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Health

19 musicals that are not only catchy—they could help with dementia, according to science

Back in 2013, researchers in the U.S. stumbled upon a novel new treatment for dementia patients: listening to show tunes. Seriously.

Photo by Jordhan Madec on Unsplash

A picture taken of the Broadway street sign in New York City.

Back in 2013, researchers in the U.S. stumbled upon a novel new treatment for dementia patients: listening to show tunes. Seriously.

A study of nursing home patients found that residents who sang show tunes — specifically from "Oklahoma!" "The Wizard of Oz," and "The Sound of Music" — demonstrated increased mental performance, according to a report in the New York Daily News:

"Researchers working with elderly residents at an East Coast care home found in a four-month long study ... that people who sang their favorite songs showed a marked improvement compared to those who just listened."

A similar study in Finland, cited in The Guardian, demonstrated that singing not only helped dementia patients feel better and focus, but actually improved certain types of memory as well.

Even better? There are tons of classic show tunes specifically about remembering.

Here are 23 tunes every Broadway fan needs to memorize for the day when it's not so easy to remember. It'll help to start brushing up now.

1. The one about remembering the good old days.

"Those Were the Good Old Days," "Damn Yankees"

If you're the devil in "Damn Yankees," that means the Great Depression, the Black Plague years, and when Jack the Ripper was running around. Good times!

2. The one about remembering a parade that probably never happened.

Any playlist of show tunes about memory has to include this standard from "The Music Man," in which Professor Harold Hill remembers the best day of his life, when "Gilmore, Liberati, Pat Conway, The Great Creatore, W.C. Handy, and John Phillip Sousa all came to town."

Whether or not any of it actually happened is ... up for debate, to put it mildly.

3. The one about remembering a really fun trip you took to a medium-sized Midwestern city.

"Kansas City," "Oklahoma"

"Oklahoma's" Will Parker is so psyched about his Kansas City vacation he can't help bragging about it to all the other cowboys. And why not? It's a neat city! Have you been to Joe's Kansas City Barbecue? Neither has Will Parker, since he was there in 1906, but you should totally go.

4. The one about remembering how fun it was to murder that guy that one time...

"Cell Block Tango," "Chicago"

...while glancing nervously over your shoulder to make sure Queen Latifah isn't around.

5. The one about remembering the questionable choices it's too late to go back in time and not make.

"Where Did We Go Right?" from "The Producers"

Looking back doesn't always go well for characters in musicals. It definitely doesn't for "The Producers'" Bialystock and Bloom, as they tear around their office wondering how their incompetently directed, poorly acted, aggressively pro-Hitler musical wound up becoming a massive hit despite their every attempt to make it fail.

6. The one about remembering the little things.

"I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It," "Phantom of the Opera"

Perhaps the greatest testament to how emotionally transporting "Phantom of the Opera" is: Christine, removing the phantom's mask for the first time, can just straight-up claim to remember mist— like, one mist in particular — and no one calls her on it ever.

7. The one about remembering the worst day of your life.

"The Barber and his Wife," "Sweeney Todd"

No character in musical theater is more nostalgic than Sweeney Todd, who, just moments after we meet him, croons this delightful ditty reminiscing about the time he was framed for a crime he didn't commit and banished from England so that an evil judge could rape his wife who subsequently poisoned herself.

A tune you can hum!

8. The one about remembering things differently than everyone else around you.

"Satisfied," "Hamilton"

Not sure if you've heard, but "Hamilton" is good, you guys.

After Alex and Eliza Schuyler meet and fall in love in "Helpless," Angelica Schuyler basically goes "Wicked" on her sister's song, recalling how agonizing it was watching her sister and the man who she herself is super into get together. But she sucks it up and buries it! Older siblings are the best.

9. The one about remembering that cute girl you just met like five seconds ago.

"Maria," "West Side Story"

A classic from "West Side Story." Sure, it's about remembering a meet-cute that literally just happened — Tony and Maria's orchestral-swell-assisted gaze across a crowded gym — but Tony is super jazzed about it, so it makes the list.

Gosh, I sure hope those crazy kids work out!

10. The one about remembering all the worst things from when you were a kid, and one kind-of-OK thing.

"At the Ballet," "A Chorus Line"

The ballet isn't that great, but it's better than devastating childhood trauma. Score one for the ballet! Thanks, "A Chorus Line!"

11. The one about remembering old hobbies.

"Dentist!" from "Little Shop of Horrors"

"Little Shop of Horrors'" Orin Scrivello, DDS, is just misunderstood. I mean, who among us didn't "shoot puppies," "poison guppies," or "take a pussycat and bash in its head" now and again as a kid? The '50s were a simpler time!

