For much of the 20th century, Broadway was the place for anyone who wanted to make it big. Stars like Paul Robeson, Ethel Merman and Barbra Streisand all shot to fame under those bright lights.
A hundred years after musical theater first pitched its tent in what is now Times Square, a new PBS series casts a loving eye backstage, and argues that the musical has always had as much substance as spectacle. Shows like “Oklahoma!” and “West Side Story,” the series insists, hold up a mirror to the nation’s psyche, reflecting both its deepest fears and desires.
Guests:
Michael Kantor, producer/director of the PBS series “Broadway: The American Musical”
Laurence Maslon, co-author of companion book, “Broadway: The American Musical”
Alfred Preisser, director, Classical Theater of Harlem