Announcing the Broadway Bound Blogathon!

Posted on by rebeccadeniston

Yep. This is big. Really big. First, I’ve never hosted a blogathon before, and second, the Great White Way has been the pinnacle of so many performers’ careers for almost one-hundred fifty years. I know I delve into Broadway at least every other month on Taking Up Room, but it’s such a massive subject that I wanted to open it up to the blogosphere.

Broadway has been the subject of countless films, whether as a backstage story or Broadway productions adapted for the screen. Hollywood has long looked with greedy eyes on Broadway properties and performers, and lately the trend has been reversed, with Broadway mining Hollywood for new material. So again, this is a vast landscape of shows and people to choose from.

Here are the rules:

  1. The blog will take place starting on June first and ending on June third (which just happens to be a week before the Tony Awards, by the way). You can submit your posts on or around these dates, but they have to be new material.
  2. If you want to participate, leave your blog URL and what you’d like to write about.
  3. Posts can be reviews of films made about Broadway, films of Broadway shows, films that have been made into Broadway shows, or people who have worked in both Broadway and Hollywood. Since we have such a wealth of topics here, exact duplicates will be tabu. Different angles on the same topic are OK, though. And yes, multiple entries are welcome. No more than three, though. 🙂
  4. Posts can be submitted in the comment section of the blog, sent via Twitter (I’m at @TakingUpRoom), e-mailed to rebeccadeniston@gmail.com, or sent to my Contact page.
  5. If anyone has to back out, please let me know and I’ll put your topic or topics back into play.
  6. Grab a banner and advertise the blogathon!

And now for some topic suggestions (Asterisks denote non-musicals). Believe it or not, these are the short lists, so if anyone has another Broadway-related topic not listed here, then by all means, throw it in the ring. Here we go:

Movies about Broadway:

  • Rhapsody In Blue (1945)
  • Babes on Broadway (1941)
  • Babes In Arms (1939)
  • Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
  • Broadway Melody (1929)
  • Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)
  • Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
  • Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
  • The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
  • Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
  • Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
  • Broadway Serenade (1939)
  • Broadway Revue (1929)
  • The Hard Way (1943)*
  • A Chorus Line (1985)
  • Night and Day (1946)
  • The Dolly Sisters (1945)
  • All That Jazz (1979)
  • Funny Girl (1968)
  • The Band Wagon (1953)
  • A Simple Wish (1997)
  • 42nd Street (1933)
  • De-Lovely (2004)
  • Star (1968)
  • The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
  • Words And Music (1948)
  • Tea For Two (1950)
  • Dancing Lady (1933)
  • Love Me Or Leave Me (1955)
  • Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1955)*
  • Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
  • The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
  • The Seven Little Foys (1955)
  • Footlight Parade (1933)
  • Easter Parade (1948)
  • Stage Door (1937)*
  • Stage Door Canteen (1943)
  • All About Eve (1950)
  • The Producers (1967)*
  • This Is the Army (1943)

Movies Made From Broadway Shows:

  • West Side Story (1968)
  • Funny Girl (1968)
  • The Sound of Music (1965)
  • On the Town (1949)
  • Rent (2005)
  • Oklahoma! (1955)
  • Dreamgirls (2006)
  • Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954)
  • Rock of Ages (2012)
  • How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (1967)
  • Kiss Me Kate (1953)
  • Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
  • Chicago (2002)
  • Evita (1996)
  • Fiddler On the Roof (1971)
  • Les Misérables (2012)
  • The Music Man (1962)
  • Into the Woods (2014)
  • The Wiz (1978)
  • Bye Bye, Birdie (1963)
  • The Phantom Of the Opera (2004)
  • Oliver! (1968)
  • My Fair Lady (1964)
  • Annie (1982)
  • Grease (1978)
  • Guys And Dolls (1955)
  • Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962)*
  • Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)*
  • All That Jazz (1979)
  • This Is the Army (1943)
  • You Can’t Take It With You (1938)*
  • Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
  • The Women (Any version)*
  • Cyrano de Bergerac (Any version)*
  • Ben-Hur (Any version)*
  • Dracula (Any version)*
  • Peter Pan (Any version, musical or otherwise)

