Douglas Carter Beane’s words of wisdom about the collegiate musical, past and present. And a word to the wise, he’s included some spectacular clips of true gems, so be sure to click on the screengrabs below to check ‘em out! …
Boy, Broadway sure loves its forms and settings, doesn’t it? All you have to do is say “Backstage,” “Cruise Ship” or “Fish Out of Water” and the musical titles all start floating into consciousness, and with Lysistrata Jones, it is easy to see that one of my favorite genres of musical comedy is the “Scholastic Musical Comedy.” These shows allow the audience to be transported to a more carefree time in their lives (high school, college) and slyly find resonance in their own current existence.
I think it’s safe to say that the Scholastic Musical began quite soon after musical comedies began. A few decades after The Black Crook came the series of musicals known as the Princess Musicals. These shows in no way take their name from an affectionate term for Jewish daughters, but from the theater in which they all originally appeared. The Princess was a tiny theater, seating only about three hundred people—sort of the Off-Broadway of its day. And In the teens of the last century, Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse and Jerome Kern wrote a series of musicals (Very Good Eddie, Oh, Boy) that essentially defined the musical comedy style. But the question arose, was New York sophisticated enough for a smart musical comedy? The trio decided to set their first big Broadway musical on a college campus. Leave it to Jane opened at the Longacre Theatre (just across the street from us!) and was an immediate sensation. Here’s a clip of the (very) MGM version.
And, as you can see from the audience response in that clip, Broadway was in love with musicals set in college. The next musical coming ten years later, opened at the 46th Street Theater, and was one of the biggest hits of the 1920’s, Good News.
George Abbot, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, three of the best purveyors of musical comedies of the 30’s, found huge success when they went to college in the southwest in Too Many Girls at the Imperial Theatre. Here’s the trailer for the movie, which along with total theater devotion has some of the best claims ever.
(And yes TV geeks, that’s where Desi met Lucy.)
Many more collegiate musicals followed: Best Foot Forward!, Legally Blonde, Hair (well, alright, they all dropped out, but they started in college). This whole thing is an Encores season just waiting to be announced!
But perhaps the biggest scholastic musical of all time took it a little younger, from college to high school. It opened Off-Broadway in 1972, and its advertising executive famously said, “I don’t think there’s anything we can do with these reviews. It’s a disaster. Close it.” Well, they didn’t—they moved it to Broadway, where it became the longest-running musical of its time. Oh, and it’s been revived twice on Broadway.
So, there you are. There’s a little glimpse of some of the Broadway Grandaddies and Broadway Grandmommies of Lysistrata Jones. She’s home at last … and proud to be where she belongs.
It’s not easy to gather and share all of this super-helpful knowledge on my blog… and it’s no secret I’ve had to enlist the help of my friends from time to time.
So… I’m in my History of American Theater class… I know, filling out that arts and humanity credit. And the professor sees me walk in late in my uniform and says, “Quick, Blondie, name a number from a Broadway musical that has basketball in it.”
Well, long story short, my dad used to be an actor and when I was a little girl he did a tour of Promises, Promises—the theater geeks all know where I’m going with this! So I just stand up all Norma Rae-like and sing this song. Here’s a clip from Youtube. I don’t know who the guy is, maybe the son of the guy from Law and Order reruns?
Any to the way. I think I like it cause the guy likes the girl for what she likes, you know?
So, Professor is absototally thrown. Love it!
And then I say all casual, “Oh and here’s one for you: name the dream team!”
Waaaaaah!
The Prof—who is not evil he just acts that way—snarls and sits down and I know: If I want any kinda grade in this class I best be gettin’ some extra credit on!
There’s a basketball number in Full Monty—my dad did a tour of that, too. (I still need to see a therapist after seeing him in that.)
Can you think of other sports that are mentioned or appear in Broadway musicals?
Get back to me guys — I would SO love to hand in a list and get the grade.
It’s no secret that my name comes from a character in classical literature. When I was a kid, it was very frustrating to constantly explain the story of my name, but here are a few Greek names that would’ve been way worse:
Medea
In a jealous rage, she killed her children to get back at her ex, Jason of the Argonauts. He did cheat on her, but she was worse than people on the Maury show. Also, she was the niece of an evil sorceress, Circe, who transformed anyone who offended her into an animal.
Pandora
We’re all curious… but she was under strict orders not to open a very special box-jar, but she did it anyway, and released all evil into the world! Whoops… her bad! At least she wasn’t punished for it.
Medusa
Snakes on a head. One look and you were dead. Enough said!
Your parents couldn’t be more proud that you’re off to college – they’ve already bought half the bookstore’s stock of T-shirts, sweats and mugs, right? So don’t be surprised when they ask how things are going. And don’t freak out! You can fill them in and keep them happy… without giving too much away:
What you say: “I’ve joined a great study group!”
What you don’t say: … because there’s a cute guy in class whose number I want.
What you say: “I attend all of the guest speakers’ lectures!”
What you don’t say: … so that my professor will give me extra credit.
What you say: “I always get to class early!”
What you don’t say: …because all my classes start after 1PM.
What you say: “I’m getting a head start on studying for midterms!”
What you don’t say: … for Phys Ed 101.
What you say: “I’ve even started to tutor other students!”
What you don’t say: … so that I can fund the social life you’ll never know about.
Whatever you’re “not giving up,” you could probably use some good tunes to maintain your motivation. Here’s a little playlist of songs I’m jamming to today:
Just got back from the first cheer practice of the season and, hate to say it, we’re a little rusty. I guess you can’t spend all of summer partying like in Last Friday Night and expect to be in prime cheer shape! Right now, we feel kind of like this:
OK, maybe not that worn out (actually, they weren’t half bad!), but here’s some inspiration:
Or the sassy Laker Girls:
We could definitely use a lesson or two from them on how to inspire all the guys in the stands. I’ll check back later in the semester with more updates!
It’s no secret that my name comes from a character in classical literature. When I was a kid, it was very frustrating to constantly explain the story of my name, but here are a few Greek names that would’ve been way worse:
