Broadway During the 1950's
The 1950’s were a time when pop culture was very important similar to today. Broadway was full of countless shows that brought magic to its audience. This magic is still around today as students in high schools all over America perform these plays each year. Some of the shows that won a Tony Award are still popular today. There are also some that you may not have heard of. None the less.. Broadway in New York City is as wonderful today as is was back in the 1950's.
During this decade, we were
introduced to Tony Award winning plays like the 1951 musical of Guys and Dolls
and the 1950 musical South Pacific and My Fair Lady. The music alone was captivating enough to
last a lifetime. We also had many other plays like 1954's The Tea House of the
August Moon or 1953's tale of The Crucible. One of the most dramatic theatrical
events of the 1950's was the 1956 drama of The Diary of Anne Frank. The upbeat
music of Damn Yankees kept us all happy during 1956 as well.
In 1958, The Music Man won the award for best Musical. The nominees were West Side Story, New Girl In Town, Oh, Capitan!, and Jamaica. You shouldn’t feel bad for West Side Story because it won the Tony for Best Scenic Designer, Oliver Smith.
In 1957, Leonard Bernstein created the music for West Side Story. It was almost like a modern version of Romeo and Juliet. However it was really about gang warfare between a Polish-American and Puerto Rican gang. The Polish gang is the “Jets,” and the Puerto Rican gang is the “Sharks.” Riff is the leader of the Jets, and he persuaded his friend, Tony to rejoin the gang. To add even more tension, Tony falls in love with Bernardo’s sister, Maria. Bernardo is the leader of the Sharks. At the end of the play, Tony is shot and dies in Maria’s arm. Even though the play was about racism, they did not cast a Latina as Maria. West Side Story is such a fantastic play that people are still trying to re-create its brilliance.
The Sound of Music came out on Broadway in 1959. The music was by Richard Rogers, and the lyrics were written by Oscar Hammerstein II. Maria was in a convent studying the Roman Catholic sisterhood. She was sent to be a governess for Capitan George Ritter Von Trapp and his seven children. Von Trapp was a widower and a former Capitan in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The reason behind Maria leaving was that she was a always singing, and some other woman at the Abby did not find the appropriate. In 1965, The Sound of Music became a movie with Julie Andrews as Maria. You may know Julie Andrews from the Princess Diaries movies, playing Clarisse, Queen of Genovia. I promise you that you will fall in love with the movie. You may also find yourself singing the songs from the movie.
In 1972 a musical called Grease came to Broadway. It 's setting was the 1950’s time period. It was about "greaser", Danny of the T-Birds, who was in love with Sandy, a good girl. The music, the characters, and the storyline in general will make you fall in love with the show.
Nothing is like New York
City's Broadway. No matter what decade we are in, there is always something to
dazzle us.