12. The one about remembering watching a dude die on the battlefield and feeling feelings about it.

"Momma Look Sharp," "1776"

47 years before "Hamilton" brought us the swaggery, ass-kicking side of the Revolutionary War, "1776" tore our guts out with this song, in which a courier to the Continental Congress recalls watching a mother comfort a young soldier as he dies at the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Hercules Mulligan does the guest rap. (Just kidding. There is no guest rap. It's just gorgeously somber for a while and then over.)

13. The one about remembering the best four years of your life.

"I Wish I Could Go Back to College," "Avenue Q"

Of course the sad-sack puppet man- and woman-children of "Avenue Q" want to go back to college! Who among us doesn't long for the days of term papers, humiliating romantic encounters, and crushing, debilitating debt? And meal-plan ice cream, too!

14. The one about remembering some A-plus advice from your best friend.

"Cabaret," "Cabaret"

Ladies and gentlemen, Sally Bowles from "Cabaret" is no fool! No matter how many lovers leave, or how much her career nosedives, or how nutty local politics get, she always remembers this important life lesson she learned from her good friend Elsie.

If only you had such a great, wise friend, maybe your outlook would be as good as Sally's. You could be so lucky!

15. The one about remembering last Christmas.

"Halloween," "Rent"

When it comes to the science of memory and cognition, "Rent" asks the big questions:

"Why are entire years strewn on the cutting room floor of memories? When single frames from one magic night forever flicker in close-up on the 3-D Imax of my mind?"

Poetic? Pathetic? We report, you decide.

16. The one about remembering everything and realizing how terrible it all was.

"Rose's Turn," "Gypsy"

Ah, yes. "Rose's Turn." The 11 o'clock number to end all 11 o'clock numbers in "Gypsy," the most musical of all musicals. Truly, there aren't many things more enjoyable than listening to Mama Rose replay the events of the last decade and change inside her own brain in a slow-motion nervous breakdown as the notion that her entire life has been completely worthless gradually dawns on her with ever-increasing dread.

Did I mention how fun musicals are?

Trivia time! You know that thing in music where trumpets go, "Ya da da da daaaa DA. Da DA da DA!" You know that thing? This is the song that thing comes from.

17. The one about remembering the first time you knew what you wanted to be when you grew up.

"Ring of Keys," "Fun Home"

There's nothing better than a song that makes you want to shout: "I am so glad I'm watching a musical instead of a basketball game right now." This moment in "Fun Home," where Alison recalls seeing a delivery woman — the first person who looked like the woman she felt like — is really, really one of them.

"This is a song of identification that is a turning moment, when you think you’re an alien and you hear someone else say, 'Oh, me too,'" composer Jeanine Tesori told Variety. "It’s a gamechanger for Alison. And that’s just Musical Theater 101."

...And the entire audience bursts into happy tears forever.

18. The one about remembering a nice dream you dreamed.

"I Dreamed a Dream," "Les Misérables"

When your life isn't going so great, it's good to remember the positive! Things didn't exactly go super well for Fantine in "Les Mis." But, hey, she had a pretty good dream once!

19. The one about remembering your single greatest regret and vowing to never remember it again.

"Turn It Off," "The Book of Mormon"

What's the ticket to living as fun-loving and guilelessly as the Mormon elders in "The Book of Mormon?" Don't just bury those traumatic, scary, impure memories — CRUSH THEM, OK?!

20. The one about remembering a really successful first date.

"Sarah Brown Eyes," "Ragtime"

Ah, young love. Even in "Ragtime," a musical that features racism, state violence, attempted child murder, and terrorism, at least we have this song, in which Coalhouse Walker Jr. recalls how he got his beloved Sarah to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with him with his peerless piano skills? So romantic.

Gosh, I sure hope those crazy kids work out!

21. The one about remembering a scary dream.

"Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," "Guys and Dolls"

With, perhaps, only a smidge more credibility than grifter-from-another-mother Professor Harold Hill, "Guys and Dolls'" third-most-degenerate gambler Nicely-Nicely Johnson recalls a terrifying dream where he had to convince a group of skeptical evangelical crusaders that he's decided to give up the dice once and for all.

Side note: People in musicals are unbelievably good at remembering dreams. This is, like, full detail. I'd be like, "Um, I was at the Statue of Liberty, and you were there? I think? It wasn't really you, it was like a combination of you and my dad. And we were in prison. But at the Statue of Liberty."

22. The one about remembering how it used to be when you were young and full of hope instead of old and bitter and jaded.

"Our Time," "Merrily We Roll Along"

The closing number of "Merrily We Roll Along" is actually the first chronologically, since the musical goes backward. It's the play's happiest moment — Frank, Charley, and Mary on a roof watching Sputnik go by, giddily talking about how thrilling, perfect, and successful their futures are going to be. It's so hopeful! But so sad, 'cause you already know all the achingly bittersweet stuff that's going to happen.

