Best of Broadway 1990-1995
Breakthrough Theater
Created by Wade Hair
Winter Park, FL
It’s “Best of Broadway” time again! The Breakthrough crew does what they do best: sing show tunes. This version looks at the early 1990’s with the revival of “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “Secret Garden,” “Crazy for You” and a stack of others. We open with the entire cast belting the titular “Meet Me in St. Louis” with Tianna leading the cast. The city may have faded over the years, but the music remains strong. This is one of these Broadway chestnuts they’ll be reviving in 100 years. “Miss Saigon” offers up “I’d Give My Life for you” sung by Brianna. I keep hoping Wade will do this show with drones, but he must not be ready for that level of technology yet. “Once on This Island: and “Falsettos” provide more high class melodies, and the first act closes on these blockbusters.
Act Two opens with an interesting look at The Who’s “Tommy.” The show samples six songs from “Pinball Wizard “ to “Touch Me, Feel Me” to “I Get the Music.” I suspect few of the crowd remember this landmark merger of rock and roll, opera and show tunes, but I do. The story hasn’t aged well, but the music has and I’m glad they chose this tough piece. Accompanying this old school music we also meet one of the first really big Disney musicals: “Beauty and the Beast.” Brianna and the cast lead with “Belle” and then explore “A Change in Me.” As the evening wraps up, we close with a medley of tunes from “Smokey Joes Café.” As we walk out into the brisk Orlando winter, another review of past Broadway glory retreats to our memory banks. You can’t miss with these collections or time sequenced Broadway hits; this one was as good as they get.
