If you’re looking for some good at-home entertainment that also keeps you connected to your Rochester community, here’s a roundup of “Rochester recommendations” for movies, television series, musicals-turned-movies, and movies-turned-musicals, all made with Rochester alumni as actors, producers, writers, or composers.
Most are available for streaming or rent on services such as YouTube, iTunes, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and more. To see where programs are available, check out websites like Imdb.com or Reelgood.com. And for those who want more of a Broadway experience, there’s BroadayHD.com.
Musical movie night, Broadway style
While Broadway performances have been suspended for the time being, there are still ways to enjoy the notable roles that Rochester people have played in some of Broadway’s iconic productions—either the original or major revivals. Many have film counterparts that can be streamed or rented through online services.
Our thanks to Stephen Carr, associate professor of opera and musical theater studies at Eastman and the associate artistic director of Eastman Opera Theatre, who highlighted a few recommendations for those looking for a musical movie night, Rochester style.
Bye Bye Birdie
This week marks the 60th anniversary of the Broadway debut of Bye Bye Birdie, a musical whose story follows the PR machinations that take place after teen heartthrob Conrad Birdie is drafted into military service. With music by Tony Award-winning composer Charles Strouse ’47E, the musical launched Strouse’s decades-long career on Broadway and beyond.
After its Tony Award-winning turn on Broadway, the musical was adapted into a 1963 film starring Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, and Ann Margaret.
Annie
Also with music by Strouse, the Broadway production brought to life the comics character Little Orphan Annie and made earworms out of the songs “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life.” The 1982 movie adaptation stars Carol Burnett and Albert Finney.
Pajama Game
With a book by Broadway legend George Abbott, Class of 1911, the 1954 Broadway production won a Tony Award for best musical and the 2006 revival won a Tony for best revival. There’s trouble in a pajama factory when workers ask for a 7-and-a-half-cent raise. The 1957 movie, also produced by Abbott, stars Doris Day.
Damn Yankees
Also written by Abbott, the 1955 musical is a twist on the Faust legend of making a deal with you-know-who in order to make a wish come true. In this case, the wish is for the Washington Senators to beat the New York Yankees for the league pennant. The 1958 film version was directed by Abbott.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Directed by Abbott, the 1962 Broadway production—with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim—won several Tony Awards, including best direction for Abbott. The 1966 film features Buster Keaton in his last movie appearance.
Fiddler on the Roof
The 2015 revival of the 1964 Broadway production featured Kelly Tompkins-Hall ’93E as a violin soloist. Matt Moisey ’14E was a cast member. The original Broadway show won nine Tony Awards, and the 1971 film version earned three Academy Awards.
The King and I
Opening on Broadway in 1951, the Rogers and Hammerstein musical won Tony Awards for Gertrude Lawrence as Anna, a British schoolteacher in the court of King Mangkut, and for Yul Brynner as the king. Brynner reprised the role in the 1956 film. In the 2015 Broadway revival, Analisa Leaming ’07E took the role of Anna.
From screen to stage: More Broadway connections
In addition to musicals-turned-movies that found fame first on Broadway, several recent Broadway productions began life as theatrical films and TV shows. And Rochester alumni were there to help make them happen.
The Producers
The musical about two theatrical schemers began as a 1967 film, written and directed by Mel Brooks. The 2001 Broadway production, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, earned Doug Besterman ’85 a Tony Award for best orchestration. Lane and Broderick reprised their roles in a 2005 film version.
The Norman Conquests
The 2009 revival of a 1973 stage trilogy by Alan Ayckbourn earned a Tony Award for Jane Dubin ’78, ’79 (MS), the president of the theatrical production company Double Play Connections. Each of the three comedies in the series follows six characters over the course of a weekend day. A British TV production of the plays aired in 1977.
An American in Paris
Based on the 1951 film starring Gene Kelly as a post–World War II veteran who stays in Paris to try to establish himself as a painter, the Broadway production also earned Dubin a Tony Award. And, of course, there’s the music of George and Ira Gershwin.
School of Rock
Adapted from the 2003 movie starring Jack Black, the Broadway musical opened in 2015. With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the production ran for four years, during which Leaming took a starring role as Principal Rosalie Mullins.
Also for your queue
On the screen…
With a storied career as a character actor in movies and TV productions, Robert Forster ’64 has a list of acting credits that could fill your streaming queue for a long time. From the late 1960s until his death in 2019, Forster took on roles big and small, eventually establishing himself as one of Hollywood’s go-to actors. Well known for his Oscar-nominated role in the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown, he has 188 acting credits in his entry on the Internet Movie Database.
Debra Jo Rupp ’74 is probably best known for playing Kitty Forman, the mother in a Wisconsin family dealing with the social changes of the Me Decade, on the TV sitcom That ’70s Show. But she has been on your TV screen often enough that you may know her from other roles. She was Phoebe’s sister-in-law for three seasons on Friends and had guest and recurring appearances on hits ranging from Seinfeld to This Is Us to Grey’s Anatomy.
And, Maddy Wary ’22 made her movie debut in Triple Frontier, a Netflix film starring Ben Affleck that had a limited theatrical release last year.
…and behind the scenes
Richard Fischoff ’68 gave up an expected future as a lawyer to eventually become a movie producer. Among the films he shepherded are Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), The Big Chill (1983), and Fatal Attraction (1987)
An engineer turned writer, Mark Peter Hughes ’88 published Lemonade Mouth in 2007, the first of four young adult novels that he’s written. The story of five high schoolers who started a band while serving detention was adapted for a Disney Original Movie of the same name that’s now available on Disney Plus.
