In honor of the wonderful sisters of show tunes in St. Louis, meeting at the Motherhouse Convent a/k/a the Loading Zone in St. Louis' Central West End, I’m back for week two of Open Thread Show Tunes Tuesdays. While last week’s attendance at the party was quite low, I’m expecting a much bigger turnout tonight, what with the debate and all. Who wants to talk about Grampy, when we can have a dishy discussion about something of real substance: Musical Theater. So without further ado, let’s get it on with Show Tunes Tuesday!
In honor of tonight’s other special event over at yon Belmont University, I thought it would be fun to debate the following topic: Old warhorse musicals (McCain era) or modern, hopeful musicals (Obama era)
Here are two suggested shows to get the conversation rolling.
Showboat By Jerome Kerr and Oscar Hammerstein, the play premiered in 1927! That’s actually slightly before the McCain era, but we’ll stick with it because the movie version came out in 1936, McCain’s natal year. And besides, who doesn’t love the irony of the inclusion of a racially inappropriate lyric in the original musical, which was eventually replaced. The story was so amazing for its time, and gee whiz, who doesn’t love Paul Robeson?
The Drowsy Chaperone, book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and Music/Lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. Opened on Broadway in 2006 after several years of development. The wow factor in this show is huge. It’s just got so many laughs and so much delight and total love for the art of the musical. I like tonight’s clip because it references a Kos Family Debate Night Tradition: drinking games whenever a character (or politician) says a familiar phrase... Anyhoo, here’s a snippet. Enjoy!
What are you debating about? Get on the horn and share your show tune stories!