1776

Even if we're not familiar with the history we think we know the ending. The success of 1776 owes less to the score than the clever book which manages to generate suspense and leave the ending in doubt.

Being cast in the show is a fun but strange experience. The soloists tend to sing their song then vanish. The congressmen are on stage for most of the show but many stop singing after the opening number.

Edit: Fixed a typo and increased the font size.

Pride Series pt 2

Last summer I devoted a week to posting about musicals with GLBT themes and characters. This summer my schedule is less accommodating but I'm putting up a quick sketch of four more. It's an interesting combination as we have two angsty, unrequited romances and two label-bending romantic farces.

If you haven't gotten around to seeing Julie Andrews perform Le Jazz Hot you'll want to click here.

Three Panel Movie: Jurassic World

And now for something completely different.

Jurassic Fan Fic

Part 1 - Chris Pratt's sensitive animal trainer flirts with B.D. Wong's uptight corporate scientist as they search the park for a missing dinosaur.

Part 2 - The genetically modified dinosaur avoids the humans, searching the park for a herd she can belong to. The audience praises the Frankenstein's monster type sympathy we develop for this surprisingly well developed CGI character.

Part 3 - The intelligent children wisely lock themselves in a secure bunker under the visitor center and stay there till the film is over.

But seriously... the movie is dumb but it's still better than part three.
And there actually is a Jurassic Park parody musical.

Broadway Musicals of 2016

The 2015 Tony's have been awarded and the Broadway theaters have booked new musicals for 2016. Here's a quick look at what's in store. You can read more at Playbill.com.

I'll be slowing down the blog posts this summer but wanted to thank everyone again for reading!

*** Edit: Thanks to the reader who caught my typo!

Tony Awards 2015: The nominees

The 2014 Tony nominees for best musical included two jukebox musicals, a Disney cartoon adaptation, and the well deserved winner A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. I'm pleased to see that three of 2015 Tony nominees possess original scores and the fourth, An American In Paris, is primarily a ballet making it more ambitious than most screen to stage adaptations.

You can take a look at this season's non-nominated musicals here. I've devoted longer posts to Fun Home and The Visit in the past during their pre-Broadway incarnations. Thanks again to Tickle-Brain's Three Panel Shakespeare who's style I pay homage to today (and who is now doing musical recaps of their own).

The Tony Awards will be broadcast this Sunday, June 7, on CBS at 8pm ET / 7pm CT.