the TrueFans AMP— Issue 110

the Broadway* Issue

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway
They say there's always magic in the air
But when you're walking down the street
And you ain't had enough to eat
The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere

They say the women treat you right on Broadway
But looking at them just gives me the blues
'Cause how you gonna make some time
When all you got is one thin dime
And one thin dime won't even shine your shoes

They say I won't last too long on Broadway
I'll catch a Greyhound bus for home, they all say
But they're dead wrong, I know they are
'Cause I can play this [here] guitar
And I won't quit til I'm a star on Broadway

I won't quit til I'm a star on Broadway
No, no, no, no

Do do do do

Songwriters: Cynthia West / Barry Mann / Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller

* I grew up on the East Coast of the US. From three to 15 nearly every weekend I spent in Jamaica, Long Island with my mother at my grandparent's home. Later, after college and into the working world, I spent countless nights— the days didn't count— in New York City. So... for me it's the 'Broadway Musical.' A more egalitarian approach would/should be to call this 'Musical Theater.' So... Have it your way. Broadway is mine.
— JF

In This Issue... 16 pages (about 24ish minutes to read) You'll Get... 

• Recommends— Watch: Springsteen On Broadway

• Your BIZ— Broadway Musicals: Some Of the Greatest Songs Ever! by John Fogg

• The Greatest Songwriters of All Time— Rodgers & Hammerstein: Masters of the American Musical

• in partnership with Inspiring Quotes

• Feature— 20 Uplifting Lyrics From Broadway Musicals from Inspiring Quotes

• PS from PS— 'Broadway' Ahem... Don't You Mean the West End?

Here’s the playlist

• Recommends— Watch: Springsteen on Broadway (Netflix 2018)

Bruce Springsteen once called what he does "my magic trick." He wasn't talking about smoke machines or stadium pyrotechnics— he meant the alchemy of turning story into song, myth into memory, and a single voice into something that thinks and feels universal.

And nowhere is that 'slight of heart and mind' more vivid than in Springsteen on Broadway (Netflix 2018).

When it opened in 2017, it was the hottest ticket in town— sold out for months, scalpers asking thousands, fans flying in from around the world just for a seat in the 975-seat Walter Kerr Theatre. Everyone knew it would be extraordinary, but no one could quite predict how profoundly it would land. As The New York Times put it... 

"As portraits of artists go, there may never have been anything as real— and beautiful— on Broadway."

For TrueFans AMP™ readers— Singer Songwriters, performers, Music Artists of all kinds— this is more than a show. It's a template for authenticity. Springsteen, known for commanding stadiums with the hurricane force of the E Street Band, stripped everything down: just guitar, piano, harmonica, a few well-placed lights, and his voice. The result, as Rolling Stone raved, was... 

"...one of the most compelling and profound shows by a rock musician in recent memory."

What makes it essential viewing isn't just the music— it's the marriage of music and memoir. Bruce builds the evening like a novel. Songs weave into stories, stories into songs, all stitched together with wit, humility, and brutal honesty. He confesses that much of his public persona was an act, a mask. 

"I've never held an honest job in my life," he admits early on, grinning at the irony of the "working-class hero" myth he helped create. Critics like Vulture noted how the show "feels like as much of a storytelling workshop as a musical autobiography."

The intimacy is staggering. Ken Levine, reviewing the Netflix version, praised his mastery of timing: "He understands phrasing, vocal impact, the power of pauses… Springsteen considers what he does a 'magic trick.'" That restraint— the spaces between words— becomes as powerful as the songs themselves. For Songwriters, it's a masterclass in presence: proof that sometimes less is infinitely more.

And then there's Patti Scialfa, Bruce's wife and collaborator, who joins him onstage for a few songs. Their duets add warmth and shadow, what The Guardian called, "as if he stands in her emotional shadow." For artists, it's a reminder of the power of collaboration, even in the most personal work.

