EVERYTHING'S COMING UP...ROSIE?

I know people have their opinions when it comes to Rosie O'Donnell. Everyone loved her when she had her talk show and then, it was cool to adore her. Society admired her love of Tom Cruise, Babs, Broadway and society put her on a pedestal because of her work to help children. Then, when she was publicly outed, everything changed. It's no big secret that she is gay, but when the news became "official" it suddenly became a big deal. Who cares? Apparently a lot of people cared. Suddenly Rosie came under public scrutiny. Did people not notice the good she contributed to society? It's bs.

Why the blog about this now? Today is Stephen Sondheim's 75th birthday. And it got me thinking about the future of musical theatre. Some don't like Sondheim because it's too deep or dark or without flowery, lilting numbers. Sondheim's work is not "commercial" enough for the main stream public, but he is the legacy of the musical theatre of the 20th century. Do people remember he wrote the lyrics to "West Side Story" one of the classic films and musicals of all time? Chances are, when you think of musical theatre, the shows you think of first will likely be Sondheim.

I was thinking about the great publicity Rosie gave to Broadway during the course of her show. What a shame now that there isn't a mainstream spokesperson like that anymore.