969 stories by "Michael Portantiere"
Original Broadway Cast, 2006 (Verve) Even with the success of such shows as Hair and Rent, the original pop/rock musical theater score has had a spotty history on Broadway, but it saw a majo…
Film Soundtrack, 1989 (Disney) After a decades-long dry spell, Disney film animation finally sprang to life again with The Little Mermaid, a musical adaptation of the children's story by Han…
Original London Cast, 2006 (Decca Broadway) Based on the film written by Lee Hall, who did double duty for the stage musical as librettist and lyricist, Billy Elliot tells of a Northern Engl…
Original Broadway Cast, 2009 (Sh-K-Boom) If Spring Awakening marked the successful comeback of the original pop/rock musical theater score, then Next to Normal helped insure its future. Part…
“The Sound of Musicals,” is a monthly podcast devoted to musical theatre recordings of all types, including Broadway cast albums, London cast albums, studio cast albums, and soun…
The 72nd annual Theatre World Awards, honoring "outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway significant, reviewable debut performances," were presented last evening in a ceremony at Circle in the S…
Original Broadway Cast, 2006 (Ghostlight) This might be the first Broadway musical with commentary written into the script. Alone in his apartment, a musical theater devotee anonymously name…
Original Broadway Cast, 2005 (Nonesuch) The Light in the Piazza seemed to re-open the door for lush scores and musicals of honest sentiment of the type not seen since Rodgers and Hammers…
Original Broadway Cast, 2009 (Rhino) Winner of 2010 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Book, Original Score, and Orchestrations, Memphis charts an enjoyable journey through the pioneering days of…
Guards at the Taj (Outstanding Play), FUTURITY (Outstanding Musical), and The Robber Bridegroom (Outstanding Revival) were among the big winners at the 2016 Lucille Lortel Awards honoring ex…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2013 (Ghostlight) Some musical theater writers have had great difficulty adapting epic, classic novels for the stage: Doctor Zhivago, Jane Eyre, East of Eden, etc…
“The Sound of Musicals,” is a monthly podcast devoted to musical theatre recordings of all types, including Broadway cast albums, London cast albums, studio cast albums, and soun…
Original Broadway Cast, 2011 (Ghostlight) When it was announced that the creators of South Park were writing a Broadway musical, with one of the songwriters of Avenue Q, no less, everyone ex…
Original Broadway Cast, 2013 (Sony Masterworks Broadway) Kinky Boots marked 80's pop icon Cyndi Lauper's debut as a Broadway songwriter. Based on the film of the same title, the musical is a…
Original London Cast, 2013 (RSC) This recording reflects the Royal Shakespeare Company's world premiere production of the musical Matilda, based on Roald Dahl's book about a precocious, five…
Original Broadway Cast, 2014 (Ghostlight) Robert James Waller's novel about an Italian war bride's brief affair with a photographer who passes through her Iowa town became a cultural phenome…
Original Broadway Cast, 2008 (Ghostlight, 2CDs) Winner of 2008 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations, In the Heights was the first Broadway musical hit t…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2006 (PS Classics) Based on Albert and David Maysles' fascinating 1975 documentary film of the same name, the musical Grey Gardens depicts the dysfunctional relat…
Studio Cast, 2013 (Cherrytree/A&M) Â Rock icon Sting introduced most of the songs that would fuel his Broadway musical The Last Ship in this eponymous, 12-track concept album, release…
Original Off-Broadway Cast, 2005 (Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom) A boisterous, satirical show in the form of a concert by a Christian pop-rock boy band espousing wholesome morality through their musi…
Original Broadway Cast, 2005 (Masterworks Broadway) A lightweight jukebox musical showcasing 25 songs made famous by Elvis Presley, All Shook Up concerns a motorcycle-riding roustabout who b…
Studio Cast, 1981 (Beginners Records/Bayview) A minor milestone in the history of American musical theater, Dearest Enemy (1925) was the first book show with a score entirely by Richard Rodg…
Original West Coast Cast, 1965 (Capitol/no CD) Edwin Lester of the Civic Light Opera Company of Los Angeles and San Francisco was known for bringing Broadway's first national tours to the We…
Women Without Men sounds like it could be the title of a girl-on-girl porno flick, or maybe one of those trashy, lesbian-themed pulp novels of the 1950s.
Original Broadway Cast, 2005 (Angel) Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple is a work with a lot of heart that was sadly compromised in its original Broa…