Movies Made Into Broadway Shows:

  • Mary Poppins
  • The Lion King
  • Newsies
  • An American In Paris
  • State Fair
  • Legally Blonde
  • Mean Girls
  • Frozen
  • 9 to 5
  • Groundhog Day
  • Amelie
  • Anastasia
  • Waitress
  • Aladdin
  • Billy Elliot
  • Bring It On
  • Elf
  • Footloose
  • Hairspray
  • The Producers
  • Rocky
  • School of Rock
  • Shrek
  • Singin’ In the Rain
  • Sister Act
  • Sunset Boulevard
  • The Wedding Singer
  • Tarzan

Performers, Directors, Playwrights and Songwriters:

  • E.Y. Harburg
  • Adolph Comden and Betty Green
  • Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
  • George Gershwin
  • Vincent Minnelli
  • Richard Rodgers
  • Florenz Ziegfeld
  • Oscar Hammerstein
  • Jerome Kern
  • Lorenz Hart
  • John Garfield
  • Irving Berlin
  • Nanette Fabray
  • James Cagney
  • Audrey Hepburn
  • Katharine Hepburn
  • Vivian Blaine
  • Julie Harris
  • Jessica Tandy
  • Charlton Heston
  • Sarah Jessica Parker
  • Robin Williams
  • Julie Andrews
  • Denzel Washington
  • Josephine Hull
  • Judith Anderson
  • Helen Hayes
  • Al Pacino
  • Idina Menzel
  • George M. Cohan
  • Angela Lansbury
  • Morgan Freeman
  • Boris Karloff
  • Cole Porter
  • Antonio Banderas
  • Burton Lane
  • Hugh Martin
  • Ralph Blaine
  • Vincent Price
  • Catherine Zeta-Jones
  • Jason Alexander
  • Spencer Tracy
  • David Hasselhoff

I hope you’ll join the fun. Pick your topic or topics, grab your banner, and let’s go to Broadway!

The Roster:

Taking Up Room: The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Ziegfeld Girl (1941), Other Ziegfeld movies

Maddy Loves Her Classic Films: My Fair Lady (1964)

Realweegiemidget Reviews: Top Five Favorite Broadway Films

Thoughts All Sorts: Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) and Proof (2005)

Life’s Daily Lessons Blog: Funny Girl (1968)

Love Letters To Old Hollywood: Vincent Price’s stage career, Kiss Me Kate (1953), and Gigi (stage and film versions)

Midnite Drive-In: Godspell (1973)

Second Sight Cinema: The Boy Friend (1971), TBD

In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood: Ethel Barrymore’s stage career, On the Town (1949), The Man Who Came To Dinner (1942)

Crítica Retrô: Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)

Lo, the Humanities: A Man For All Seasons (1966 and 1988 versions)

Phyllis Loves Classic Movies: Barefoot In the Park (1967), Robert Ryan on Broadway

Movie Movie Blog Blog: The Producers (2005)

Musings of A Classic Film Addict: Babes In Arms (1939)

Silver Screenings: Gold Diggers of 1937 (1937)

Caftan Woman: The Royal Family of Broadway (1930)

MovieRob: Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986) and Biloxi Blues (1988)

Old Hollywood Films: The King and I (1951)

Blogie and Bacall: An American In Paris (stage adaptation)

Pure Entertainment Preservation Society: Babes On Broadway (1941)

The Banners:

broadwaybanner1

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BroadwayBanner4

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144 thoughts on “Announcing the Broadway Bound Blogathon!”

  1. Hi Rebecca. It’s a big moment isn’t it when you finally pluck up the courage to do a blogathon for the first time? Well done for giving it a go! What a terrific topic choice too.

