After the longest hiatus in its history, the lights and magic of Broadway are back. In a once in a lifetime collaboration, the Broadway League and key labor unions have teamed up to welcome us all back to Broadway. The voice of the one and only Oprah Winfrey guides us on a journey through some of the most memorable moments and stars of the last century in “This is Broadway.”
This archival footage has never been made available in this way before and it was a feat of research and organization to bring it all together to celebrate this live, in-person art form we have not been able to experience for over a year. As Geoffrey Rush’s character Phillip Henslowe says in Shakespeare In Love as the theatres are being shut down by the plague: “…allow me to explain about the theatre business, the natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster… strangely it all turns out well…it’s a mystery”.
This project started as an overwhelming task on an impossible schedule and ended up as a dazzling display of glimmering costumes, soaring voices, heart-wrenching emotion and stunning choreography from shows like Hamilton, The Lion King, and Wicked, and icons of the stage like Angela Lansbury, Billy Porter, Audra MacDonald, and Mandy Patinkin. All told, the two-and-a-half minute anthem features 99 shows, 735 actors and one dog (Annie’s best friend, naturally).
Heralded by the New York Times, Deadline, Good Morning America, and Playbill among others, this meticulously curated ensemble packs the punch of excitement only found in a live Broadway show. Broadway is Back!