EUROPEAN INVASION

EUROPEAN INVASION
In 1960 Piccadilly Circus came to Broadway in the form of an English production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! It opened on January 6th and ran 774 performances. Georgia Brown caught the attention of the radio world with her rendition of As Long as He Needs Me. The tradition of bringing English musical theatre to Broadway, would continue through works like Stop the World, I Want to Get Off! and The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd. It continues to this day with the megahit, The Phantom of the Opera. Oliver! was based on the literary masterwork, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. That tradition of setting great works of literature would be repeated in The Man of La Mancha by Joe Darion and Mitch Leigh. Opening on November 22, 1965, it enjoyed a long run of 2, 328 performances. After Richard Kiley sang The Impossible Dream, it would be recorded by many famous performers in the U.S. and abroad and enjoyed widespread play. April 15th, 1975 marked the beginning of a musical that would break the record previously set by Fiddler on the Roof, as longest run of history. With music by Marvin Hamlisch and Lyrics by Edward Kleban, A Chorus Line, with it’s popular song, What I Did for Love, looked as if it would never close. Set with almost no sets and costumes appearing like street wear, A Chorus Line, dealt with the tawdry and difficult lives of dancers. It was unique for the time as it was conducted like an audition with the director being seated in the auditorium with the audience. In 1977 New York City, and the Broadway Theatre was having a very difficult time. I remember the phenomena well, as I moved to New York that year. The city was in terrible financial ruin, and President Jimmy Carter declared the city a national disaster and considered it bankrupt. Fortunately the U.S. Government came to the rescue of a city which held the key to communication and commerce in America. It was clear that if the economy of New York City failed, the entire nation would suffer economically. There was great distrust and pessimism about the future of the city and the nation. Then on April 21st Little Orphan Annie, jumped out of the comic strips onto the stage singing the music of Charles Strouse, and lyrics of Martin Charnin. Annie convinced the world that “The sun’ll come out Tomorrow”, and hope began to reign on the Great White Way. Annie ran for 2,377 performances concurrent with a new vitality that was seen on Broadway. To enhance ticket sales, a temporary structure was erected at 50th Street and Broadway to sell unsold tickets the day of performances for half price. It was a means of filling the theaters and enticing bargain hunters to come to the theatre. The campaign worked and revived a slowing economy in the theatre and brought new hope for the future. The “temporary” ticket kiosk, called TKTS is still functioning and doing a booming business in 1999.