Every season on Broadway, audiences are treated with new productions of older shows. In recent years, we’ve had long-awaited new productions of Annie, The King & I, On the Town, and She Loves Me; first Broadway revivals of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, On the Twentieth Century, Pippin, and Side Show; revivals of recent musicals such as The Color Purple and Spring Awakening; as well as new productions of often-produced shows like Fiddler on the Roof and Les Misérables.
The first Broadway revival of Cats just opened. Later this season, we’ll be seeing the first revivals of 90s musicals Falsettos and Miss Saigon. Not to mention a long-awaited new Broadway production of the 1964 classic Hello, Dolly!.
Playbill.com recently did an article on 9 musicals that are overdue for Broadway revivals. http://www.playbill.com/article/9-shows-overdue-for-a-revival In response to this, I thought I’d offer you my own list of musicals that I feel are due for new productions on the main stem.
Carousel This Rodgers & Hammerstein classic hasn’t been seen on Broadway since the last revival presented by the Royal National Theatre and Lincoln Center Theater in 1994. While it may partially be due to the story being more of a downer, I think a new revival would make a great introduction to a new generation of audiences.
The Full Monty When the original production opened in October 2000, some people might’ve thought it was going to be the show to beat at the Tonys...all until the spring of 2001 when The Producers came along. Though The Full Monty still managed to run nearly two years on Broadway and has since been frequently produced by community and regional theatres across the country. I wonder how a revival would fare on Broadway today.
Funny Girl It’s hard to believe how popular this musical is, but still has yet to be revived on Broadway. A revival was supposed to take place four years ago, but unfortunately fell apart. Glee creator Ryan Murphy purchased the stage rights for Lea Michele to star in, though he recently said that those plans are on the back burner. There is currently a production running in London’s West End, so maybe that’s a possibility.
Mame Ever since the original production closed in 1970, this classic musical had only been revived (or in this case, remounted) once in 1983 with Angela Lansbury reprising her Tony-winning role as the title character. Someone even suggested to Roundabout Theatre Company about producing it in a future season. Roundabout responded to the suggestion with: “A great show that is overdue for revival. Again, who would you cast in those iconic leading roles? It’s hard to follow Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur!” I’ve seen several people suggesting Kristin Chenoweth or Jane Krakowski for the title role with Bebe Neuwirth as Vera Charles. I think as long as producers find the right choices to play those roles, you’d have yourselves a revival.
My Fair Lady This classic Lerner & Loewe musical hasn’t been seen on Broadway since the last revival in 1994. There had been talk of record producer Clive Davis wanting to produce a revival back in 2013 with Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, The King & I, Fiddler on the Roof) at the helm, but never materialized. I recently read in the message boards on BroadwayWorld that Lincoln Center Theater may be producing a revival with Colin Firth as Henry Higgins. Bryan Cranston also recently talked about in an interview that he is attached to starring in a musical revival on Broadway, though did not say what the show was. Broadway.com is guessing My Fair Lady since the role of Henry Higgins isn't necessarily required to be played by a trained singer. Could we be getting a new revival anytime soon?
Oklahoma! This groundbreaking musical from Rodgers & Hammerstein hasn’t been seen on Broadway since the last revival transferred from the Royal National Theatre in 2002. I wonder if this could be the next Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Lincoln Center Theater produces following in the footsteps of Carousel, South Pacific, and The King & I.
Oliver! This classic British musical hasn’t been seen on Broadway since a very brief remounting of the original production took place in 1984 with Ron Moody reprising his role as Fagin from the original West End production and the 1968 film adaptation along with Patti LuPone as Nancy. Producer Cameron Mackintosh even expressed interest in bringing his most recent West End revival from 2009 starring Rowan Atkinson to Broadway back in 2013, but has yet to materialize. Could we ask for more? Seussical It’s hard to believe how the original production wasn’t well-received nor financially successful when it debuted, yet the revised version remains to be one of the most produced musicals in the country. I wonder how a revival would do on Broadway with all the revisions the authors made.
I am planning to do more of these lists in the future. So in the meantime, what are some older musicals you think are due for Broadway revivals?