Jerome Robbins' Broadway

Last updated
Jerome Robbins' Broadway
Jerome Robbins' Broadway 1989 OBC Recording.jpg
Original cast recording released by RCA Victor
MusicVarious
LyricsVarious
Productions1989 Broadway
Awards Tony Award for Best Musical

Jerome Robbins' Broadway is an anthology comprising musical numbers from shows that were either directed or choreographed by Jerome Robbins. The shows represented include, for example, The King and I , On the Town and West Side Story . Robbins won his fifth Tony Award for direction.

Contents

Production

The show opened on Broadway on February 26, 1989 at the Imperial Theatre and closed on September 1, 1990 after 633 performances and 55 previews. [1] [2] Directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins with Grover Dale as co-director, the cast featured Jason Alexander as the narrator, Charlotte d'Amboise, Faith Prince, Debbie Shapiro, Susann Fletcher and Scott Wise. [2] [1]

With an elaborate production and a cast of 62, the show reportedly cost US$8 million to produce, and was expected to recoup about 40 percent from the New York run, according to Bernard B. Jacobs (President of the Shubert Organization). [3] "In a season that was so bereft of original musicals that Kenny Loggins on Broadway and Barry Manilow at the Gershwin were categorized as such, this reminder of Broadway's glory days was greeted with relief and rejoicing (and six Tony Awards). It featured extended sequences from West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof." [4]

Musical numbers

Sources: Internet Broadway Data Base; [5] MasterWorks Broadway [6]

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

Sources: Playbill.com; [1] InfoPlease [7]

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
1989 Tony Award Best Musical Won
Best Direction of a Musical Jerome Robbins Won
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Jason Alexander Won
Robert La Fosse Nominated
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Charlotte d'Amboise Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Scott Wise Won
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Jane LanierNominated
Faith Prince Nominated
Debbie Shapiro Won
Best Lighting Design Jennifer Tipton Won
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Musical Won
Outstanding Actor in a Musical Jason Alexander Won
Scott Wise Nominated
Outstanding Actress in a Musical Faith Prince Nominated
Debbie Shapiro Nominated
Outstanding Lighting Design Jennifer Tipton Won

Related Research Articles

<i>West Side Story</i> Stage musical by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim; premiered in 1957

West Side Story is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents.

<i>Fiddler on the Roof</i> 1964 musical

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters and other tales by Sholem Aleichem. The story centers on Tevye, a milkman in the village of Anatevka, who attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon his family's lives. He must cope with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters who wish to marry for love; their choices of husbands are successively less palatable for Tevye. An edict of the tsar eventually evicts the Jews from their village.

<i>Funny Girl</i> (musical) Broadway stage musical with a book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Bob Merrill

Funny Girl is a musical that opened on Broadway in 1964. The book was by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway star, film actress and comedian Fanny Brice featuring her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein. Its original title was My Man.

<i>Hello, Dolly!</i> (musical) 1964 Broadway musical

Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder.

<i>Gypsy</i> (musical) 1959 musical by Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents

Gypsy: A Musical Fable is a 1959 musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business mother." It follows the dreams and efforts of Rose to raise two daughters to perform onstage and casts an affectionate eye on the hardships of show business life. The character of Louise is based on Lee, and the character of June is based on Lee's sister, the actress June Havoc.

Patti LuPone American actress and singer

Patti Ann LuPone is an American actress and singer best known for her work in stage musicals. She has won two Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Harold Prince American theatre producer and director (1928–2019)

Harold Smith Prince, commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatrical director and producer known for his work in musical theater.

Jerome Robbins American choreographer, director and dancer

Jerome Robbins was an American choreographer, director, dancer, and theater producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.

<i>42nd Street</i> (musical) American musical

42nd Street is a 1980 stage musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production won the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Choreography and it became a long-running hit. The show was also produced in London in 1984 and its 2001 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival.

Susan Stroman

Susan P. Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director and performer. Her notable theater productions include The Producers, Crazy for You, Contact, and The Scottsboro Boys. She is a five-time Tony Award winner, four for Best Choreography and one as Best Director of a Musical for The Producers. In addition, she is a recipient of two Laurence Olivier Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, eight Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards, and the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater. She is a 2014 inductee in the American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City.

Judy Kuhn American actress and singer

Judy Kuhn is an American actress and singer, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film Pocahontas, including her rendition of the song "Colors of the Wind", which won its composers the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Billion Dollar Baby is a musical with the book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and the score by Morton Gould. Comden and Green were fresh from their success with On the Town, and the production team was something of an On the Town reunion: once again, George Abbott directed and Jerome Robbins choreographed.

Graciela Daniele is an Argentine-American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director.

Scott Wise is an American theatre actor and dancer. He is known for his performances in the 1989 musical Jerome Robbins' Broadway, which earned him a Tony Award, and in the 2002 film Chicago.

Miles E. White was a top costume designer of Broadway musicals for 25 years. He is known in the entertainment industry for his well rendered, prolific, imaginative and witty designs. He won recognition, including four Donaldson Awards and two Tony Awards.

Andy Blankenbuehler is an American dancer, choreographer and director primarily for stage and concerts. He has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Choreography five times, and has won three times: for In the Heights (2008), Hamilton (2016), and Bandstand (2017). Blankenbuehler's other Broadway choreography work includes 9 to 5, Bring it On: The Musical, and the 2016 Cats revival. Blankenbuehler was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018 for his work on Hamilton. He also choreographed the movie adaptation of Cats.

David Cromer American actor and director

David Cromer is an American theatre director, and stage, film, and TV actor. He has received recognition for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including winning the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for his direction of Our Town. He was nominated for the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for his direction of The Adding Machine. In 2018, Cromer won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Band's Visit.

<i>White Christmas</i> (musical)

White Christmas is a musical based on the Paramount Pictures 1954 film of the same name. The book is by David Ives and Paul Blake, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The original St. Louis production starred Lara Teeter, Karen Mason, Lauren Kennedy, and Lee Roy Reams, and the 2004 San Francisco production starred Brian D'Arcy James, Anastasia Barzee, Meredith Patterson, and Jeffry Denman.

Sergio Trujillo is a theater director and choreographer. Born in Colombia and raised in Toronto, Canada, he is now an American citizen and resides in New York City. Trujillo was the recipient of the 2019 Tony Award for Best Choreography for Ain't Too Proud and the 2015 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Memphis. He is the first ever Hispanic recipient of the Tony Award for Best Choreography.

Rob McClure is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in musical theatre as Nick Bottom and Adam Maitland. He won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in the title role of the musical Chaplin. In 2019, on Broadway, he originated the role of Adam Maitland in Beetlejuice, the Musical, his seventh Broadway production.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jerome Robbins' Broadway production information" Playbill.com, accessed August 24, 2020
  2. 1 2 Rich, Frank. "Review/Theater; From Jerome Robbins, 20 Years of Broadway the Way It Was", The New York Times, February 27, 1989
  3. Witchel, Alex. "As Others Fold, One Show Just Keeps Tapping Along" The New York Times, p. C13, August 29, 1990
  4. "Broadway. Jerome Robbins", Pbs.org, accessed July 22, 2012
  5. " Jerome Robbins Broadway Songs" ibdb.com, accessed August 24, 2020
  6. " Jerome Robbins Broadway Original Cast" MasterWorks Broadway.com, accessed August 24, 2020
  7. "Tony Awards 1989" InfoPlease, accessed August 24, 2020