Welcome to the Musical Theatre 101 series! While we love listening to the most recent cast albums of shows and mainstream music sung by Broadway favorites, Broadway hits of today wouldn’t be here without the standards of yesterday.
This week, the Playbill Mixtape features songs from 1930s musicals that every card-carrying theatre fan must know. (They may not be the renditions from the original musical, but they are songs that first appeared onstage during that decade.) From the 2012 Broadway recording of "Summertime" from 1935’s Porgy and Bess to "My Funny Valentine," consider this your audible musical theatre history lesson.
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For this week’s list we also put together an historical guide for the songs included on this Mixtape:
“Easter Parade” — As Thousands Cheers, (1933) Irving Berlin
“Blow, Gabriel, Blow” — Anything Goes, (1934) Cole Porter
“I Got Rhythm” — Girl Crazy, (1930) George and Ira Gershwin
“I Happen to Like New York” — The New Yorkers, (1930) Cole Porter
“Summertime” — Porgy and Bess, (1935) George and Ira Gershwin
“I’ll Be Seeing You” — Right This Way, (1938) Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal
“Love for Sale” — The New Yorkers, (1930) Cole Porter
“My Romance” — Jumbo, (1935) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
“There’s A Small Hotel” — On Your Toes, (1936) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
“Do I Love You?” — DuBarry Was A Lady, (1939) Cole Porter
“I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” — Too Many Girls, (1939) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
“Nickel Under My Foot” — The Cradle Will Rock, (1937) Marc Blitzstein
“Where or When” — Babes in Arms, (1937) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
“My Funny Valentine” — Babes in Arms, (1937) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
“(When Your Hear’s On Fire) Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” — Roberta, (1933) Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach
“This Can’t Be Love” — The Boys From Syracuse, (1938) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
“Embraceable You” — Girl Crazy; George and Ira Gershwin
“Supper Time” — As Thousands Cheers, (1930) Irving Berlin
“Dancing in the Dark” — The Band Wagon, (1931) Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz
MUSICAL THEATRE 101: 1930s
Think the Gershwins. Think American Songbook Think jazzy.
And for some showtune trivia, watch below:
