Unfortunately, this is always the case. Because of our television culture, theatre has suffered. If it weren’t for the great Hollywood Musical, most Americans would have no idea about a true American art form, musical theatre.

Most people only know the plays from their high school days. Look at the popularity of the High School Musical series of films.

I performed in three musicals in high school, Oliver, The Music Man and the Sound of Music. They are by Lionel Bart, Meredith Wilson and Rogers and Hammerstein. From this I learned about the works of Frank Loesser, Lerner and Loew, Sondheim, Jerry Herman, etc.

I am not particularly fond of the Machintosh/Lloyd Weber works. They are operettas to me, not Broadway Musicals.

“On a clear day,rise and look around you and you’ll see who you are. On a clear day how it will astound you that the glow of your being outshines every star. You’ll feel part of every mountain, sea and shore. You can hear from far and near a world you never heard before. And on a clear day, on that clear day, you can see forever and ever and ever more.”

from “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” starring John Cullum, Barbara Harris and William Daniels (November 1965/280 performances)

The quote ‘I cry when I read Yeats’, I’m not sure. Is it from ‘My Fair Lady’?