Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, October 2005 My Fair Lady, based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1914 play Pygmalion and Gabriel Pascal’s 1938 film of the same, is often called the perfect musical. While remaining extremely faithful to its roots, the music and dance seem to spring effortless from the script. In this…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, August 2005 I have a soft spot in my heart for Brigadoon for two reasons. First, I am married to Robert Burns and therefore required to enjoy all things Scottish, and secondly it was the first musical I ever saw on Broadway. I had just turned six…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, August 2005 Like every review I write, this is ONLY my opinion, but from where I sit Barry Manilow’s Copacabana is a terrible musical. It has a ludicrous book, cardboard characters for the hero and heroine, and a score with only one hummable tune – the title…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2005 A while back there was a cartoon in the New Yorker entitled “The Gay Agenda” that depicted a page in a daily planner with a “to do” list that read something like this: “Walk the dog. Pick up dry cleaning. Pick Susie up…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2005 If you are a tap dance junkie looking for your next fix now that Savion Glover has departed from Jacob’s Pillow, you will want to book tickets NOW for 42nd Street at the Mac-Haydn. I went to the theatre with high hopes and fond memories…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June 2005 In 1999, Time Magazine looked back over the entire 20th century, a century that saw the American musical take shape, and named Rodgers and Hammerstein’s second collaboration Carousel the Best Musical of the Century! High praise indeed. Rodgers and Hammerstein themselves liked Carousel the best of all…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June 2005 Every year, usually early in the season, the Mac-Haydn treats local audiences to a gem from the canon of English operetta. These are memorable because, with the exception of a couple of the Savoy operas, operetta is seldom heard these days. In its…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, May 2005 Wowie-wow-wow! Whadda show! All singing, all dancing. Everyone and everything in the Cohoes Music Hall production of Anything Goes looks and sounds just great. This current retooling of the 1934 Cole Porter opus, which I am assuming is the 1987 Broadway version with a revised…
