10 FAVORITES (59): An Opening to Remember

It is the first week of June and that means that Broadway's annual Tony Awards are just a few days away (airing this Sunday, June 10 on CBS at 8PM hosted by the incredibly talented Neil Patrick Harris).  As my nickname claims, I love this time of year.  Not only do I catch up on the many musicals and plays that have charmed audiences and critics alike on the Great White Way over the season, but I also think back on the many shows I have loved throughout my lifetime and the landmarks that have made a cultural impact (think hits like My Fair Lady or A Streetcar Named Desire).  And, of course, it is always the musicals that tend to get the most attention from everyone at this time (myself included!).  There is one extremely important element to musicals that have made most of them the successes they have been: The Opening Number.  A lot of shows get defined by how they begin.  If an Opening Number is spectacular enough, you could read the phone book afterwards and audiences would still think it was worth the price of admission.  So for this week's 10 FAVORITES, I am going to countdown some of the greatest Broadway Opening Numbers in some of the most popular Tony Award-winning musicals.  And just to give you all a clue as to how difficult this list was to devise, here are some of the famed musicals that didn't quite make the list: West Side Story, The Music Man, The Phantom of the Opera and even Wicked!  Now, let's see which ones did make the list...

THE 10 MOST MEMORABLE

OPENING NUMBERS

IN BROADWAY HISTORY

HONORABLE MENTION

"The Sound of Music," The Sound of Music

Music by Richard Rodgers and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Some may be surprised that this is just an "Honorable Mention," but there is a reason.  Though original star Mary Martin sang this opening song beautifully on Broadway in 1959, the song's (and the musical's) popularity truly stems from the treatment it got in the mega-successful 1965 film starring the luminous Julie Andrews (and her mountain-spinning ways!).

OPENING #10

"Another Openin', Another Show," Kiss Me, Kate

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter

Cole Porter's backstage musicalization of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew was the first musical to win the Tony Award for Best Musical back in 1949.  With this Opening Number, the title itself became a standard phrase within the Broadway lexicon.

OPENING #9

"Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'," Oklahoma!

Music by Richard Rodgers and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Out of all the Opening Numbers on this list, this is the oldest and the most understated.  When Rodgers and Hammerstein's first collaboration opened back in 1943, the Opening scene threw most people for a loop.  The style was very different from any other musical before and its brilliance lies in its simplicity.

OPENING #8

"I Hope I Get It," A Chorus Line

Music by Marvin Hamlisch and Lyrics by Edward Kleban

My Fair Lady opened with a sumptuous Overture.  West Side Story opened with dancing, but no dialogue or singing.  But in A Chorus Line, Director-Choreographer Michael Bennett got straight to the point of the show: Dancers auditioning (and praying!) for a spot in a musical.

OPENING #7

"Aquarius," Hair

Music by Galt McDermott and Lyrics by Gerome Ragni & James Rado

Hair was a landmark musical back in 1968 in many different ways.  Its Opening Number, which became a huge pop hit for The 5th Dimension, set the tone of love, peace and community shared by all the characters on the stage.

OPENING #6

"Magic to Do," Pippin

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

Several Broadway Directors could be called innovative and Bob Fosse is certainly one of them.  In Stephen Schwartz' Pippin, Fosse used lighting tricks, dancers' bodies and the smooth tones of Tony-winner Ben Vereen to lure the audience into the "Magic" that was about to unfold before them.

OPENING #5

"Circle of Life," The Lion King

Music by Elton John and Lyrics by Tim Rice

How do you live up to one of the most popular Opening scenes in Disney Animation?  Director Julie Taymor wowed audiences and critics alike with the answer to that question.  Using a mix of puppetry, masks and colorful costumes, the Disney hit has become one of the biggest moneymakers in Broadway history and has proven its stamina over and over thanks in large part to its thrilling Opening Number.

OPENING #4

"All That Jazz," Chicago

Music by John Kander and Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Who knew murder could look so good?  Kander and Ebb's delightful killer-diller musical has become synonymous with a "Razzle Dazzle" Broadway show.  From its opening line of "Come On Babe" to its high-strutting final notes, the number wows everyone (whether its sung by the likes of Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth or even Oscar-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones!).

OPENING #3

"Tradition," Fiddler On the Roof

Music by Jerry Bock and Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

When it comes to defining what a musical's story is about, this is one of the few Opening Numbers that lays it all out there for you.  And it is a combination of all facets of musical creation: direction, choreography, libretto and score.  Director Jerome Robbins stylized a perfect Opening for Tevye and his fellow villagers from Anatevka where they basically tell the audience what their lives are like and what is important to them: Tradition!

