Great Performances Looks at the Jewish Heritage of Musicals on Broadway

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Spamalot My wife got me tickets to see Spamalot last year, and I remember Sir Robin singing “In any great adventure, if you don’t want to lose…you won’t succeed on Broadway if you don’t have any Jews.” While I found the song a bit ponderous and over-long, it was pointed and dead on. At first it might seem like an anti-Semitic comment, but there is a huge difference between someone decrying ‘Jewish control’ or ‘Black dominance’ as some threat to Christian whites (see election 2012, Fox News, etc) … and recognizing the cultural contributions of ethnic, racial or religious groups. This is an amazing Great Performances feature that looks at the Jewish contribution to musical theater:

The film is the first of its kind to examine the phenomenon that, over the 50-year period of its development, the songs of the Broadway musical were created almost exclusively by Jewish Americans.

Head here to see a quick preview of the special, or to watch the entire episode either check out your local PBS station guide – or simply head here and watch the whole thing! Oh … and if you have any interest in Broadway, musical theater, or culture in general … it is really time well spent!

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!