When I made my post about seeing "Fiddler On The Roof" last week, it prompted a conversation between my friend and fellow Caring Place volunteer Kristy Fonger, who told me that "Fiddler On The Roof" was in her "top three" of all-time favorite musicals. "What are the other two?", I asked. "'Wicked' and 'Lion King'," she answered, "what are yours?"
That prompted a train of thought that leads to this post. It is inspired by Kristy and it is dedicated to our great friend, Bill Montrose, and more on that later on in this post.
Right off the bat, I tell you that I could not limit it to a mere three shows. There are eight shows listed below, and I could have added more, but I have to be somewhat reasonable. Also, I am not going to even try to place them in order, top to bottom, so I will just list them alphabetically.
BEAUTIFUL, THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL
I include this one for a couple of reasons. One, it is a great story with all of those wonderful Carole King-Gerry Goffin and Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil songs. Two, we actually saw it on Broadway in New York City. And three, we saw it in the company of our friends Joann and Bill Montrose. Again, more on that later.
BUDDY - THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY
We have seen this show twice here in Pittsburgh, once with the CLO, once with the Broadway Series, and I will happily see it again should it ever come through town again. Part play, part rock & roll concert, it tells the story of Holly and how he evolved musically in such a tragically short career. The encore that the cast performs after the curtain call alone is worth the price of the ticket.
HAMILTON
This is the newest play on my list. Too soon to include on an "all-time list"? Perhaps, but this one is so innovative, so different, and just so damn good that it simply has to be included. Also, the circumstances of us traveling to Chicago to see this in 2017 are so special to Marilyn and me. We will be seeing this in Pittsburgh once again in January and can't wait to do so. I don't think that I would ever pass up a chance to see this one at any opportunity in the future.
LES MISERABLES
We saw this as part of the Broadway Series back in the late 80's or early 90's. It is the first show, I believe, that I ever saw that had practically no spoken dialog. It was all singing, and it packed a true emotional and inspirational wallop. I have only seen this show once, and every time I hear a song from it played, I long for the chance to see it again, and soon.
THE MUSIC MAN
On one summer Sunday afternoon in 1962, I think my mother must have approached my Dad and said something along the lines of "get those two kids out of the house - somewhere, anywhere - so I can be rid of them for a few hours." So it was that my Dad took my sister and I to the Stanley Theater (now the Benedum) to see the movie, "The Music Man". It was the summer before my 11th birthday, and it was my first exposure to the art form of "musical comedy." I loved it. I have seen the movie too many times to count, and have seen it performed on stage at least four or five times....Broadway Series, CLO, even North Allegheny High School. Simply put, if you EVER have a chance to see this done on stage, at any level, you have to do so. You just HAVE to.
MY FAIR LADY
Another absolute classic. The movie version of this is great, but your theater going experience is not complete unless you see this one performed on stage. I have seen it at least three times, once with the CLO when Noel Harrison, son of the original Henry Higgins, Rex Harrison, was cast to play the irascible Professor Higgins. Also saw this one done by North Allegheny High School, and most recently at the intimate O'Reilly Theater by the Pittsburgh Public Theater.
WEST SIDE STORY
What I said above about "My Fair Lady" can also apply to this one. A modern take on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", this is another show that you really just have to see. So many classic songs. The movie is terrific, but seeing it on stage is special. I believe that I have only seen it once, done by the CLO. Just yesterday, I heard the number, "Tonight Quintet", played on XM Radio's On Broadway channel, and it gave me chills. I once worked with a young woman at Highmark who told me she played Maria in her high school's production of "West Side Story". I was constantly asking her to sing something from the show, and she never would. Probably drove her away from the department.
WICKED
Another show that Marilyn and I just saw in the last year as part of the Broadway Series, and we fell in love with it. Two absolutely terrific numbers - the showstopper "Defying Gravity" that closed the first act, and the wonderful Eleven O'Clock Number, "For Good", which will bring tears to your eyes. And several other great songs and just a great story. We can't wait to see it again some day.
So there you go. I could name others, but you have to stop somewhere. I regret that I cannot remember what was the first live musical stage show I ever saw. Probably a CLO production, probably when I was in college, but I just can't remember what it was. I feel bad about that.
I mentioned that the post is being dedicated to Bill Montrose. Grandstander readers may remember that Bill always served as Guest Blogger when he made his annual Tony Awards Predictions - usually very accurate predictions - for this Blog. As such, I designated him the Official Broadway Correspondent to The Grandstander. What many of you may not know is that Bill died this past September after a short and courageous battle with cancer. A contemporary of my two older brothers, I can never remember a time in my life when Bill was not a part of the Sproule family circle of friends, but in the last ten years or so, Marilyn and I became quite close with Bill, and that eight year gap in age between us just disappeared. We spoke and visited often (Bill lived in the Philadelphia area). Sports, family memories, lively political discussions, and his love and intimate knowledge of the Broadway Theater made those visits and phone calls just so special. Also special and significant to us was the fact that the last time we actually saw Bill was when we accompanied Joann and him to New York to see "Beautiful" in September, 2017. It was just so, so appropriate.
Every play and show we have seen since Bill's death has been accompanied by the thought "How I'd love to talk to Bill and see what he thought of this one." And how I wish he were here to read this post. I can just hear him screaming about how I could NOT have included some show that was a special favorite of his.
We miss him so much.
This may seem like a "downer" to end this post on such a note, but trust me, if you knew Bill Montrose, this whole post would do nothing but put a big smile on your face.
