opened on Broadway in January 1964, was an instant sensation and one of the hottest tickets in New York, mounted by the legendary producer David Merrick. With music and lyrics by Jerry Herman,... Continue Reading →