The Play’s The Thing, by Ronald B. Hellman
It was once called musical comedy, but today, dramatic or not, the Broadway musical is the centerpiece of New York theater, the main attraction that brings all those tourists to midtown and keeps our economy solvent. The financial and housing markets may be down, but Broadway is busier than ever. Whether the shows are as good as they used to be, however, is another story.
Here in Queens and on Long Island, the musicals of choice are from the golden age of the 1940s into the 1960s, the shows with great music, memorable lyrics and a strong book. The new musicals may outdo the old in technical ability, but in every other way, with very few exceptions, they don't measure up to the classics of yesteryear. Broadway knows that, too, when they currently revive such great shows as “Gypsy” and “South Pacific.”
Musicals are a lot of fun for our local theater companies the casts are large, with opportunities for all ages, shapes and sizes, and if you don't get a major role, there's still lots of room in the chorus. And you can take the kids.
If you want to see “Fiddler on the Roof,” you have two chances coming up in Queens: the next two weekends at St. Andrew Avellino Church in Flushing, presented by The Andrean Players, and Thursdays and Sundays in June at the Bay Terrace Jewish Center in Bayside, courtesy of Theatre By The Bay. “Fiddler,” music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, opened on Broadway in 1964 and was the first musical to surpass 3,000 performances.
The Spotlight Players in Ozone Park just did “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim in his early-career comedy mode in 1962. In June, Broadhollow in Elmont will give it a go. Another recent production, this one by The Broad Channel Theatre Group, was “Bye Bye Birdie,” on Broadway in 1960, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams.
Perhaps the best-known local place for musicals is the FSF Community Theatre Group, now in its 35th year at the Free Synagogue of Flushing. Longtime director Maryellen Pierce brings “Peter Pan” to life in early May and plans Cole Porter's “Kiss Me Kate” for the fall. The boy who wouldn't grow up was given several musical versions, but it wasn't until 1954 that Peter really took off, with music by Mark Charlop and Julie Styne and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
A trip next month to New Hyde Park and the Herricks Community Center will reward you with “Guys and Dolls,” from 1950 and one of the most popular musicals, presented by the Herricks Community Players, directed and produced by the husband and wife team of John and Carol Hayes. And if you're in the mood to go to Breezy Point and the Post Theater in July, you'll see another great timeless show, “The Music Man,” music and lyrics by Meredith Willson, from the year 1957.
In addition to these sure-fire crowd pleasers, you can take in “The Burial of Count Orgaz,” a flamenco musical written by Pablo Picasso, at the Thalia Spanish Theatre in Sunnyside, “Triumph of Love,” a 1997 show based on a 1732 play that sounds like it's hot and spicy, by the Astoria Performing Arts Center, and “The Cocoanuts,” presented by the Parkside Players in Forest Hills, which, before it was made into the first Marx Brothers film, was a Broadway show written by George S. Kaufman.
