Musicals - Topics

Is crossover between opera and musical theatre easier than people assume? How do you pick an audition song that is not overdone? What should you never do in a shared dressing room? What does a musical director do during a run versus in rehearsal? The ensemble carries a musical and gets the least credit What is a swing in a musical and how many roles do they cover? Quick changes under a minute: the dresser is the real hero of the show What is the difference between a soprano and a mezzo in casting terms? Broadway cast recordings and tour casts do not use the same orchestrations Amateur musical societies are the backbone of the form and nobody admits it What is a triple threat and does anyone actually have all three? Sung-through musicals demand a different kind of stamina from the cast Mic tape and body mics: the invisible work nobody notices until it fails What separates a great villain monologue from a bad one? Sondheim is hard to sing and even harder to act How does a musical workshop a new song in front of a live audience? Reading the libretto before seeing the show ruins the jokes Why do musicals cut their best song during previews? Why are so many Broadway shows jukebox musicals now? Choosing between a theater tour and an arena tour changes the whole show What goes wrong when a movie gets turned into a stage show? Live performance rights cost more to license than the recording does How does a musical handle a lead who is sick for a week? Revivals keep winning the awards because new musicals cannot find backers What makes an eleven o'clock number in a musical land or fall flat? Are VIP meet-and-greet packages worth the money or just a queue? Jukebox musicals are lazy but they keep theaters open What is the difference between a residency and a tour for a live act? Why do so many movie musicals fail when they get to the stage? Why is every new musical based on a film or a pop catalogue? Which musical roles are actually singable eight shows a week? Setlist surprises only work if the audience has not already seen the spoilers online