Craig Zadan, Prolific Stage, TV, and Film Producer, Dies at 69

There are few people whose work has had as big a role in shaping who I am as a Craig Zadan. His book SONDHEIM AND CO was the first and remains the best consideration of Steve’s work, and of course with his producing partner Neil Meron he revived the screen musical on both tv and film. What an unbelievable loss.

Smart

Raul Esparza performs “The Flag Song” (cut from Assassins) with new orchestrations by Charlie Rosen, at the Dramatists Guild Fund’s gala. I believe this is the first public performance of this song.

(Not familiar with “The Flag Song?” I wrote about it in The Sondheim Review.)

Broadway fact of the day: Amid the raging success of Annie, the creators planned and began work on a sequel called–I shit you not–Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge. This New York Times article tells the saga of this abortive attempt, and it is fascinating and horrifying and laughable in equal measure. Read it and be astonished.

Okay but he score to Miss Hannigan’s Revenge is pretty great. (If you’ve only heard the version recorded officially on the 30th Anniversary Album, you haven’t really heard Annie 2, because that one had to omit all the songs that were recycled for Annie Warbucks. And it didn’t have Dorothy London.)

The SM just sent this out in the rehearsal report, and I am laughing harder than I have all week.

Drake for the announced but quickly forgotten and probably never happening NBC production of The Music Man* *As long as they use the complete dance music

Works cited

“JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie.” JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2011 

Shakespeare

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o-p-p opportunity.

Hey-o!

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