OPENING #2

"Wilkommen," Cabaret

Music by John Kander and Lyrics by Fred Ebb

The title is German for "Welcome" and when you think about it, an Opening Number is basically a kind of a "Welcome."  And what a "Welcome" audiences get when they see this show (or even the Oscar-winning 1972 film version).  Mix in scantily clad women, a rousing "Oom-Pah-Pah" styled song and a dynamic performance from the actor cast as the Master of Ceremonies (The role won both a Tony and an Oscar for Joel Grey!) and you have one of the most in-your-face Opening Numbers in Broadway history.

AND...

OPENING #1

"Comedy Tonight," A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

But when it comes to in-your-face or laying it all on the line, Fiddler and Cabaret were just following in the footsteps of Forum (which is not surprising as they were all originally produced by the legendary Harold Prince!).  This Opening Number doesn't only delight in its performance, but it surprises many to know that it almost never existed!  When Forum was first in out-of-town tryouts, it was getting hammered by the critics and walked out on by audiences.  Enter Jerome Robbins to serve as "show doctor" (basically, a production supervisor).  He told George Abbott (director), Harold Prince (producer) and Stephen Sondheim (composer-lyricist) that the Opening Number they had in place was killing the show (it was an unheard-of Sondheim song called "Love Is In the Air").  He asked Sondheim to write a new song that basically said "baggy-pants farce" and also told him "Don't worry about writing jokes! I'll handle the jokes."  What Robbins came up with the second Sondheim wrote "Comedy Tonight" has gone down in Broadway lore as the most hilarious and most entertaining ten minutes ever to be put on a stage.  I think that serves as qualification enough to top this list.

10 FAVORITES (26) - Happy Birthday, Mr. Sondheim!!!

Today is a very special day for those of us who follow musical theatre.  Two very important people in Broadway history share this day as their birthday.  Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of hit musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Evita, is celebrating his 63rd birthday.  And legendary musical composer Stephen Sondheim is happily going onto his 81st year.  Now, we can devote a list of 10 FAVORITES to Lord Lloyd Webber next year.  I want to focus on Mr. Sondheim.  Last year, the composer was bombarded with a year-long of celebrations worldwide in honor of his 80th birthday.  I feel that was appropriate, but, today, not one mention of his birthday.  And he is 81!  People seem to forget about the year following the milestone.  And Sondheim is such a legend that he should be celebrated every year.  So, this week's 10 FAVORITES, on this Sondheim's birthday, is devoted to the great songs that he wrote throughout his long career in the Broadway theatre.  Now, this list is only dedicated to the songs he wrote both the music and lyrics to, even though he wrote the lyrics to landmark shows like West Side Story and Gypsy (two of my favorite musicals of all-time!).  So, without any further stalling and information, here are: 

THE 10 BEST STEPHEN SONDHEIM SONGS

SONG #10

A Little Priest

from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

First Heard: Broadway, 1979

When Sondheim was writing his opus Sweeney Todd, he came upon the last line of the first Act of Christopher Bond's gothic play about the murderous barber: "And the two fell into each others arms with laughter."  Sondheim knew this was a moment to musicalize and what resulted was one of the cleverest and most devious duets in Broadway history.  The song is always a showcase for the actors playing Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett, as demonstrated below by George Hearn and the great Angela Lansbury (Broadway's original Mrs. Lovett).

SONG #9

Unworthy of Your Love

from Assassins

First Heard: Off-Broadway, 1990

The idea of putting a love ballad into a show about Presidential assassins (and would-be assassins) is only something someone like Sondheim could pull off.  To have John Hinckley (who attempted to assassinate President Reagan) and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme (who attempted on President Ford's life) sing to the objects of their affection (Jodie Foster and Charles Manson, respectively) while plotting their actions feels like something out of a counterculture novel or a film by Truffaut or Kubrick! Yet, it is one of the most poignant ballads Sondheim has ever written (despite the disturbing imagery even in the regional production shown below).

SONG #8

Everybody Ought to Have a Maid

from A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum

First Heard: Broadway, 1962

This is probably Sondheim's funniest and most delightful song.  The context of the song doesn't really matter (and the farcical story is too complicated to explain anyway!). But the actors performing it (whether it be in a full-fledged production or a concert, like below) seem to have so much fun with the lyrical content and the bright melody, that one doesn't care WHY the song is being performed.  Just that it's being performed!

