Give My Regards to...

A few weeks ago I was responding to a comment left on one of my posts and in order to make a reference point, I had to look up an image on the Internet. In the process I ran across the Broadway poster for the musical Wicked, which is loosely-based on a premise originated by The Wizard of Oz.

Well, it lead me to start browsing through some Broadway musicals/plays posters and I was pleasantly surprised to see just how beautiful a lot of them were.

As a rule, I'm just not into the whole musical, live-performance "thing." I just don't have the patience for 95% of it. Ironically my gay "pride" takes form in the fact that I don't subscribe to a lot of the stereotypical gay stuff. Anyway, in the process of talking to a friend about my self-proclaimed lack of interest in musicals, I went to go see how many I actually own on DVD. Seventeen. Seventeen. Lol! So much for not conforming to stereotypes. Here's the evidence, along with what I really like about them...surprisingly, it's rarely about the actual music:

V= Visuals • CF= Classic Film • E= Everything • KF=Kitsch Factor • GK= Gene Kelly • EC= Eyecandy

• 42nd Street (V, CF)
• An American in Paris (V, CF, GK)
• Anchors Aweigh (V, CF, GK)
• Babes in Toyland (V, KF)
• Can't Stop the Music (KF, EC)
• Grease (E)
• Madame Satan (E)
• Moulin Rouge! (E)
• Muscle Beach Party/Ski Party (KF, EC)
• Phantom of Paradise (V)
• The Pirate Movie (E)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (E)
• Singin' in the Rain (CF, GK)
• Stage Door Canteen (CF)
• Take Me Out to the Ball Game (CF, GK)
• Till the Clouds Roll By (CF)
• Xanadu (E)

In addition to "discovering" the wonderful world of Broadway poster art, I also learned that a lot of celebrities have performed on Broadway. I had no idea!

Brendan Fraser (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Sebastian Bach (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), Sean "Puffy" Combs (A Raisin in the Sun), Alec Baldwin (Streetcar Named Desire), Harry Connick, Jr. (Thou Shalt Not) and John Stamos (Cabaret), just to name a few.

To see more Broadway poster art, visit:

• Footlights
• Triton Gallery