Ach! So poignant! I'm dead from poignant.

23. The one about remembering.

"Memory," "Cats"

"Cats." The OG.

All right team, what did I miss?

This article originally appeared on 02.26.16

From Your Site Articles

Identity

The Tony Awards touted diversity, but here's how the ceremony can do even better going forward

They've come a long way, but there's much more that needs to change.

Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash

Radio City Music Hall is the home of the Tony Awards.

The 2022 Tony Awards was billed as one of the most diverse Tony Awards in history. And that’s not totally untrue. The show saw its first nonbinary winner, “Six: The Musical” writer Toby Marlow. Additionally, there were seven plays written by Black playwrights during this Broadway season, a fact that host Ariana DeBose pointed out in her opening number/monologue. She quipped that it was nice to see that “‘The Great White Way’ is becoming more of a nickname as opposed to a how-to guide.”

And this year was absolutely a benchmark year when it comes to Black representation at the Tonys. As someone who is an avid theater fan (the Tonys are to me what the Oscars are to film people), I love watching the beauty and spectacle of the show. But as a Black woman, I am always aware of the conversations around diversity. They’re incredibly important conversations to be having, and while the Tonys used much of DeBose’s opening monologue to proclaim how diverse Broadway currently is, most of the winners didn’t reflect the sudden push for diversity, more specifically, Black creators and performers.

In the categories of Best Play, Best Director of a Play and Best Featured Actress in a Musical, there were multiple Black nominees, including Black women, but all of the winners were white. Not only white, but white people who have already won before and are critically acclaimed. For most of the show, it would be Black nominee multiple times over a category, only to have a white winner. Watching the show unfold became increasingly more frustrating.

After the national protests and conversations about race in 2020, a group of theater performers and other creatives, including Viola Davis, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sandra Oh, wrote an open letter, “Dear White American Theater.”

“We see you. We have always seen you. We have watched you pretend not to see us,” the letter reads.

“We have watched you program play after play, written, directed, cast, choreographed, designed, acted, dramaturged, and produced by your rosters of white theatermakers for white audiences, while relegating a token, if any, slot for a BIPOC play. We see you.”

““A Strange Loop”(@StrangeLoopBway) by Michael R. Jackson (@TheLivingMJ) bills itself as a “Big, Black & Queer-Ass American Musical.” Days before he and the show each won Tony Awards, Jackson talked to me about the spectacular show he spent 18 years writing https://t.co/vkf5S0MSSt”

\u201c\u201cA Strange Loop\u201d(@StrangeLoopBway) by Michael R. Jackson (@TheLivingMJ) bills itself as a \u201cBig, Black & Queer-Ass American Musical.\u201d Days before he and the show each won Tony Awards, Jackson talked to me about the spectacular show he spent 18 years writing https://t.co/vkf5S0MSSt\u201d
— Jonathan Capehart (@Jonathan Capehart) 1655236835

One of the biggest issues with diversity on Broadway, at the Tonys or otherwise, is that the people in positions of power are still largely white. Take, for example, the new Broadway musical “A Strange Loop.” It has garnered a lot of buzz since it opened, and it picked up Tonys for Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical. When the show won Best Musical, the award was accepted by its white female producer (Barbara Whitman) along with its Black writer (Michael R. Jackson), despite its performance being presented by Black producers RuPaul Charles and Jennifer Hudson earlier in the broadcast. (Fun fact: Being a producer of the musical scored Hudson an EGOT, making her the second Black woman, and youngest winner overall.)

Clearly, Black producers exist, but they are not the lead producers, and as we know, the lead producers are the ones who become the face of the show in certain aspects. I’m not saying that white producers shouldn’t exist, but to create a more diverse playing field, they should be partnering with BIPOC producers, especially when the show is about a marginalized group. It may not seem like a big deal, but optics really do make it a big deal. It would have been way more impactful to the conversation to see all those Black faces on stage and have a Black person making the speech.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the Tony’s, steering committee members of the Asian American Performers Action Coalition Christine Toy Johnson and Pun Bandhu talked about diversity on Broadway—the strides that have been made and areas that still fall short. The Asian American Performers Action Coalition is a group of AAPI theater folks who for the last 10 years have worked to increase opportunities for mainly Asian and Asian American creatives, but also to helping BIPOC communities as well.

Bandhu pointed out that over the years, there’s this swinging pendulum when it comes to representation. He refers to it as a “scarcity model,” where only one marginalized group can be having success at any given time. For example, after Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway hit “In the Heights” opened and won Tonys in 2009, there was a boost in interest surrounding Latino representation. After a show like “The Color Purple,” a boost in telling Black stories. He also added that the amount of diversity on Broadway never “went above 20 percent for marginalized and underrepresented groups from year to year over the course of 10 years.”

