The Book of Mormon (musical) with tyrannical, charismatic men with way too many children, our heroes... must confront a one-eyed, genocidal warlord with an unprintable name... That's enough to test the faith of even the most optimistic gospel spreaders (not to mention songwriters). Yet in setting these dark elements to sunny melodies "The Book of Mormon" achieves something like a miracle. It both makes fun of and ardently embraces the all-American art form of the inspirational book musical. No Broadway show has so successfully had it both ways since Mel Brooks adapted his film "The Producers" for the stage a decade ago." Jon Stewart, host
Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill Lanning, and Hal Watters. It was directed by Donald Saddler, conducted by Newton Wayland, and ran for 152 performances before closing on February 11, 1973. When the show premiered, Christopher Street was renamed "Kurt Weill-Strauss" for an hour to honor Weill's legacy and lasting impact on off-Broadway theatre. The first off-Broadway revival opened August 19, 2000 at the Triad Theater and closed on December 3, 2000 after 121 performances. Hal Simmons directed, with Eric Stern as musical director, and the cast included Lorinda Lisitza, Bjorn Olsson, Veronica Mittenzwei and Michael Winther. Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill Berlin to Broadway