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Fiddler on the Roof

What is a Broadway Revival?

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What is a Broadway revival?

Today, I want to think about what is a Broadway revival? When I was a student, I thought a Broadway revival meant the musical was horrible when it first opened, so later someone else tried making another version of it.

Thankfully, I was incorrect!

What is a Broadway revival?

A revival of a production means the play or musical is produced again living up to its original glory. However, the production is viewed at as though it has never been produced on the stage.  Many new ideas emerge when the production is considered from that perspective.  In a musical, musical numbers may be cut, the choreography altered in some fashion or even the characterizations of the characters are re-worked. One time our favorite NYC tour guide told the kids, “They look at the play or musical with fresh eyes, as though it has never been produced before.”

Kelli O’Hara says, “When doing a revival, you have a lot of people asking you questions about someone who played it before, and to me that’s neither here nor there – it has no bearing on the material that I have to use. The material that is written down in a score and script that the writers originally used is what I use.”

What is a Broadway revival?

When I was research this topic, I found a list of the top 16 Broadway revivals.  So interesting.

Here are the top 16 Broadway Revivals:

16. Brigadoon
Premiered in 1947
Revivals in 1950, 1957, 1963, and 1980

15. Gypsy
Premiered in 1959
Revivals in 1974, 1989, 2003, and 2008

14. Hello, Dolly!
Premiered in 1964
Revivals in 1975, 1978, 1995, and 2017

13. The King and I
Premiered in 1951
Revivals in 1977, 1985, 1996, and 2015

12. Man of La Mancha
Premiered in 1965
Revivals in 1972, 1977, 1992, and 2002

What is a Revival?

11. My Fair Lady
Premiered in 1956
Revivals in 1976, 1981, 1993, and 2018

What is a Broadway Revival?

10. Pal Joey
Premiered in 1940
Revivals in 1952, 1963, 1976, and 2008

9. Carousel
Premiered in 1945
Revivals in 1949, 1954, 1957, 1994, and 2018

8. Fiddler on the Roof
Premiered in 1964
Revivals in 1976, 1981, 1990, 2004, and 2015

What is a Broadway revival?
A scene from Guys and Dolls

More Musical Revivals

7. Guys and Dolls
Premiered in 1950
Revivals in 1955, 1965, 1976, 1992, and 2009

File:Oklahoma 8e07920v.jpg

6. Oklahoma!
Premiered in 1943
Revivals in 1951, 1953, 1979, 2002, and 2019

5. Peter Pan
Premiered in 1954
Revivals in 1979, 1990, 1991, 1998, and 1999

4. West Side Story
Premiered in 1957
Revivals in 1960, 1964, 1980, 2009, and 2020

What is a Broadway Revival?
A scene from West Side Story

3. Show Boat
Premiered in 1927
Revivals in 1932, 1946, 1948, 1954, 1983, and 1994

2. The Threepenny Opera
Premiered in 1933
Revivals in 1954, 1955, 1966, 1976, 1989, and 2006

Porgy and Bess

1. Porgy and Bess
Premiered in 1935
Revivals in 1942, 1943, 1944, 1953, 1976, 1983, and 2012

Amazing, huh?

Revivals and the Tony Awards

Do they ever win Tony Awards?  You bet.  From my research, I found out some interesting tidbits.

  • Musical Revival with the most Tony awards: South Pacific (7)
  • Musical Revival with the most Tony award nominations: Kiss Me Kate (12)

Additionally, I’ve seen several revivals and enjoyed all of them–Oklahoma!, Kiss Me Kate, Porgy and Bess and South Pacific.  They were all tremendous. For instance, one young man I directed when he was a student was in the revival of Oklahoma. A young woman I directed for many years was in the revival of South Pacific. She’ll soon be one of the cast members of you guessed it–the revival of 1776!  It will be an all female cast, too.

Let me tell you how cool it is to see your students perform professionally on the Great White Way.  

What is a Broadway revival?

Something else I found while I was researching this topic were these facts about the musical, Chicago!