“"A Strange Loop is a story that centers the queer Black experience in the Broadway space which very well hits a chord when it comes to the creative process and navigating the world while being queer -- specifically Black and queer." @DinoRay https://t.co/IYqVu0bzwm”

\u201c"A Strange Loop is a story that centers the queer Black experience in the Broadway space which very well hits a chord when it comes to the creative process and navigating the world while being queer -- specifically Black and queer." @DinoRay \nhttps://t.co/IYqVu0bzwm\u201d
— GLAAD (@GLAAD) 1655213902

“Thinking that there’s only so much ground that can be given to marginalized groups … leads to this oppression Olympics, a system by which the power structure benefits from having all the marginalized groups competing against each other. What our statistics help to prove is that it’s a larger problem that has to do with centering white narratives and artists at the expense of all else,” Bandhu explained.

While this year was a record year for Black representation on Broadway, that meant that other marginalized racial groups got little to no recognition at all. There were only two Asian nominees this year, for lighting design. And while wins for either of them would have been historic, where is the visible Asian representation?

“I think that there’s been this ongoing myth about [AAPI talent] not existing, which is why we’re not represented,” Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter.

In a 2016 Forbes article, writer Lee Seymour stated that only 12 people of Asian descent have won a Tony—three producers have won more than once. David Henry Hwang was the first—and only—Asian American to win best play, back in 1988.

This is the perfect example of the “scarcity model,” and it feels ridiculous that it’s still a thing in 2022. But again, that leads to my earlier point of having marginalized producers. They will be more diligent about seeking out marginalized creators, actors and others. You have to have equity at the top to have equity at the bottom.

From Your Site Articles

broadway

Democracy

Hamilton's missing 'Cabinet Battle #3' addresses the slavery issue the show glossed over

Devon Pasternak/YouTube

"The issue on the table..."

Two of Hamilton's most beloved numbers are the Cabinet Battles between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. In Cabinet Battle #1, the issue on the table was Hamilton's national financial plan. In Cabinet Battle #2, the issue was whether to provide France assistance in their revolutionary war.

But there was a third rap battle written for the show, which was cut due to time and because it didn't actually move the plot along. The issue on the table for Cabinet Battle #3? Slavery.

One of the few criticisms of the Hamilton musical is that it goes light on the issue of slavery—criticism that creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and others in the original cast say they welcome and hope people talk about more.

Squeezing a founding father's life and a huge chapter in American history into a 2.5 hour stage production with adequate character development, plot movement, musical flow, etc. is a herculean task, and Miranda has said he wrestled mightily with what to keep and what to cut. Slavery is obviously a huge issue, but since none of the founding fathers in the show actually did anything to end it, the light treatment makes sense from a plotline perspective.

From a historical perspective, however, the omission is glaring. Much can be said about how the men who founded the United States thought about and engaged with the institution of slavery—and how their beliefs and actions were often at odds with one another.

Jefferson called the slave trade an "assemblage of horrors," and slavery itself a "moral depravity" and a "hideous blot," yet he kept more than 600 men, women, and children enslaved in his lifetime and fathered six children with one of them.

Washington became increasingly anti-slavery in his later years and was the only slaveholding founding father to free his slaves—but he only did so in his will. (He also had false teeth that may have been made up of the teeth of enslaved people.)

Madison argued that slavery was incompatible with the values of the Revolution, but he himself enslaved people his entire life, even selling people for a profit.

Hamilton himself, though publicly against slavery, did nothing of consequence to change it.

All of these hypocrisies and contradictions are highlighted as these men debate the issue in Cabinet Battle #3. It's too bad it didn't make it into the final cut of the show, but it can be found on the Hamilton Mix Tape album. And someone made a nice animatic video for it, making it a bit clearer who is speaking (since the recording has Miranda rapping all the parts):

Cabinet Battle #3 (Animatic)www.youtube.com

And there you have it. "Let's hope the next generation thinks of something better."

As much as many of us would love to see the slavery problem tackled more directly in Hamilton, the truth is that at that time and in that place and with those men, slavery wasn't going anywhere. It was wrong and they knew it, but they benefited from it. It was a sin and they knew it, but like Hamilton with Mariah Reynolds, they didn't say no to it. Instead, they chose to pass the ticking time bomb to their descendents.

Miranda explained Hamilton's slavery complicity in an NPR interview last week. "Hamilton—although he voiced anti-slavery beliefs—remained complicit in the system. And other than calling out Jefferson on his hypocrisy with regards to slavery in Act 2, doesn't really say much else over the course of Act 2. And I think that's actually pretty honest. ... He didn't really do much about it after that."

"None of them did. None of them did enough," Miranda added. "And we say that, too, in the final moments of the song. So that hits differently now because we're having a conversation, we're having a real reckoning of how do you uproot an original sin."

