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When You Need a Lot of Noise
Fiddler on the Roof's "To Life" What do “ Put on Your Sunday Clothes ”, “ With A Little Bit of Luck ,” “ Seventy-Six Trombones ,” and “...
Rebecca Burnham
Mar 125 min read


Dispensing with the Sexy Song and Dance
A bit of burlesque is standard fare in a Broadway show, because sex sells and keeps the audience awake. But is this device worth the price?
Rebecca Burnham
Mar 67 min read


When the Dream is Big Enough to Intimidate
Hold an elephant-eating party! Last week, I wrote about my goal to launch a global, intentional and organized movement to build the...
Rebecca Burnham
Feb 274 min read


Let's Change the World!
When the world gathers to Salt Lake City for the 2034 Winter Olympics, the city will be flooded with living proof of musical theatre's power
Rebecca Burnham
Feb 206 min read


Could Eliza Be A Fair Lady to Both Herself and Higgins?
Henry Higgins ( Harry Hadden-Paton) and Eliza Dolittle (Laura Benanti) dance together. When Lerner and Loewe turned Shaw’s Pygmalion into...
Rebecca Burnham
Feb 139 min read


History of a Broken Ending
My Fair Lady's famous final line I grew up on My Fair Lady . I have watched it over, and over, and over. To this day, when I feel joyous...
Rebecca Burnham
Feb 66 min read


The Song That Plays Hard to Get
Sky Masterson pursues Sarah Brown with "I'll Know" Not every musical tells a love story. But a huge number of successful ones do. This is...
Rebecca Burnham
Jan 298 min read


If I Loved You -- I Wouldn't Let You Beat Me Down
Jessie Mueller and Joshua Henry in Carousel. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. REVISED with your feedback. When I planned to write this week’s...
Rebecca Burnham
Jan 2315 min read


"I Want": Making the Story Matter
Elphaba sings "The Wizard and I" While the opening numbers of a musical give us a taste of what’s coming and get us oriented to the world...
Rebecca Burnham
Jan 166 min read


Pulling the Audience Onboard
Opening of The Music Man by the Washington Park Playhouse in Albany, NY This is the first post in my Building Blocks of a Musical series,...
Rebecca Burnham
Jan 87 min read


Why We Should Pay Attention to the Pattern For a Musical
Finding a solid pattern is the first step to a newbie making an impressive cake How does one create a great musical? That’s a question...
Rebecca Burnham
Jan 16 min read


A Review: Journey to Bethlehem
Fiona Paloma as Mary and Milo Manheim as Joseph in Journey to Bethlehem Joyous greetings to each of you this season, as we celebrate the...
Rebecca Burnham
Dec 24, 20246 min read


The Stage Can Sizzle Where Social Media Stinks
Could a Musical Tackle Trans Issues in a Way that Lifts and Unites? Lately, I’ve seen some social media posts by friends that I’ve been...
Rebecca Burnham
Dec 19, 20248 min read


The Schwartz Recipe for Fostering Beloved Community
A Voice for Good's 2018 choir and orchestra, that was focused on building people, not highlighting stars. Paul Schwartz stands 4th from...
Rebecca Burnham
Dec 11, 20249 min read


People are the Point
Paul Schwart (L) and family members on the set of Savior of the World. For Paul Schwartz, putting on a professional-quality production is...
Rebecca Burnham
Dec 4, 20246 min read


Defying Gravity
It’s been 21 years since Wicked opened on Broadway and I’ve never had the opportunity to see it. That is, until I went to Part I at the...
Rebecca Burnham
Nov 28, 20248 min read


What Next? The Dream.
Photo by Javardh on Unsplash I have a lot of things on my heart and spinning through my mind today. On Saturday, our 10-day run of...
Rebecca Burnham
Nov 21, 20243 min read


What's More Important: The Actor or the Show?
Photo by Michael van Gorkum on Unsplash One of the things I find most challenging about building beloved community through musical...
Rebecca Burnham
Nov 14, 20245 min read


Mightiest Instrument in My Director's Toolkit
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash I’ve mentioned a couple times in this newsletter that I am co-directing a community production of...
Rebecca Burnham
Nov 14, 20244 min read


A Solution That Sings
On the night of August 23, 2020, the streets of Kenosha Wisconsin filled with an angry mob. Earlier that day, Jacob Blake, an African...
Rebecca Burnham
Nov 14, 20246 min read
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