“The original Chicago production opened in 1975 and ran for 936 performances. After the break in 1977 , it was revived on Broadway and started running again in 1996. Chicago now ranks as Broadway’s longest running revival, having played in 24 countries in 12 languages. As of 2019, more than 9,000 performances have been clocked in at Broadway.“

Wow!!

In fact, there are several musicals which have lasted longer on Broadway in revival than originally!  WHAT?!

If you’d like to learn more about the history of musical theater, go here.

Included in this list is West Side Story, She Loves Me, Zorba, Pal Joey, Porgy and Bess and several others.  You can read about them here: Revivals That Ran Longer Than Their Original Production

There was a revival of Music Man a few years ago. Here is my unit concerning it: The Music Man

Cover of a unit about The Music Man musical

What is a Broadway Revival?

Here is a list of other musicals fans think should be revived: Titanic, Light in the Piazza,  Aida (which was planned to open soon until the pandemic), City of Angels, Grand Hotel, Chess, Mame, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Secret Garden and Dream Girls.

If you are interested, I  have a Broadway Musical Lesson about Once on this Island, the revival.  You can find it here: Once on this Island

A Perfect Musical Revival Lesson for You

This two-day lesson focuses on the Tony award winning musical revival of Once on this Island. Once on this Island tells the story of a peasant girl who falls in love above her class and this is told around a fire by a group of Caribbean peasants as they wait out a terrible storm. Students have an opportunity to study its journey to Broadway, composers, plot, trivia, etc.

The lesson can stand alone or be combined with one of my Famous Artist Biographies (Lin Manuel Miranda or Sarah Bareilles for example) or other musical lessons (Hamilton or Wicked)

HOW DO I USE THIS LESSON IN MY CLASSROOM? A drama, music, social studies or a language arts class would enjoy this lesson. Study its music, story line, elements, cultural references–you name it!

Cover of Broadway musical unit, Once on this Island.

This Product includes:

  • Letter to Teacher
  • A Fun Warm Ups–My Own Version
  • Teacher’s Script–What I Say and How I Say it!
  • Photos of Once on this Island
  • Synopsis of the Musical
  • Plot of the Musical
  • Short Biography about the creative team of Lynn Ahrens, Steven Flaherty, Michael Arden and Cameille A. Brown
  • Explanation of how a revival of a production comes about
  • Separate File of Photos for Teacher’s Use in Lecture
  • History about the Origination of the Production
  • AND a Mini-Lesson on What are the Tony Awards?
  • List of Tony Awards
  • New York City Map with Competing Theaters Labeled
  • Student Note Page for Musical
  • Teacher Note Page Key
  • Trivia about Broadway and Once on this Island
  • Songs List
  • Pinterest Board Link Specifically about Once on this Island
  • Extension Activities– SEVEN Terrific Suggestions of Ways to Secure the Learning and Enrich the Experience either Individual or Group
  • Two costume design templates for one of the extension activities
  • Sources & Links to Film Clips from the Show
  • And More!

 

Looking at the list above, have you performed or directed one of these musicals?  Even though I’ve directed over 250 plays and musicals, I have only directed two of the aforementioned productions–Oklahoma! and Fiddler on the Roof. You know what?  These are some of my favorite musicals to direct. I guess it only makes sense.

Have you performed in or directed any show which has been in revival?  I’d love to hear about your experiences.  Contact me at DhcBaldwin@gmail.com or DeborahBaldwin.net

Until next time.

Deb

Dramamommaspeaks Blog Author Deborah Baldwin

MTI Junior Musicals– A Dream Come True!

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MTI junor musical
MTI junior Mulan, Jr.

MTI Junior Musicals– a Dream Come True!

Are you selecting an MTKI Junior or Kids Musical?  In my opinion, they are a dream come true!This year, my co-teacher and I are directing a musical that is NOT a MTI show. In case you aren’t familiar with the initials, MTI stands for Music Theatre International.   I knew MTI was good, but boy, I didn’t realize how excellent until now. I won’t go into detail, but suffice to say that I highly recommend sticking to MTI shows.

