What will be today’s Musical Theatre legacy?  What work will be left behind for the next generation to look back on with admiration, commenting on how ahead of its time it was?  Should producers be dusting off old chestnuts like South Pacific, Hair and La Cage in this time of turmoil?  Or should Musical Theatre simply be an escape for its audience to forget about the turmoil this nation is facing? 

First up: Here’s a fun collection of some of our favourite artists covering the musical theatre greats. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive list; not everyone’s faves are going to be on it.  Not everyone is going to make every list every time. This isn’t a list of the “best,” it’s just that: a mixed tape. Also excluded were more recent folks from the theatre community covering theatre songs. 

Just so we're clear:

Patti Murin is a hundred times classier than to publicly or privately agree with anything said in this article. 

Patti Murin is a hundred times more professional than to acknowledge anything said in this article. 

Patti Murin is a hundred times more respectable to say anything similar to what is said in this article. 

To be quite honest with you, I hope she never reads this article. 

What, to me, was most interesting about the production was how well the ensemble, to include production staff, recreated chaos. The intent was to appear inept, which, at first thought, you’d think would be easy. Just a matter of screwing up on purpose, embarrassing yourself by being blatantly incompetent. How hard could that be, right?

But it is remarkably well-crafted and staged. To affect the kind of audience response that it earned so adequately, required a precision of purpose and execution. Split-second timing, extraordinary attention to details, an exceptional script, experienced performers and a meticulous director.

There were many amazing, memorable moments from the 2018 Tony Awards: The students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School's incredible and touching rendition of "Seasons of Love", the Carousel cast's show-stopping choreographed performance, Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles' quirky yet charming hosting, the Dear Evan Hansen cast's beautiful medley of "You Will Be Found" and "For Forever", Lindsay Mendez's acceptance speech, the #TonyDreaming montages, the list could go on and on. 

A debate has arisen over Sunday night's win for Tony Shalhoub for his performance in The Band's Visit. While other nominees such as Ethan Slater sung and danced through Spongbob Sqaurepants and Joshua Henry had to take on the musical theatre doctorate known as "Soliloquoy", Mr. Shalhoub hardly sings at all. While I don't have the sheet music in front of me, having seen the show, I would guess that he sings roughly 32-64 bars in the entire show.

On Thursday, Playbill reported that actress Ruthie Ann Miles would be returning to her role as Lady Tiang for the West End production of "The King and I". Managing News Editor, Ryan McPhee, also reported that Miles would share the role with Naoko Mori. 

The article also pointed out that "The casting update follows the news that Miles lost the unborn child she was carrying two months after a Brooklyn car crash that took the life of her four-year-old daughter."

12 Tony Nominations, Critical praise and pulling in $1.4 million per week, the debate whether or not "Mean Girls" would be a success has been decided, it most definitely is. The musical is striking a cord with younger audiences and I have no doubt this will become a staple in high schools and colleges for years to come once licensing rights are available. But given its popularity and success on 42nd Street, one has to wonder if this, along with other shows like Dear Evan Hansen, will lead to more teenage-centric stories to grace Broadway stages. The same goes for shows that never got their Broadway run but have since become incredibly popular with younger audiences. The best example of this would be "Heathers". 

When I was 15 years old, I shimmied into a sequined leotard and balanced a feathered headpiece on my head for my high school production of George M! I distinctly recall claiming a private changing space in our closet-sized dressing room during our first dress rehearsal, only to have it dawn on me that there was no point in being modest: I’d be wearing virtually nothing onstage, so why bother hiding now?

Over the past couple of months, I've heard from more than one person that they are concerned that the over-commercialization of Broadway will mean that less "artistic" and original musicals will be recognized by the Tony Awards.

While I think they're overreacting, I don't think their concerns are completely unfounded. After all, this past year, there wasn't a single musical that wasn't based on a movie or TV show or that wasn't a jukebox collection.

Next week Wicked flies into Edinburgh as part of its 2nd UK & Ireland tour. I am excited to say I will be attending press night to see how this new production compares to the previous tour and the show currently running in London's West End. However, Wicked the musical is one of, or most likely, THE most iconic musical in the world. How does it manage to maintain it's popularity 15 years after its premiere in San Francisco?

This morning the nominations were announced for the 2018 Tony Awards. As per usual there were a number of surprises and snubs in virtually every category. Let's break it down and also see how we did with our own nominee predictions.