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!
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. Or as 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.”
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
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
7. Guys and Dolls
Premiered in 1950
Revivals in 1955, 1965, 1976, 1992, and 2009
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
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
1. Porgy and Bess
Premiered in 1935
Revivals in 1942, 1943, 1944, 1953, 1976, 1983, and 2012
Amazing, huh?
What is a Broadway Revival?
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)
I’ve seen several revivals and enjoyed all of them–Oklahoma!, Kiss Me Kate, Porgy and Bess and South Pacific. They were all tremendous. 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.
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?!
They are 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 is new revival running on Broadway and my unit about it: The Music Man
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.
I have a Broadway Musical Lesson about Once on this Island, the revival. You can find it here:Once on this Island
A 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!
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