You ask the reason why we ventured out of MTI? We weren’t unhappy with their quality or professionalism. A lot of it had to do with the students who enrolled in our class this year and their level of talent. MTI has a plethora of musicals with new ones coming out all the time. Their website is: http://www.mtishows.com.

MTI junior Into the Woods
MTI junior Into the Woods

Several years ago, my artistic director at Presser Hall Performing Arts Center and I ventured to Atlanta to attend the MTI junior theater festival. What a treat it was! It was wonderful to be around other educators that spent most of their school year in the “trenches” teaching middle school students. One of the most exciting parts of the festival us the announcement of new musicals ready to produce!

As you may know, I have a very extensive resume directing numerous plays and musicals. It is just what I do. But a quick list for you: Fiddler on the Roof (4), Aladdin (2), Suessical (4), Willy Wonka (3), Music Man (4), Alice in Wonderland (4), Aristocats (3), Annie (1), Sleeping Beauty (1) Lil Mermaid (2), Honk (2), Mulan (1) and School House Rock (2). Whew!

 MTI Junior Musical–A Dream Come True!

I could speak about the festival in length, however as I mentioned above, this is my endorsement for the MTI Junior and Kids musicals. No one asked me to write this blog post. But I know that many teachers and directors are considering their next musical and maybe this list will be helpful.
So, why these particular musicals?

First of all, this company does an excellent job of considering their consumers. Not only are their junior versions, but also kid ones. Juniors run aroun 70 to 90 minutes in length, with Kids around 45 minutes. I use both types every year depending upon the length of time I have and where I am directing at the time. If MTI could receive a grade, I would definitely give them an “A”.

MTI junior Alice in Wonderland
MTI junior Alice in Wonderland

The kit includes the materials mentioned below:

Director’s prompt book–I’ve directed productions for nearly forty years, so I can definitely label myself as an expert. And even with all these experiences, I still need help from time to time. Their prompt book is excellent! The sound and light cues are listed, props, costumes and set suggestions as well as suggestions in the directing of the show.

The MTI junior book’s page numbers are the same as the casts’ so that alleviates confusion. Measure numbers are listed, generally the cast libretto is exactly the same as the director’s. There’s a page that one could copy for auditions, and even guidance for novice directors.

Piano score–It includes cues as well.

Cross Curricular Lessons--Oh yeay! It is always good to have some other department involved in your production. Although I haven’t had the chance to use them because I teach in a very nontraditional school, the lessons are great.

Chorus books–I believe ten copies are part of the kit.

Individual scripts–Trust me when I say, the MTI junior scripts are the best in the market. The student’s script includes several pages concerning the particular production, a page about stage directions and how to write in one’s script, a page for autographs and several blank pages at the back of the script for cast notes.

CD’s–These are a Godsend for youth theatrer. There is usually one CD that is labeled for performance and one for rehearsals. Or both might be included on one CD. Oh my gosh, I don’t know how much time it has saved us having these CD’s. Because music cues are included, students can learn their cues right along with their songs.

Plus, you are guaranteed of a well paced production because there is no inconsistency in the meter of the songs–no cast member can slow down the show by singing their song too slowly. Lastly, there is even an “orchestra warm up” at the beginning of the show! Sometimes I use that to signify to the audience that the production is about to begin.

Family Matters booklet: If one’s child has never been involved in a production, its a pretty heady experience. This little gem of a book answers questions about what to expect during the rehearsal and performance process. This would have been a lot of help to me when my own children were performing in productions. How does one deal with your child once the production is over? That’s a toughie, but this book addresses it perfectly.

Choreography DVD--Who does this? This is an excellent idea.  Usually, the DVd includes major numbers in the show as well as a step by step rehearsal aide, too. Tremendous help.

So there you have it! I hope you’ll consider an MTI junior or kid musical in the future. I can guarantee you your show will be successful.

Have you produced any MTI junior musicals?  What were your experiences?  I’d love to hear about them.  Contact me at Dhcbaldwin@gmail.com or DeborahBaldwin.net

Needing some help with set construction and have questions? Check out:

Selecting a Play or Musical Set Design and Set Construction

Critical Steps in Producing a Play or Musical:  Costume Design

Deb