Why might this matter to you? 
Because Springsteen is pioneering something here. He blurred the lines between concert and theater, creating a new kind of performance that others will undoubtedly follow. It's part confessional, part concert, part stage play— an entirely new art form. It's a signal to every Music Artist: you don't have to stay in the lane the industry built for you. You can invent new spaces for your art to live.

Variety summed it up perfectly: "A self-made monument to its master's vision and hurricane-force ambition." Yet the paradox is, the show doesn't feel monumental— it feels like sitting in the kitchen with Bruce, listening to him tell the truth about his life.

For Singer Songwriters, this is inspiration you can use:

If you missed the chance to be in the room, you don't have to miss the magic. Springsteen on Broadway [Netflix] is streaming now. Watch it not just as a fan, but as a student of the craft. There may never be a clearer window into how one of the greatest Songwriters of our time transforms life into legend— one song, one story, one pause at a time.

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• Your BIZ— Broadway Musicals: Some Of the Greatest Songs Ever! by John Fogg

When we think of the greatest Songwriters of all time, names like Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton, and Hank Williams come quickly to mind. But some of the greatest— arguably the greatest— never played stadiums or toured the globe. Their stage was smaller, yet their impact enormous. Their songs weren't carried by FM radio or Billboard charts, but by characters stepping into spotlights on a few blocks in midtown Manhattan— 45th to 48th Streets. Broadway.

That's where Rodgers & Hammerstein rewrote the rules of Songwriting. Where Lerner & Loewe spun myth into melody. Where Bernstein, Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, Webber and Rice, Lin-Manuel Miranda— all took their place in a lineage as rich and enduring as American music itself.

Growing Up on Broadway
I grew up on Broadway musicals. My first memory is sitting in the dark, watching Mary Martin fly across the stage as Peter Pan in the early 1950s. Every year, my mother would take the whole family (six of us) to see a musical. Nosebleed seats in the balcony— we couldn't afford more— but those seats gave me a front-row ticket to a world of wonder.

As a child, I saw Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver!, The King and I, My Fair Lady, West Side Story— and others names I've forgotten, but the experience— never! They imprinted themselves on me, in me, shaping my sense of story, rhythm, humor, longing. Much later, as a successful adult trying to impress the woman who would become my second wife, I splurged: first- and third-row orchestra center seats for Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables. Those shows confirmed what I had felt as a boy— that musicals are more than entertainment. They are life, and love, magnified. Magically.

Reflections of Their Times
Broadway musicals always mirrored the taste of their times. In the '40s and '50s, Rodgers & Hammerstein reimagined what a musical could be— no longer just songs stitched together, but a fully integrated drama where music and lyrics carried the story. Oklahoma! didn't just charm audiences— it changed Broadway forever.

In the '60s, Hair exploded with the sound and spirit of counterculture. In the '70s and '80s, Andrew Lloyd Webber introduced the global "mega-musical," marrying pop-rock with spectacle. And in our century, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton shocked and delighted audiences by telling the nation's founding story through hip hop. Broadway evolves, but it never abandons its core: 

Songs that tell stories we can't forget.

Beyond "Songwriting"
On Broadway, it's rarely "just" songwriting. The phrase is "book and lyrics by…" because the words, the story, the emotional through-line matter as much as melody. To write for Broadway is to write characters into being. It's a different kind of success than radio hits or touring bands, but no less profound. In fact, in some ways it's harder. A pop single only needs to capture a moment. A Broadway score must sustain an entire universe— for about three hours.

The Legacy
Rodgers & Hammerstein alone gave us Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, The Sound of Music. Songs like Some Enchanted Evening and Climb Every Mountain aren't just theater classics— they've become woven into American life. And they're still sung, staged, and beloved worldwide more than 80 years later.

Other giants followed: Sondheim, the great innovator; Webber, the global showman; Miranda, the modern disruptor. Together, they remind us that Broadway isn't a sideline to American songwriting— it's a beating heart.

Even Bruce…
And lest you think Broadway belongs only to "theater people," remember this: even Bruce Springsteen— patron saint of rock authenticity— succumbed. His one-man show, Springsteen on Broadway, [profiled above in Recommends] was more than a side project. It was a confession, a celebration, and, yes, a musical— by another name. And it was great.