Here's another video of the song with the lyrics and names to make it easier to follow:

The Hamilton Mixtape - Cabinet Battle 3 (Demo) Music Lyricswww.youtube.com

From Your Site Articles

The wonderful reason this woman is selling bags made from retired theater backdrops.

Turns out plays can create more than one type of art.

What happens to those massive gorgeous painted theater backdrops when a show ends?

Jen Kahn who has been a stage manager on and off Broadway for years, never gave a second thought to what happened to the stage scenery when a show ended until a road trip in 2015. She and her friend wandered into a store selling bags made from old sails from sailboats when inspiration struck.

They could do the same thing with discarded theater backdrops.

Just like that Scenery Bags was born.

The gorgeous backdrop from this production is one of the backdrops Scenery Bags used. All photos via Jen Kahn unless otherwise noted.

Kahn collects discarded backdrops from theaters and set rental companies who would've thrown them away.

Jen Kahn in her car laden with backdrops.

The massive backdrops are then cut up and stitched into simple, super cute, rectangular clutches.

Bags are made at a factory in Florida.

Depending on which part of the backdrop they're cut from, the bags come in entirely unique patterns and colors.

[rebelmouse-image 19522143 dam="1" original_size="3000x1500" caption=""Desert Song" drop (left), "Desert Song" bags." expand=1]"Desert Song" drop (left), "Desert Song" bags.

Each bag also comes with a label inside identifying which show it came from.

Scenery Bags!

There's a label inside each bag.

Kahn didn't just want to repurpose backdrops, though. She wanted to help make theater more accessible to everyone.

A portion of proceeds from the bags goes to the Theater Development Fund's Stage Door program, which takes middle school and high school kids to see Broadway shows.

[rebelmouse-image 19522146 dam="1" original_size="601x600" caption="Photo via TDF." expand=1]Photo via TDF.

Scenery Bags went live on July 5, 2017, and sold out in just 48 hours, making enough money to send 10 kids through Stage Door to see shows.

Kahn credits much of the company's early success to the support she's received from the theater community.

“We have been given such an amazing opportunity to create less waste, keep a part of theatre history forever, and introduce a new generation of story tellers to theatre,” Kahn writes in an email.

They also had help from one particularly notable theater fan: "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's" Rachel Bloom.

These @scenerybags are made from retired theatre backdrops and a portion of the profits go to taking kids to see theatre!
A post shared by Rachel Bloom (@racheldoesstuff) on Jul 10, 2017 at 12:48pm PDT

Bloom found out about Scenery Bags through actress Krysta Rodriguez on Instagram. Rodriguez and Kahn became friends when they both worked on the Deaf West Revival of "Spring Awakening." Rodriguez was a supporter of Kahn's bags from the beginning and was one of the first people to get one.

When Bloom saw Rodriguez post about them, she immediately reached out to reserve her own, and when she received it, posted an unprompted photo on Instagram. Within 24 hours, Scenery Bags' followers jumped up by 1,400.

The next batch of bags are coming soon, from well-known musicals like "Hairspray," and "Oklahoma!" and from the looks of these backdrops, they'll be super cool.

[rebelmouse-image 19522147 dam="1" original_size="2468x2000" caption=""Hairspray" (top left and right), "Oklahoma!" (bottom left), and "Oz" (bottom right)." expand=1]"Hairspray" (top left and right), "Oklahoma!" (bottom left), and "Oz" (bottom right).

“We may be giving [kids] an introduction to theatre, but I strongly believe they will be giving us back so much more,” Kahn writes.

Arts programs in America are endangered. These bags aren't just cute; they're a reminder of theater's significance and will help ensure kids still have opportunities to see live shows.

If arts programs are cut from schools, a generation of kids won't be encouraged to express themselves creatively, and the art world will suffer as a result. Kahn's contribution is just one theater-lover's attempt to turn that around.

7 reasons why 'Hairspray' is more revolutionary than it seems.

It's basically impossible not to love "Hairspray." Just try not loving it, and you will see you can't.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images.

Indeed, the musical, which follows Baltimore teenager Tracy Turnblad's quest to integrate "The Corny Collins Show" in an era when TV was still segregated and to win the heart of the hunky Link Larkin over the objections of the evil Von Tussle mother-daughter squad, features an appealing, diverse cast, delightfully throwback choreo, and a closing number so soul-soaringly iconic that it's been duplicated and parodied ad infinitum.

But the show's biggest, most hidden asset? Beneath its bubblegum exterior, "Hairspray" has always been sneakily revolutionary — which makes it incredibly relevant in 2016.

It speaks to the challenges we face in uncertain times and how to meet those challenges head-on.

Here's a highly incomplete list of what makes "Hairspray" so special — and timely.

1. "Hairspray" features an unapologetically fat female main character who feels great about herself.

Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images.

