 In the history of American entertainment, especially the "Broadway" musical, the live presentation of song & dance together in a popular format, has been unparallelled. Shows that succeeded on Broadway in New York, NY, have gone on, still DO go on, to become filmed versions of the show. During the days of burlesque & vaudeville, any entertainer worth mentioning sought to be included in the "star" status of playing in a theatre there. Taking the show on the road paid the bills, but "finishing" on Broadway was the pinnacle of success, until recording technology & fidelity made it possible for all osrts of music to be developed, recorded, and taken to the people of the US through radio & television. Gentle reader, a few hours devoted to search-engine seeking of info on the way popular culture became infused with the Broadway Musical rendering of reality will reap the making of much food for thought. Shows like Porgy & Bess, Oklahoma, The Music Man, and the Sound Of Music come to mind. Any of these, or all four, would be a good place to start your self-directed education, if like many in the past 30 years, you grew up unaware of them. In my travels as busker4freedom, I keep finding Broadway. I'm "making it" my OWN way "there" wherever I can. Chico, CA, Eugene, OR, Missoula, MT, so far. (Each of these are college towns, with all the cultural foment that universities in the modern era bring to relatively small cities. I, myself, actually prefer them to large metropolitan areas, like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, with their megalopical sprawl, and superficial URBANE unconcern for what such predominantly 'steel & glass' densely plopped onto the land living does to the land beneath the urban denizens feet. In fact, a good number of my songs are about the lack of balance in the urbane outlook. Metrosexual, indeed!) What follows is a presentation of my adventures "ON" Broadway. Eugene, Oregon is up first, simply because I've been there the most so far. - Denver, CO - Eugene, OR - Knoxville, TN - Missoula, MT - - Nashville, TN - New Haven, CT - New York, NY - Oakland, CA - - Okemah, OK- Portland, OR - San Francisco, CA - Tucson, AZ - |
