Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Nov 4, 2009, 8:13 am
No sooner had the revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs died what many consider to be a premature death at the Nederlander Theater then a new show announced its tenancy. Million Dollar Quartet, which has ...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Oct 30, 2009, 8:08 am
... poster for the current Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow, which opened last night at the St. James Theater. Not only is it vibrant and colorful, but it also conveys a clear sense that this...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Oct 29, 2009, 10:22 am
As my regular readers will know, I teach at the Boston Conservatory of Music. In addition to indoctrinating young impressionable minds into the world of musical theater, I also serve as the faculty ad...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Oct 29, 2009, 8:27 am
When Avenue Q opened last week at its new Off-Broadway home, the New World Stages, a lot of people in the theatrical community were paying close attention. Of course, it's a much-beloved show, and...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Oct 27, 2009, 8:04 am
As a lifelong fan of musical theater, I support any and all efforts to cultivate new artistic voices within the form. So, when the I heard that the Roundabout Theater would be including the new tuner ...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Oct 19, 2009, 10:02 pm
In 1992, a bold new musical came to Broadway, a daring show with a lot more on its mind than mere diversion. That show was Jelly's Last Jam, and in addition to boasting an uncompromising performan...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Oct 16, 2009, 7:27 am
Something is broken at the Roundabout Theater. I'm not just referring to its current production of Bye Bye Birdie, although it is indeed atrocious. No, I'm talking about the organization's...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Oct 13, 2009, 8:18 am
Hey, guys and dolls. I betcha didn't know that bloggers are getting fat and rich from sponsor freebies and kickbacks. And with all the financial sturm und drang out there, there's no more effe...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Oct 8, 2009, 11:47 am
  I've never been one to reflexively bash Andrew Lloyd Webber. Some of his shows I genuinely like, particularly Evita, while other shows I find flawed but enjoyable, for instance Sunset Bouleva...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Oct 2, 2009, 12:39 pm
If you're in the Boston area this weekend, and you're looking for a lovely way to spend this Sunday evening, why not head over to the Boston Conservatory. A bunch of my BoCo students have put ...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Sep 29, 2009, 6:49 am
Yesterday, my students passed in the first of their papers, this one defending their choice for the most overrated musical. It's a task that I acknowledge is unfair and arbitrary, but I find it us...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Sep 24, 2009, 11:01 am
I'm in New York for a two-show quickie. Last night I saw Kristina in concert at Carnegie Hall, and tonight I'm taking in a preview of the new musical Memphis. Look for my review of the latter ...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Sep 17, 2009, 7:10 am
Ah, fall. When a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of showtunes. Or at least, one not-so-young man's fancy. And his captive audience of 32 bewildered students. Every semester, I start my m...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Sep 16, 2009, 7:41 am
Regular readers will likely recall my recent interview with Diane Paulus, the new artistic director of the American Repertory Theater, as well as the director of the current Broadway revival of Hair. ...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Sep 14, 2009, 7:37 am
Avenue Q, the scrappy little musical that broke the rules, will break them once again. With so many musicals these days making the transfer from Off-Broadway to the Great White Way, Avenue Q has decid...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Sep 11, 2009, 8:57 am
Sorry for my extended absence from the blogosphere. This week has been a bit of a perfect storm. It's the first week of school at the Boston Conservatory, and I just started teaching a new course ...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Sep 5, 2009, 7:24 am
Starting this semester, I've added staged readings to my musical-theater history course at the Boston Conservatory. The idea is to give the students a chance to experience some obscure but histori...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Sep 2, 2009, 7:48 am
I was going through an old box of my college notebooks, when I came across an issue of Vanity Fair dated November 1984. I was about to throw it away when I noticed that on the last page there was an i...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 31, 2009, 8:29 am
All right, all you show-tune queens. Stop downloading that bootleg of the Finnish cast of Spring Awakening for a second and do something productive with your time. One of my Boston Conservatory stud...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 28, 2009, 9:54 pm
We've been hearing off and on about a new revue of Stephen Sondheim's work with the unbearably precious name iSondheim. The show is being compiled and directed by James Lapine, longtime Sondhe...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 27, 2009, 7:28 am
A number of things have been making me cranky lately. Not sure if it's just my mood, or if these items are genuinely annoying. So, rather than addressing each item separately, I figured I'd ju...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 22, 2009, 11:16 am
In his column yesterday, Michael Riedel of the New York Post wrote that the upcoming Broadway transfer of Trevor Nunn's acclaimed London production of A Little Night Music will very likely star An...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 19, 2009, 8:54 am
I must confess that I never really paid all that much attention to the American Repertory Theater, and not simply because the organization really didn't do all that many musicals. There was just s...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 19, 2009, 8:54 am
I must confess that I never really paid all that much attention to the American Repertory Theater, and not simply because the organization really didn't do all that many musicals. There was just s...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 16, 2009, 1:17 pm
One of my BoCo students recently sent me a Facebook message: I never knew how I'd pay for college but I have a plan that may bring in the dough: a completely musical theatre-themed theme park....
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 16, 2009, 1:17 pm

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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 15, 2009, 8:05 pm
While teaching my course on the history of musical theater at the Boston Conservatory, I frequently point to Oscar Hammerstein II as the most important person in the history of musical theater. I ge...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 15, 2009, 8:05 pm
While teaching my course on the history of musical theater at the Boston Conservatory, I frequently point to Oscar Hammerstein II as the most important person in the history of musical theater. I ge...
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Christopher C. posted an article on Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals - Aug 14, 2009, 10:04 am
I recently had a chance to speak with the delightful Diane Paulus, whom most of you probably know as the talented director of the current hit Broadway revival of Hair. Well, Paulus also recently took ...
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