Neon Tommy: Religion is having a renaissance on Broadway, it seems. Some combination of God, Jesus, or religion in general figures prominently into five shows that will appear this season on the Great White Way. From the lampooning nature of "The Book of Mormon" to Stephen Schwartz's parable-centered "Godspell" to Andrew Lloyd Webber's megamusical "Jesus Christ Superstar" to the story of a con-man preacher that is "Leap of Faith" to the nun-centric "Sister Act," it looks like the Bible might be one of Broadway's hardest-working writers this season. Even "Anything Goes" references the Old Testament in "Blow, Gabriel, Blow."
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
THEATER TALK: Broadway Gets Biblical
Neon Tommy: Religion is having a renaissance on Broadway, it seems. Some combination of God, Jesus, or religion in general figures prominently into five shows that will appear this season on the Great White Way. From the lampooning nature of "The Book of Mormon" to Stephen Schwartz's parable-centered "Godspell" to Andrew Lloyd Webber's megamusical "Jesus Christ Superstar" to the story of a con-man preacher that is "Leap of Faith" to the nun-centric "Sister Act," it looks like the Bible might be one of Broadway's hardest-working writers this season. Even "Anything Goes" references the Old Testament in "Blow, Gabriel, Blow."
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2 comments:
I think that religion has always been a part of our culture in one way or another. There are those people that believe in it and practice their religion, then there are those who celebrate religion as though it were a Hallmark Holiday, and there are those that approach religion with a sense of humor. There is no right way to do it, it is simply a matter of personal preference. It is strange that so many religious based shows are on broadway, I hadn't notice until this article, but there are a fair amount out and about. I think that it is another passing phase that simply happens, sometimes these phases last a long time, sometimes not. I'd like to think that it is the new way people approach the ideas and issues of religion. It is true that we associate theater with liberal ideas and that we are trying to find ways to process information or anything that makes us understand all the more. I'd be interested to see the future musicals that touch on the same issues or that create new points to focus on.
I don't necessarily feel that this is a particularly new thing. I think that religion has had a place since the beginning of Broadway, only it was less obvious and a little more accepted during the times. In our day in age, there is becoming more and more vocal critizisms about religions, especially within the theatrical community. Also, especially in the case of "Book of Mormon", it is actually making fun of the religion. I think that this also more of a fad than many people see. Also this is probably just going to be getting worse and worse because of the direction the theatrical industry is going in terms of content of the shows. And, as the the case with "Mormon", I think the audience is just as receptive to these idea.
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