Some iconic Broadway characters, like "Gypsy's" Rose, have been played by larger actresses. But Tracy Turnblad is not only defined by her size in a way no musical theater protagonist had been before — she's a hero because of it.

Just as critically, Tracy's weight isn't portrayed as an impediment to getting the guy, who is smitten with her from moment one, or to being treated with love and kindness by those close to her. Her weight is only seen as an obstacle when it comes to being accepted as equal by society at large.

In a way, Tracy's journey to star on "The Corny Collins Show" — small and personal as it may seem — reflects the broader movement toward fat equality that's gained significant steam in recent years, with a new generation of activists speaking up against body-shaming and for greater access to public spaces while encouraging brands to reflect the lives of people of all sizes.

Despite being fictional and belting higher than the Vienna Boys' Choir, Tracy is indisputably a trailblazer for fat girls everywhere.

2. After accepting their Tony Award, "Hairspray" songwriters — and romantic partners — Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman kissed on live television, which was a big deal in 2003.

Photo by Richard Drew/AP.

At a time when not a single U.S. state had legalized same-sex marriage and sodomy laws were still on the books in many states, Shaiman and Wittman accepted their award for Best Original Score openly and defiantly as a couple, stunning many and elating others in the live and television audiences.

"I love this man. We're not allowed to get married in this world," Shaiman said in his speech. "But I'd like to declare, in front of all these people, I love you and I'd like to live with you the rest of my life."

Just a few weeks later, the Supreme Court declared sodomy laws unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas. In an interview with Newsweek following the decision, Shaiman quipped, "We're going to Canada to get married, then Texas for the honeymoon."

3. Harvey Fierstein, who played Edna in the original Broadway production and in 2016's "Hairspray: Live," is a badass fighter for goodness and justice...

Photo Steve Spatafore/Getty Images.

Fierstein doesn't consider himself an activist, but that hasn't stopped him from using his art to advance LGBT rights throughout his long career.

His "Torch Song Trilogy" is widely acclaimed for featuring one of the first three-dimensional gay characters on Broadway, and his follow-up "La Cage aux Folles" is a complex, honest portrayal of a same-sex relationship — which was groundbreaking in 1983, particularly in the thick of the AIDS crisis.

In more recent years, he's been active off the stage, speaking up for marriage equality and against anti-gay hate crimes and Russia's anti-LGBT crackdown.

4. ...as was Divine, who played Edna in the original John Waters "Hairspray" film.

Photo by Mary Evans/Ronald Grant Archive.

Like Fierstein, the iconic drag performer used his performance as a 1960s suburban housewife to shatter norms around what was acceptable on screen.

His decision to appear in "Hairspray" made him — already a punk and LGBT legend — a mainstream figure and challenged audiences to think differently about their world and who deserved to be included in it.

5. "I Know Where I've Been," one of the show's most powerful and important numbers, was almost cut by producers — but it was saved by the songwriters.

Photo by Colleen Hayes/NBC.

According to songwriters Shaiman and Wittman, some members of the show's initial creative team wanted to cut "I Know Where I've Been," but the pair fought hard to keep it — for an important reason.

As Shaiman explained in an early interview, many on the team initially wanted to nix the song — sung by musician and civil rights activist Motormouth Maybelle — arguing that Tracy should get to perform the show's 11 o'clock number. Shaiman and Wittman insisted, however, that the musical's climactic moment must center on the black characters, whose struggle to integrate local TV is the true heart of the story.

"We weren't going to make this into a minstrel show," Shaiman told New York magazine during an out-of-town tryout. "The cast found something very important about that song."

The song was saved and reliably brought the house down long into the show's run.

6. "Hairspray" features a really sweet interracial teen romance that includes actual hooking up.

Photo via Everett Collection/New Line Cinema.

The chemistry between Seaweed and Penny is undeniable, and like most teens with chemistry, they don't remain chaste for a moment longer than they have to.

In "Without Love," he sneaks into her bedroom, and they — it's implied — get busy. The moment is entirely earned, and, even in an era when the representation of interracial couples on TV is increasing, quietly radical.

7. It's the musical we need right now.

Photo via Everett Collection/New Line Cinema.

Lots of current and former Broadway musicals have messages that resonate in the current moment, from "Avenue Q" (hey, bad stuff is only temporary!) to "Hamilton" (immigrants built America too!) to "Wicked" (fight fascism!) to "Rent" (fight AIDS!). But more than any of them, "Hairspray" shows us the way forward through the darkness.

Tracy wants to build a juster, fairer world, and rather than sit back and hope that the slow, inevitable march of progress eventually hands it to her, she gets up and does something about it. She doesn't go it alone, either; she makes common cause with others who are fighting and builds a coalition.

