Overture...Dim the Lights

Does anybody remember musical theatre overtures? You know, those medley of songs you generally only hear now at the beginning of revivals. Seldom do they write them anymore. Join host Robert Hammond for Stage Notes.  He’ll showcase some of Broadway’s best overtures.

Audiences today seem too impatient to sit through eight to twelve minutes of music when they are anxious to get the show on the road. But in the past the overture to a Broadway musical was a glorious thing. They got your adrenaline going as you heard tidbits of the score, sometimes recognizing a popular tune that was on the radio or other times discovering new hit songs for the first time. When they seemingly stopped writing overtures for Broadway, somewhere in the 1960s, they took away an opportunity for anticipation and recognition and found nothing to replace it with.

Follow Robert on Twitter @stagenotes.