    Can I do a post on the film of My Fair Lady?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, yes, it is a leap! I had a bit of fear and trepidation when I went to sleep last night. And thanks, I’m glad you like it.

      I will definitely put you down for My Fair Lady–great choice! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  2. Oooh..sounds awesome. I’ll have to have a talk with Gill about sneaking in with Chicago…hee, hee. Just teasing. Could I do Seven Brides for Seven Brothers please?
    And…congrats on plucking up the courage to do a Blogathon. I know how it feels…that first time…but…it will be awesome and great and fantastic… 😀

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Catherine–I will put you down for that. And for your support, too. I really appreciate that. I think it’ll be fun. And yeah, Gill is wiley that way (She’s going to possibly do the 1984 Annie, too.) LOL. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. Hi there Rebecca, I love love, love this idea! I know I’ve added my choice and possible extra one but reading these lists made me notice so many more fave musical movies, so… so I dont get carried away can I do a post on 5 Broadway Musicals Made into Movies and include Annie and Chicago. Thanks Gill at Realweegiemidget Reviews (ps thanks again for joining me with Michael Caine)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      3. Should I tell you the other 3 I am adding to this post… so excited I love your topic, titles going through my head, thoughts for review intros and Catherine Zeta Jones singing Chicago songs! You really are a bad influence me. BTW I’m sorry for intruding your post with Brad Pitt etc.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. I love this idea! There are SO many topics to choose from, so I’ve decided to do something I’ve never done by claiming THREE topics: Vincent Price’s stage career, Kiss Me Kate (1953), and Gigi (one post would cover both the ’58 film and the stage version that starred Audrey Hepburn).

    Congrats on your first blogathon! Trust me, once you start hosting them, it’s very hard to stop. 🙂

    LoveLettersToOldHollywood.blogspot.com

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. When I think of Broadway, I think of musicals. And I have some aversion to musicals. Although I must admit there are a few that I enjoyed. For the most part, I tend to dislike them because of the idea of breaking out into song for exposition of the story. That never happens in real life! But then who am I to try to compare Broadway to real life anyway? “Cabaret” was one of the few musicals I ever watched were the music was mostly just a enhancement of the story and not used as exposition of the plot. So I kind of liked it. I must add that “Fiddler on the Roof” was not entirely an unacceptable entry in my view, even if it did have the plot moved by the songs.

    Of course, not all Broadway productions were musicals, and I have a plethora of choices from which to choose, but Broadway musicals were the first to come to mind. That said, I have never watched “Godspell” or “Jesus Christ, Superstar” and I think that would be a pretty good double feature to try to review. They were both released as films in 1973. I will probably include a lot of historical critique of the era, because being a history major in college (and a child growing up in the 70’s), I have an interest in the era.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Sure, that would be cool if you want to review those. Thanks for joining, Quiggy! Again, it’s weird WP thought you were a spammer–apparently it does this a lot. Derp. Oh, well. 😛

      Like

      Reply

      1. I was just worried someone else might snag my choices. When I commit to a blogathon I debate myself on the ideal choice for at least 15 minutes, sometimes longer, and when I finally do make a choice I already have a good idea how I’m going to write it. So not getting my original choices kind of puts me in a funk. Maybe I ought to create a duplicate site on WP and use both sites that way I can use the blogspot site for entries in blogathons that the host has a blogger site and use the wordpress site for entries that the host is using wordpress.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I know what you mean–this blogathon thing can be kind of a crapshoot. And yeah, it might help to have two sites. Although, I’ve had comments from WP people get stuck in my spam folder, too. It must be a weird glitch in the system.

        Like

    2. My entry in this blogathon was predicated on the fact that I thought my library had the original theatrical release of “Jesus Christ Superstar”. It turns out that the copy they have is a video of a revival of the Broadway show. It might be the same thing, but I don’t want to do it without the original cast from the theatrical version. I still will do “Godspell” (at least that version is the original one). My entry will briefly refer to the original JCS, as it is part of my focus on the history of the era of its release, but I won’t be going into detail if someone else wants to snag it. Sorry for any inconvenience.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. Hi Rebecca, I’d love to contribute to your event (and congratulations on your first time hosting!).

