ON THE STAGE
Many productions of the Jazz Age have not stood the test of time either because they are simply too dated or they now seem politically offensive. Don’t forget that the 1920s and 1930s were times of egregious racial and social inequality and unthinking white privilege.
However, here are a few gems that are still performed. If one of the following is staged anywhere near you (or on Broadway), grab a ticket.
Showboat
The first modern musical and perhaps still the best!
Cabaret
Based on the 1939 Christoper Isherwood novel, Goodbye to Berlin, but not written for the musical stage until 1966, Cabaret depicts Berlin at the end of the Weimar Republic.
42nd Street
Tap dancing extravaganza. There’s something thrilling about a mob of people on stage tapping together in rhythm.
Chicago
It was a 1926 play by Chicago journalist Maurine Dallas Watkins, who covered the 1924 trials of accused murderers Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner for the Chicago Tribune. Then it was a 1927 silent movie and a 1942 talkie (Roxie Hart) with Ginger Rogers. In 1975, Kander and Ebb turned it into a Broadway musical, and in 2002 it was back in theaters as the movie version of the musical. See them all! It’s essential entertainment for Jazz babies.
Anything Goes
More tap dancing and a lot of de-lovely songs by Cole Porter
Porgy and Bess
It was performed on Broadway in the 1930s, but it’s actually an opera, and is now performed by opera companies. It was written by George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward (from his novel) and Ira Gershwin. Do not miss it!