For Today's Music Artists
So why does this matter to you, a Songwriter, performer, or Music Artist working today? Because Broadway shows us what happens when songwriting reaches beyond the ear and into the soul. These musicals were never just collections of hits; they were worlds. They show the power of narrative, movement, character, and context. They remind us that songs can be timeless— not just because of their melodies, but because of the stories they carry.

The next time you think about the greatest Songwriters, let Dylan and Joni, Carole and Bruce, Dolly and Hank take their rightful place. But leave room, too, for Rodgers & Hammerstein and the street called Broadway. Because some of the greatest songs ever written were sung there first, in the magical glow of the footlights.

__________  

John Fogg is a million-selling author and the editor of the TrueFans AMP™.

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• The Greatest Songwriters of All Time— Rodgers & Hammerstein: Masters of the American Musical

"Rodgers & Hammerstein didn't just write songs— they wove stories so rich they still echo in all the melodies we sing today."

Their One-of-a-Kind Music
When Richard Rodgers (composer) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyricist/librettist) joined forces in 1943, they didn't just make musicals— they reinvented the art form. Before them, Broadway was often a series of disjointed tunes strung together by thin plots. Rodgers & Hammerstein integrated story, character, music, and dance so seamlessly that the modern Broadway musical was born.

"A bell's not a bell 'til you ring it
A song's not a song 'til you sing it."
— Oscar Hammerstein

Their first collaboration, Oklahoma! (1943), stunned audiences with songs that grew organically from character and story. Critics hailed it as a breakthrough, and audiences lined up for more. In show after show— Carousel (1945), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), Flower Drum Song (1958), The Sound of Music (1959)— they produced music that wasn't just catchy, it was essential to the drama onstage.

"Rodgers and Hammerstein set the standards for the 20th-century musical."
— Time magazine: 

Production, Sales, and Recordings
Rodgers & Hammerstein were pioneers in cast albums, ensuring their music reached far beyond the theater. Oklahoma!'s original cast recording sold more than one million copies in 1943, a staggering achievement for its time and a model for all future musicals.

The Sound of Music became a household name worldwide through its 1965 film adaptation starring Julie Andrews. The movie soundtrack became one of the best-selling albums of the 20th century, topping charts for weeks and winning multiple Grammys. South Pacific's cast album spent 69 weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart, a record that still stands.

Biggest Hits & Popular Songs
The Rodgers & Hammerstein catalog is a songbook every Music Artist knows:

Each of these became standards, recorded by countless artists across genres— from Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald to John Coltrane and Lady Gaga.

Concerts and Collaborations
While Rodgers & Hammerstein themselves weren't touring performers, their collaborations with singers and actors created unforgettable moments. Mary Martin originated starring roles in South Pacific and The Sound of Music. Yul Brynner's performance in The King and I became one of Broadway's most iconic. Julie Andrews' luminous presence in the film version of The Sound of Music brought their songs into homes across the globe.

Through cast recordings, touring productions, and film adaptations, their reach extended far beyond Broadway, shaping popular music and performance for decades.

Awards and Recognition
Their trophy case is unmatched:

In 1999, Time magazine named Carousel the greatest musical of the 20th century, citing its "most beautiful score and the most skillful and affecting example of their musical storytelling." 

Inspirations and Innovations
Rodgers brought a gift for sweeping, memorable melodies; Hammerstein supplied lyrics that were simple, human, and emotionally true. Hammerstein believed songs should grow naturally from character and plot, teaching a young protégé named Stephen Sondheim that a song must be "a little one-act play."

"It was Oscar who taught me that content is what counts. He taught me how to structure a song like a one-act play."

"For a song to work… the song has to be necessary to telling the story. If you can take the song out and it doesn't leave a hole, then the song is not necessary."
— Stephen Sondheim

They also pushed boundaries. South Pacific confronted racism directly in You've Got to Be Carefully Taught, a song so controversial some wanted it cut. Rodgers & Hammerstein refused, cementing their legacy as socially conscious artists unafraid to challenge audiences.