    Thinking of The Boyfriend (1971). I only discovered it about a year ago and I’m pretty nuts about it.

    Also considering two all-time faves: All About Eve, and 42nd Street. No way I can actually write all three, though. Anyway, just wanted to put my name and tentative choices on record. Can I get back to you by tomorrow with a final choice?

    Thanks for hosting, have a great evening!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi, Lesley! Sure, that would be great! I can put you down tentatively for The Boyfriend and you can let me know about the other ones–is that OK? Thanks for the congrats, and for joining, too! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  10. Hey Rebecca. Congratulations on hosting your first blogathon, and what a fabulous topic.

    Because you are the most prolific blogger I know, I would like to do three topics. I haven’t quite decided on my third choice yet, but for my first two, I would like to write about Ethel Barrymore’s Broadway productions, and “On The Town ” ( 1949 )

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi, Crystal, and thanks again! I’m gratified that people are excited about this.

      And rightbackatcha–that means a lot. Good choices of topics, too! I’ll put you down for those, plus a TBD. Thanks for joining, Crystal! I really appreciate this. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  11. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogathons! You certainly have picked an interesting theme.
    I’d like to write about Broadway Melody of 1940, please!
    Cheers!
    Le from Crítica Retrô

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
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      1. Hi Rebecca, Sorry for the late notice but I am unable to participate in this Blogathon after all. It looks like you had a good number of people sign up though and I look forward to reading some of the entries. Sorry again!

        Phyl

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Hi, Phyl! It’s OK–I understand. Maybe next time. More than one person has already asked me to bring this one back, so we’re going to be regulars on Broadway, it seems. 🙂

        Like

  17. Thank you so much for the very helpful list, and congrats on hosting your first blogathon! I adore the concept and I’m sure it’ll be a huge success. I’d like to write about Babes In Arms (1939) for Musings of a Classic Film Addict, please! Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi, Crystal! Yes, I’m doing very well, thanks, and same to you. And how cool–thanks for inviting me. Could I do “Barkleys of Broadway,” “Holiday Inn,” and “Swing Time,” please?

      Like

      Reply
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  27. Dear Rebecca,

    I haven’t participated in a blogathon in several months, but I would like to participate in this one. It’s a swell topic, and I want to support you on your first blogathon, since you joined my first one!

    I would like to write about “Babes on Broadway” from 1941.

    Yours Hopefully,

    Tiffany Brannan

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Dear Rebecca,

        I’m very sorry that I haven’t sent you my article yet. I have been very busy during this week, so I was unable to work on the article very much. This morning, my sister and I were interviewed on the radio; we sang and talked about PEPS and our new endeavor, the L. A. Soprani Sisters. Because of this, it was a very early morning. We have been busy the rest of the day. I’m just too tired to even try to write today. However, I still want to write the article and participate in your blogathon. I have started writing it, and I know what I’m going to say. I know that the blogathon officially ends today, but I was wondering if you would let me send in my contribution a day late. I would really appreciate it.

        I know that a lot of people say they are going to submit a little late, then they don’t submit for months. However, I promise that, if you are willing to take a late submission, I will publish my article some time tomorrow. I know I will be able to finish it.

        I’m sorry for being late, Rebecca, but I really am responsible. I hope I’ll still be able to participate! I hope your blogathon has been a big success.

        Yours Hopefully,

        Tiffany Brannan

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Hi, Tiffany! Sure, that’s fine. I’ll be doing a curtain call tomorrow, so if you want to you can submit then. There are a couple more people who are going to be doing the same thing. Don’t worry, it’s all good. And good luck on your new endeavor as well!

        Oh, and the blogathon’s been going great, thanks! It’s fun–we’re all learning a lot. I don’t know but I might announce another one soon. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

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