SONG #7

Every Day a Little Death

from A Little Night Music

First Heard: Broadway, 1973

Within Sondheim's light-hearted musical based on Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night, this poignant duet sung by wives struggling to come to terms with their husbands' blatant infidelities blew me away the first time I heard it (in a local regional production).  The melody is haunting but it is Sondheim's lyrics that struck me hardest with the ladies singing about dying every day and suffering the indignities of being lied to and humiliated.  Then, the lyric about men being "stupid and vain" just threw me for a loop and made me really think about the way our society treats women and fidelity.  Below, Carol Burnett and Ruthie Henshall beautifully sing the song in the Sondheim review Putting It Together.

SONG #6

Sunday

from Sunday In the Park With George

First Heard: Broadway, 1984

This was my mother's favorite Sondheim musical and every time the show (or the soundtrack) got to this song, her eyes would well up with tears.  Not only is it a very moving and powerful song, but it also has a very natural quality to it.  The way it moves and flows musically is such a typical Sondheim "build."  The song is about the people in the Georges Seurat painting noticing the beauty in their every day lives and what it brings to their existence (at least on the metaphorical level!).  It certainly makes me think about the things I notice, especially on Sundays!  Below, Bernadette Peters leads a chorus of singers in the song at a Sondheim concert at Carnegie Hall.

SONG #5

Pretty Women

from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

First Heard: Broadway, 1979

Sondheim is very good at contrasting the images in his shows with the poetic content of his songs (as demonstrated above with "Unworthy of Your Love" from Assassins).  In Sweeney Todd, the most beautiful song comes at a time when the main character (Sweeney) is preparing to murder his customer (the wicked Judge Turpin).  As Todd takes his sweet time with his revenge, he lulls the Judge with a gorgeous tune about the aesthetical pleasures of the opposite sex.  The song is SO beautiful that the audience forgets for a moment what Todd is planning to do with that razor!  See below, in Tim Burton's 2007 film version starring Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman.

SONG #4

Being Alive

from Company

First Heard: Broadway, 1970

Every time I hear this song, I fall in love with it more and more.  Company was a landmark show about several characters who surround the life of a bachelor named Bobby.  Bobby, in typical late '60s-early '70s style, is a cad who cannot commit and flits from relationship to relationship.  In this finale song, Bobby finally states what he really wants out of life and, of course, it is to not be alone.  This powerful song is really a masterful wake-up call for those who strive to find love and companionship in this world (especially when it is sung by the likes of Raul Esparza in the 2006 Broadway revival of the show).

SONG #3

Move On

from Sunday In the Park With George

First Heard: Broadway, 1984

While "Sunday" was the song that made my mother cry, this was the song I always looked forward to because it was the "closure" song (not the finale, mind you, just a song about closure).  What do you do when you feel emotionally spent (whether it be after a break-up or a medical emergency or a world crisis)? You move on to the next thing and that is what Sondheim captured so well in this song.  Plus, the way original Broadway stars Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters sang this song together was so hauntingly beautiful that you couldn't feel anything but hopeful at the end of it.

SONG #2

Children Will Listen

from Into the Woods

First Heard: Broadway, 1987

This, for me, is one of Sondheim's most achingly beautiful songs and one of his most important lessons to the world (because, after all, artists are nothing if they are not teachers!).  In a show about fairy tales and what happens after "happily ever after," the moral of the story is to be careful with what we say to children because they DO listen, watch and behave from example (NO, this is not a PSA, everyone!).  The song, each time I hear it, makes me want to be more responsible and ensure the future by showing a good example for younger generations.  Hey, even older generations could use good examples too!  Below, Bernadette Peters leads the Original Broadway Cast in the song as it builds into the finale of the show.

AND...

SONG #1

Broadway Baby

from Follies

First Heard: Broadway, 1971

Look at the title of this Blog!  How could this song NOT be the #1 choice?!?  Sondheim's pastiche song (a pastiche song is a tune that mimics another musical style) about the showbiz hopeful trying to make it on the Great White Way has always felt like an anthem to me and several of my fellow theatre-folk (and has become a standard audition song for many actors!).  But it doesn't just apply to Broadway.  The singer, when you strip away the stardust notions and vernacular terms, is just someone with a dream, and who can't relate to that?  Ultimately, we are all people chasing our dream whether it be in finance, politics, religion, athletics or the entertainment world.  And Sondheim never put it better than in this song, as seen below where several seasoned actresses sing the song honoring the great stage actress Julie Harris at the Kennedy Center.

HAPPY 81ST BIRTHDAY MR. STEPHEN SONDHEIM!!!

May you be a "Broadway Baby" forever!

Next week, an April Fools' Day themed 10 FAVORITES!