The Great White Way Part One

This nickname is used for a section of Broadway in Manhattan, New York City that is between 41st and 53rd Streets. These streets are clustered in an area around Times Square and are often referred to as the Theater District. Broadway itself has 41 theaters around Times Square and you can see many lit-up billboards, posters, and marquees that promote the latest musicals and plays. Part One includes some of the most popular musicals that once played on Broadway.

42nd Street

42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Steward and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running show.

The show is a jukebox musical with songs from the 1933 movie "42nd Street". It includes many different songs such as: "There's a Sunny Side to Every Situation" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

The Broadway musical opened on August 25, 1980, at the Winter Garden Theater. The production was directed by Gower Champion. It was produced by David Merrick and featured orchestrations by Phillip J. Lang. The original cast included Jerry Orbach as Julian Marsh, Tammy Grimes as Dorothy Brock, Wanda Richert as Peggy Sawyer, and Lee Roy Reams as Billy Lawlor.

Opening night was a big triumph and after a lengthy standing ovation, David Merrick had to go onstage with the tragic news that Gower Champion had died. This was his last show.

A Chorus Line

“A Chorus Line” was a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban and a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante.

The musical is set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater centering on seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line, The production provided a glimpse into the performers' personalities and the choreographer, as they described the events that shaped their lives and made them decide to become dancers.

After several workshops and a beginning on Off-Broadway “A Chorus Line” opened at the Shubert Theater on Broadway in 1975. It received 12 Tony Award nominations and won nine of them including the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The show ran for 6,137 performances becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history.

Annie

The delightful Broadway musical "Annie" was based on the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie and loosely based on a poem Little Orphan Annie from 1885. The music is by Charles Stouse and the lyrics by Martin Charnin and the book by Thomas Meehan.

The original Broadway production opened in 1977 at the Alvin Theater which is now The Neil Simon Theater. The show won seven Tony Awards including the Tony for Best Musical,

The show starred Andrea McArdle as Annie, Reid Shelton as Warbucks, Dorothy Loudon as Miss Hannigan, and Sandy Faison as Grace Farrell. Child actress Danielle Brisebos was one of the orphans, The show ran a spectacular 2,377 performances during which time actress Alice Ghostly was one of the replacements for Miss Hannigan.

Among the most popular musical numbers were the songs "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life"

Beauty and the Beast

I love the Disney cartoon "Beauty and the Beast"' but my favorite version is the one with real actors starring Emma Watson, Now that one I could watch over and over again.

The Broadway musical "Beauty and the Beast" had music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton. It is based on the classic French fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.

It tells the story of a cold-hearted prince who has magically been transformed into a Beast. To regain his human form he must first learn to love a beautiful young woman and she must love him in return. But who could ever love a Beast?

The musical premiered on Broadway on April 18, 1994, with Susan Egan as Belle and Terrence Mann as the Beast at the Palace Theater and later moving to the Lunt Fontaine Theater. The musical ran for 5,461 performances making it Broadway's tenth longest running production in history.

Cabaret

One of the top Broadway shows was "Cabaret" The musical is from 1968 with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. It is based on John Van Druten's 1951 play "I Am A Camera" which was adapted from the novel "Goodbye To Berlin."

The action is set in 1929 - 1939 Berlin, Germany during the waning days of the Walmar Republic as the Nazis are ascending to power. The musical focuses on the hedonistic nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub. It revolves around American writer Clifford Bradshaw's relations with English cabaret performer Sally Bowes.

The original Broadway production opened on November 20, 1966, at the Broadhurst Theater and later moved on to the Imperial Theater quickly becoming a box office hit and ran for 1,165 performances.

The original cast included Jill Haworth as Sally, Bert Convy as Cliff, Lottie Lenya as Fraulein Schneider, Jack Gilford as Herr Schultz, Joel Gray as the Emcee, Edward Winter as Ernst, and Peg Murray as Fraulein Kost.

Gigi

I am such a fan of this musical however I did not see it on Broadway but the Hollywood musical movie from which I have the video. Here I will write about the original Broadway production.

“Gigi” is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, It is based on the 1944 novella “Gigi” by Colette.

The story is about a free-spirited teenage girl named Gigi who lives in Paris, France at the turn of the 20th century. She is being groomed as a courtesan in the tradition of her family. Before she is ready for her social debut she meets handsome bachelor Gaston Lachalle. She captivates him and turns into a charming and poised young lady.

“GiGi” opened on Broadway in 1973 at the Uris Theater and ran for 103 performances and seven previews. The cast included Karin Wolfe as Gigi, Daniel Massey as Gaston, Maria Kamlova as Mamita, Agnes Moorehead as Aunt Alicia, and Alfred Drake as Honore. During the production, Arlene Francis replaced Moorehead who died of cancer in 1974.

Grease

The original Broadway production of “Grease” is a musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and was named after the US working-class youth subculture known as “greasers” in the 1950s

The musical is set in the fictional Rydell High School and follows the lives of ten working-class teenagers as they struggle through high school with ups and downs and of course, love mixed in.

“Grease” opened Off-Broadway at the Eden Theater in downtown Manhattan in 1972. As the show grew in popularity along the way it received seven Tony Award nominations. It found its home on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater and later moved to the Royale Theater, The show ran for an incredible 3, 388 performances.

The large cast included:

Doug Stevenson (Danny), Leslie Goto (Sandy), Sue Williams (Rizzo), Polly Pen (Patty), Gary Houston (Roger), Marilu Henner (Marty), James Canning (Doody), Hedda Lubin (Frenchy), Bruce Hickey (Kenickie), Sheila Ray Ceaser (Jan), Bill Cervetti (Miller), Jerry Bolnick (Sonny), Judy Brubaker (Miss Lynch), Mike O'Connor (Vince Fontaine), Steve Munro (Eugene), Barbara Munro (Cha Cha), Mac Hamilton (Teen Angel) and George Lopez (Bum).

Guys and Dolls

“Guys and Dolls” was shown on the Broadway stage at the 46th Street Theater today known as The Richard Rogers Theater. The music and lyrics were written by Frank Loesser. It became a popular musical comedy in November 1950. The show ran for 1,200 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Musical from which came a hit Hollywood movie. The show also won four other Tony Awards.

The actors on the Broadway stage were Robert Alda as Sky Masterson, Sam Leven as Nathan Detroit, Isabel Bigley as Sarah, and Viviane Blaine as Miss Adele.

The musical was about New York's most infamous crap game organizer, Nathan Detroit who hopes for a big payday and challenges notorious gambler Sky Masterson. Masterson is hoping to win and take mission girl Sarah Brown to dinner in Havana, Cuba. The story deals with their problems and ups and downs. Meanwhile, Nathan has to deal with his fiancee of 14 years Adelaide who is tired of waiting to set a wedding date.

Among the musical numbers is a song called "I've Never Been In Love Before" performed by the characters Sky and Sarah.