Progress toward a more equal world is great! But it doesn't just inevitably happen. It gets messy. And people fight back. It's up to its proponents to pull together — across colors, classes, and issues — to keep pushing.

Ultimately, as the song says, you can't stop the beat. But like Tracy Turnblad, you have to start playing your own.

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In the face of hate, love must prevail.

The June 12, 2016, shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub came as a shock to the world — a senseless act of hate. The response to the tragedy, however, has been heartening. Within days, more than $4 million was raised for victims and their families on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe. Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays honored the city during their annual Pride Night game. Across the country, and across the world, people have responded to the tragedy with love and empathy for the LGBTQ community.

Just three days after the shooting, some of Broadway's biggest talents came together to offer a message so simple and yet so perfect: Love must prevail.

Broadway stars Idina Menzel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Audra McDonald, Sara Bareilles, Kristen Bell, Sean Hayes, Gloria Estefan, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Billy Porter, and Bernadette Peters were among the dozens of singers who gathered on June 15, at New York's Avatar Studios to record a version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's classic song, "What the World Needs Now Is Love."

Proceeds from MP3 sales will benefit the GLBT Center of Central Florida.

As of June 19, (prior to the song's release) the Center has collected nearly $425,000 in victim relief donations, which are being used to support the needs of victims' families, like air travel, child care, funeral services, health care costs, and counseling, among other services.

When you watch the performance, you can’t help but feel a little choked up. It’s inspiring to see that in response to one person's darkest, most violent actions, humanity can still come together in an effort to win with the power of love.

Even more, the song is an inspiring reminder to take action and prevent the next tragedy from happening.

Whether the action it inspires is downloading the song, supporting local GBLT centers, calling members of Congress to discuss gun safety measures and anti-LGBT discrimination, or something less tangible like inspiring respect for people who are different or making sure to share kindness in the face of pain, it is an emotional reminder that love must prevail — not just in the wake of tragedies, but always.

Watch Broadway for Orlando perform "What the World Needs Now Is Love" below.

Broadway for Orlando's "What the World Needs Now Is Love" can be purchased at the Broadway Records website.

Here's why 'Hamilton' star Leslie Odom isn't getting offered new roles.

Aaron Burr, himself, has hope for the future of theater.

Unless you've been living under an actual, literal rock this past year, you've probably heard of the hit Broadway show "Hamilton."

Actor and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda performs a number from "Hamilton" during the 2016 Grammys. Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images.

The show, centered on the life of U.S. founding father Alexander Hamilton, won both a Grammy and a Pulitzer and racked up a record 16 Tony nominations. In short, it's a pretty big deal and the hottest ticket on all of Broadway.

Aside from being just absolutely fantastic, the show's gotten some major attention and praise for the majorly diverse cast.

Yes, the show is set in the 18th century. No, that wasn't a barrier. In fact, it was a refreshing reimagining of the life and times of the founding fathers.

Leslie Odom, Jr., who plays Aaron Burr in the production, recently talked about diversity during a Hollywood Reporter roundtable discussion.

One of the first things brought up was the idea that because of the success of shows like "Hamilton," some of the racial barriers to Broadway have been torn down. Odom, however, isn't so sure.

GIFs via Hollywood Reporter/YouTube.

And he's got a great point. In 2014-2015, about 80% of roles on Broadway went to white actors, making them disproportionately overrepresented when compared to the general population.

Why doesn't "Hamilton" change everything? Because outside of it, there just aren't a whole lot of roles for people of color on Broadway.

Odom has had just about as wonderful a season as is humanly possible, and yet people aren't exactly knocking his door down to lock him into his next role. Were he a white actor, he explains, he could come to expect a few offers per week.

Sadly, there just aren't many roles written for people of color, making it not so much an issue of racial bias in casting, but one of overall underrepresentation across the board.

Odom isn't giving up hope, however. He believes "Hamilton" will inspire a more diverse slate of writers to put together a more varied set of roles in years to come.

Maybe somewhere there's a kid jotting down the first notes of what will one day become the next "Hamilton," and there's no telling what the story will be. If anything, "Hamilton," a musical written by and starring a man of Puerto Rican descent surrounded by an anachronistically diverse cast, proves that these sorts of reimaginings are not just possible, but also profitable.

As mentioned during the roundtable, people have a tendency to write what they know.

When it's not just actors, but the writers, directors, and producers of shows who share a relatively homogenous upbringing, that only serves to reinforce the status quo.

Hopefully, "Hamilton" will open up the eyes of decision makers, influencing them to take a chance on more diverse ideas and artists.

That's how you guarantee a healthy, diverse future. That's how you change the status quo. That's how you find "Hamilton"-like success both inside and out of the theater.

You can watch the roundtable discussion featuring Leslie Odom, Jr., below:

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musicals

Back in 2013, researchers in the U.S. stumbled upon a novel new treatment for dementia patients: listening to show tunes. Seriously.