Personal Lives
Oscar Hammerstein II, born in 1895, came from a theatrical family. He married Dorothy Hammerstein in 1929, and together they raised a blended family of five children. Known as warm and generous, Hammerstein mentored Sondheim and served as president of the Dramatists Guild, championing writers' rights. He died in 1960, just after The Sound of Music opened, leaving Rodgers without his creative partner.

Richard Rodgers, born in 1902, was more private. He battled periods of depression but continued composing after Hammerstein's death, including No Strings (1962). He lived until 1979, leaving behind one of the richest catalogs in American music.

"Contemporary musicals lack the timelessness and pure melody of classic shows… songwriting has declined since Rodgers and Hammerstein."
— Seth MacFarlane

Enduring Legacy
Rodgers & Hammerstein set the gold standard for the Broadway musical, but their influence stretches far beyond theater. Their songs became jazz standards, pop hits, and staples of vocal training for generations of singers. For Songwriters of every genre, they remain a master class in integrating story, emotion, and melody.

Stephen Sondheim carried their lessons forward into a more complex, modern style. Contemporary artists like Seth MacFarlane point to Rodgers & Hammerstein as proof of a lost art— the ability to craft melodies of timeless beauty.

Today, every Music Artist who writes songs that tell stories, who integrates lyrics and melody into character and narrative, walks in their footsteps.

Curtain Call
Rodgers & Hammerstein's songs are more than entertainment— they are architecture. They built the foundation of modern musical theater, and their melodies, stories, and social courage continue to resonate with artists and audiences alike. For every Singer, Songwriter, or band looking to connect with listeners through authenticity and craft, Rodgers & Hammerstein remain essential teachers.

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Some Lessons for Today's Music Artists from Rodgers & Hammerstein

in partnership with InspiringQuotes.com

• Feature— 20 Uplifting Lyrics From Broadway Musicals from Inspiring Quotes

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Musical theater mixes song with story to engage, entertain, and inspire audiences— and it's been doing so for nearly three centuries. The first "Broadway" theater, the Theatre on Nassau Street, opened in New York City in 1750, with shows like The Beggar's Opera and other examples of the ballad opera, a precursor to the modern musical. Though it's considered the first venue purpose-built for musical theater, it was located in downtown Manhattan, before New York's theater district moved north to its current geographical location in Midtown, centered around the Broadway thoroughfare.

Much has changed since those inaugural shows, and Manhattan's dazzling Broadway district is now lined with over 40 theaters. Musical theatre evolved from glitzy spectaculars to a powerful form of storytelling— and both then and now, there is nothing else quite like a Broadway musical. Throughout the genre's growth, musical theatre's most important inspirational pillars remain, from lyrics packed with life lessons to emotion-driven melodies, and they're woven into nearly all new and classic tales.

Take the 2003 smash hit Wicked, where the character Elphaba inspires audiences to take risks and dream about the future with these lyrics from the powerful Defying Gravity: "It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap!" In 1986's ThePhantom of the Opera, the longest-running Broadway show, fans are equally swept away by a captivating and timeless love story. Shows like West Side Story and Chicago further profile the human experience, telling tales of grandeur, success, failure, and hardship through compelling characters that overcome these obstacles through song, dance, and story. Here are 20 of the best... 

