HEY Y’ALL GOOD MORNING. We are 5 days away from New York City’s MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET kicking off the holiday season starting with The 90th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Our TOP 20 BROADWAY AT THE MACY’S PARADE continues playing you the best Musical Theatre performances from the past NBC and CBS telecasts.
At #5 on our countdown, we go all the way back to actor, writer, and rapper Lin-Manuel Miranda’s debut and breakout show (long before Hamilton: An American Musical). It was inspired by Miranda’s own life living in one of New York’s biggest neighborhoods on the upper west side. It was one of the first shows that incorporated hip hop music into Musical Theatre, This is the Tony Award winning smash hit In The Heights.
From the 2008 telecast, Miranda as the beloved bodega owner Usnavi, Tony nominees Robin De Jesus as his cousin Sonny and Olga Merediz as Abuela Claudia, future Tony nominee Christopher Jackson as Benny, Marcy Harriell (who just joined the cast a week prior) as Vanessa, and the cast start their usual morning routines in Washington Heights to Harold Square with performance of the musical’s opening title song.
IN THE HEIGHTS was first developed by Miranda in 1999 while being a Sophomore at college and continued to expand it for many years. Following a final workshop at Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Music Theatre Conference in 2005, the show had its official world premiere Off Broadway at Baryshnikov Arts Center in 2007. It earned critical acclaim before the show moving to Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in 2008 and earned more worldwide attention with this fresh new face starring in a new musical that he wrote all by himself. IN THE HEIGHTS still continues to be performed around the world by schools, community theaters, Regional Theatre, and many more. Coming up, Miranda has announced plans for a film version of the musical hoping to finally be filmed this summer 2017.
How about that performance? Plus, we also want to give a shout out to the cast having to dress up in their “summer clothes” (which the show is set in) at 30 degree weather outside.
HEY BROADWAY FANS, It’s almost here. We are 8 days away from New York’s MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET itself, The 90th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade kicking off the Holiday season. We are continuing with our TOP 20 BROADWAY AT THE MACY’S PARADE COUNTDOWN with some of your favorite toe tapping Musical Theatre performances from the past NBC and CBS telecasts.
At #8, we are taken to a struggling London shoe factory trying to make the ultimate shoe to sell. Along comes a drag queen and helps make that wish a reality. This is of course Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper’s Award winning smash hit Kinky Boots on Broadway.
From the 2013 telecast, original cast members Tony winner Billy Porter as Lola, Tony nominee Stark Sands as Charlie, future Tony winners Annaleigh Ashford as Lauren and Lena Hall as Nicola, and the original cast present their spectacular new KINKY BOOTS (joint by Price & Son, and THE LAND OF LOLA) in Harold Square for a performance of the showstopping finale RAISE YOU UP / JUST BE.
KINKY BOOTS (based on a true story and the acclaimed 2005 British film of the same name) premiered on Broadway in 2013 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre where it continues to play to packed houses every night. So far, it has played way over 1,000 performances. It also continues to be performed around the world including on Tour Across America, London’s West End (where it took home the Olivier Award for Best New Musical this year), Australia, Japan, Korea, and more.
FUN FACT: This KINKY BOOTS performance at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was met with a little controversy from viewers saying it was very inappropriate to put the show in for a family/friendly event and special (since the show includes drag queens and sexy attire). Co-writer and Broadway favorite Harvey Fierstein explained to the press about the parade performance is supposed to reflect on decreasing prejudice and increased tolerance for LGBT people in society.
