Broadway: the great American musical.

AuthorKantor, Michael
PositionEntertainment - Documentary filmmaker discusses production of movie about Broadway theater - Column

"... The musical theater pieces staged in these few blocks have mirrored nearly every social phenomenon that ever has swept the nation.... No matter what is happening in America, it is reflected back in the stories acted out upon those stages."

THE IDEA FOR a documentary series on Broadway hit me while I was riding in a cab zig-zagging through Times Square. It was 1992, and the theater district was very much in the doldrums. Although a much anticipated renaissance had just begun, trash in the gutter, three-card monte games, and drug dealers on the comers reminded me of all the times I had heard people insist that "Broadway is dead." Yet, as I whizzed past the stubbornly optimistic marquees and still-brilliant lights of the Great White Way, I realized that, in spite of everything, Broadway was as relevant and intriguing as ever. Them, in that taxi, I understood that the story of Broadway's extraordinary 100-year history and its relationship in 20th-century American life was the story I needed to tell. "Broadway: The American Musical" (airing Oct. 19-21 on PBS) is the result.

Ultimately, it was an exhausting and exhilarating ride. By the time the six-part series was completed--after nearly 10 years work--my production team had conducted 65 interviews with a Who's Who of American musical theater. Along the way, we pored over thousands of hours of archival footage, including newsreels, private home movies, and rare television and audio clips. We dug through innumerable boxes crammed with still photos, diary excerpts, and personal letters, much of it long buried and almost forgotten. We ultimately selected 1,000 clips that span a century of Broadway history. As for the music--the veritable heartbeat of the series--each 55 minute segment contains 40 minutes of music. How do you start? How do you possibly end?

The first thing I decided was what I did not want to make--a "'That's Entertainment!" for Broadway; a catalogue of great clips and reminiscences. Of course, I would include George Gershwin's legendary score for "Porgy and Bess," Fanny Brice performing "My Man," and Ethel Merman's "I've Got Rhythm." At the stone time, though, I was determined to go beyond the "best" and confront the "why." Why did the musical spring up in New York, and not London or Paris? Why is it considered a uniquely American art form?

Ever since the 18th century, Broadway has been home to theater in New York. The longest street in Manhattan, it has been given nicknames like "The Main Stem," "The Hardened Artery," and "The Great White Way" (on account of its brilliant lights). The theater center steadily worked its way uptown along Broadway from the base of the island, finally settling into its permanent home around Times Square at the turn of the 20th century. Since then, this small area of the city has attracted the greatest, most ambitious talents in the world, and the musical theater pieces staged in these few blocks have mirrored nearly every social phenomenon that ever has swept the nation: prohibition: world war; the advent of television: civil...

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