1. The one about remembering the good old days.

2. The one about remembering a parade that probably never happened.

3. The one about remembering a really fun trip you took to a medium-sized Midwestern city.

4. The one about remembering how fun it was to murder that guy that one time...

5. The one about remembering the questionable choices it's too late to go back in time and not make.

6. The one about remembering the little things.

7. The one about remembering the worst day of your life.

8. The one about remembering things differently than everyone else around you.

9. The one about remembering that cute girl you just met like five seconds ago.

10. The one about remembering all the worst things from when you were a kid, and one kind-of-OK thing.

11. The one about remembering old hobbies.

12. The one about remembering watching a dude die on the battlefield and feeling feelings about it.

13. The one about remembering the best four years of your life.

14. The one about remembering some A-plus advice from your best friend.

15. The one about remembering last Christmas.

16. The one about remembering everything and realizing how terrible it all was.

17. The one about remembering the first time you knew what you wanted to be when you grew up.

18. The one about remembering a nice dream you dreamed.

19. The one about remembering your single greatest regret and vowing to never remember it again.

20. The one about remembering a really successful first date.

21. The one about remembering a scary dream.

22. The one about remembering how it used to be when you were young and full of hope instead of old and bitter and jaded.

23. The one about remembering.

They've come a long way, but there's much more that needs to change.

““A Strange Loop”(@StrangeLoopBway) by Michael R. Jackson (@TheLivingMJ) bills itself as a “Big, Black &amp; Queer-Ass American Musical.” Days before he and the show each won Tony Awards, Jackson talked to me about the spectacular show he spent 18 years writing https://t.co/vkf5S0MSSt”

“"A Strange Loop is a story that centers the queer Black experience in the Broadway space which very well hits a chord when it comes to the creative process and navigating the world while being queer -- specifically Black and queer." @DinoRay https://t.co/IYqVu0bzwm”

Turns out plays can create more than one type of art.

What happens to those massive gorgeous painted theater backdrops when a show ends?

Just like that Scenery Bags was born.

Kahn collects discarded backdrops from theaters and set rental companies who would've thrown them away.

The massive backdrops are then cut up and stitched into simple, super cute, rectangular clutches.

Depending on which part of the backdrop they're cut from, the bags come in entirely unique patterns and colors.

Kahn didn't just want to repurpose backdrops, though. She wanted to help make theater more accessible to everyone.

Kahn credits much of the company's early success to the support she's received from the theater community.

The next batch of bags are coming soon, from well-known musicals like "Hairspray," and "Oklahoma!" and from the looks of these backdrops, they'll be super cool.

“We may be giving [kids] an introduction to theatre, but I strongly believe they will be giving us back so much more,” Kahn writes.

It's basically impossible not to love "Hairspray." Just try not loving it, and you will see you can't.

1. "Hairspray" features an unapologetically fat female main character who feels great about herself.

2. After accepting their Tony Award, "Hairspray" songwriters — and romantic partners — Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman kissed on live television, which was a big deal in 2003.

3. Harvey Fierstein, who played Edna in the original Broadway production and in 2016's "Hairspray: Live," is a badass fighter for goodness and justice...

4. ...as was Divine, who played Edna in the original John Waters "Hairspray" film.

5. "I Know Where I've Been," one of the show's most powerful and important numbers, was almost cut by producers — but it was saved by the songwriters.

6. "Hairspray" features a really sweet interracial teen romance that includes actual hooking up.

7. It's the musical we need right now.

In the face of hate, love must prevail.

Just three days after the shooting, some of Broadway's biggest talents came together to offer a message so simple and yet so perfect: Love must prevail.

Watch Broadway for Orlando perform "What the World Needs Now Is Love" below.

Aaron Burr, himself, has hope for the future of theater.

Unless you've been living under an actual, literal rock this past year, you've probably heard of the hit Broadway show "Hamilton."

Aside from being just absolutely fantastic, the show's gotten some major attention and praise for the majorly diverse cast.

Leslie Odom, Jr., who plays Aaron Burr in the production, recently talked about diversity during a Hollywood Reporter roundtable discussion.

Why doesn't "Hamilton" change everything? Because outside of it, there just aren't a whole lot of roles for people of color on Broadway.

Odom isn't giving up hope, however. He believes "Hamilton" will inspire a more diverse slate of writers to put together a more varied set of roles in years to come.

You can watch the roundtable discussion featuring Leslie Odom, Jr., below:

““A Strange Loop”(@StrangeLoopBway) by Michael R. Jackson (@TheLivingMJ) bills itself as a “Big, Black & Queer-Ass American Musical.” Days before he and the show each won Tony Awards, Jackson talked to me about the spectacular show he spent 18 years writing https://t.co/vkf5S0MSSt”