20 Uplifting Lyrics From Broadway Musical

Some things I cannot change / But till I try, I'll never know!
Defying Gravity from Wicked

I'm laughin' in the face of casualties and sorrow / For the first time, I'm thinkin' past tomorrow.
My Shot, from Hamilton

Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light / And listen to the music of the night.
Music of the Night, from Phantom of the Opera

For under every mean veneer / Is someone warm and dear.
A Little Bit of Good, from Chicago

We had the experience but missed the meaning / And approach to the meaning restores the experience.
The Moments of Happiness, from Cats

Even when your life is in knots / You take aim, take your shot / Sometimes you gotta rewrite the plot.
Take What You Got, from Kinky Boots

And remember / The truth that once was spoken: / To love another person is to see the face of God.
Finale, from Les Misérables

Somewhere / We'll find a new way of living / We'll find a way of forgiving.
Somewhere, from West Side Story

The sun'll come out tomorrow.
Tomorrow, from Annie

I'm thankful for every day that I'm given / Both the easy and hard ones I'm livin'.
I'm Here, from The Color Purple

It isn't where I am, it's only where I'll go from here.
Times Are Hard for Dreamers, from Amélie

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee / In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife, / In 525,600 minutes / How do you measure a year in the life?
Seasons of Love, from Rent

When the dog bites, when the bee stings / When I'm feeling sad / I simply remember my favorite things / And then I don't feel so bad.
My Favorite Things, from The Sound of Music

And this present will be past / So here we are / Where the world has come together.
Stop the World, from Come From Away

What I thought was so permanent fades / In the blink of an eye, there's a new life in front in my face / And I know in due time, every right thing will find its right place.
Everything Changes, from Waitress

Why invite stress in? / Stop studying strife / And learn to live the unexamined life.
Dancing Through Life, from Wicked

Even the darkest night will end / And the sun will rise.
Finale, from Les Misérables

Even when the dark comes crashing through / When you need a friend to carry you / And when you're broken on the ground / You will be found.
You Will Be Found, from Dear Evan Hansen

You find some way to survive / And you find out you don't have to be happy at all / To be happy you're alive.
Light, from Next to Normal

Things will come out right now / We can make it so,
Someone is on your side / No one is alone.
No One Is Alone, from Into the Woods
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About Stephanie Vermillion and Inspiring Quotes
Stephanie is an Ohio-based writer and photographer who's never met a slice of pizza she didn't like— or inhale. And if you're a Songwriter searching for your next great lyric, a musician looking to express something deeper, a savvy musical marketer or simply someone who appreciates the power of words, InspiringQuotes is a resource worth exploring. Tap the link to subscribe today and let the words of the world's greatest minds fuel your music, your craft, and your journey. Read all about them in the gold box in this issue in partnership with Inspiring Quotes .com

• PS from PS— 'Broadway' Ahem... Don't You Mean the West End?

Or... On True Origins and Quiet Revolutions

After 24 years of listening to Americans (the colonies) explain musical theatre history to me, I've developed what I can only describe as a chronic case of cultural whiplash. The polite British part of me nods along when 'Broadway' gets credited with inventing the form in 1750, while somewhere deep in my bones, 1650 screams for recognition. (1656 to be precise.)

It's a peculiar kind of amnesia we've cultivated— this talent for erasing our own revolutionary moments with such thoroughness that even we believe the revised history.

William Davenant's The Siege of Rhodes wasn't just entertainment; it was creative contraband, smuggled past Cromwell's theatre ban by wrapping rebellion in melody. We of the UK literally invented musical theatre as an act of theatrical bootlegging, yet somehow we've let others claim the patent.

Living in America has made this self-erasure more acute, more personal. I've sat through countless dinner conversations where someone earnestly explains how musical theatre "really began" with colonial productions, while I perform the very British feat of agreeing while internally combusting. We're so practiced at this cultural generosity that we've become complicit in our own historical invisibility.

There's something both maddening and darkly comic about a people who invented the sandwich, created the world's most spoken language, and birthed musical theatre— yet treat these achievements like embarrassing family secrets. Perhaps we fear that claiming our innovations might seem impolite, like insisting on proper credit at a dinner party.

But after two decades of American arrogance (sorry, I meant 'confidence'), I'm learning there's wisdom in owning our quiet revolutions. Sometimes the most important stories can only be sung— and we bloody well sang them first.

Until we speak again

Thanks for reading. Give us your feedback.

And PLEASE, if you've got any Singer Songwriter friends, pass the AMP on, because... It’s Time... for a Change. Big Time. Past Time...