Family and Leaving Behind a Legacy

Thinking about my family, it makes me smile to think about how different we are. Though we do have our own tendencies to become obsessed or addicted to certain things, performing, and musical theatre never got under anyone else’s skin like it did for me. My mom, I think enjoys it more that my dad, or my brother, but no where near to the obsessive depths I have taken it to (hello, you are reading this blog). I haven't heard about anyone in my extended family loving show tunes like I do either, but I know at least one of my cousins has been in a play or two, and my uncle used to do theatre when he was younger, as well.

Sutton Foster and her brother, Hunter, have both been on Broadway multiple times. Sutton Foster even has two Tonys under her belt (haha pun) and Hunter has starred in a bunch of things including Hands on a Hardbody, and Ordinary Days. Sutton married and divorced Broadway actor, Christian Borle and then dated another Broadway performer, Bobby Canavale. When Sutton was younger she performed in the same children’s troupe with actor siblings Celia Keenan-Bolger and Andrew Keenan-Bolger, and now playwright sister MaggieKeenan-Bolger. Celia Keenan-Bolger played one of the most complex children roles ever created (albeit at 27) in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and raised the roof in “The I Love You Song” which is arguably one of the most gut-wrenching songs in musical theatre history.

These examples are just a drop in the bucket of performing families. I think the real legacies lie in some of the composing lineages. One of my favorites is that of Richard Rodgers (of Rodgers & Hammerstein fame) was the father of Mary Rodgers, who wrote the music for the classic Once Upon a Mattress, and she is the mother of Adam Guttel, the composer of Light In The Piazza (for which he won two Tony Awards, for Best Score and Best Orchestrations in 20015) among several other great works, including Floyd Collins.

Here’s a fun fact, Celia Keenan-Bolger was originally cast as Clara in Light in the Piazza, but was replaced by Kelli O’Hara for the Broadway opening. She then went on to do Spelling Bee, which got her a Tony nomination, against Kelli O’Hara in 2005 for that same show. They both, however, lost to now TV famous actor Sara Ramirez for her stunning performance As The Lady Of The Lake in Monty Python’s Spamalot!

In another fun legacy related anecdote, Oscar Hammerstein gave guidance and advice to a young Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim became friends with Oscar’s son, Jimmy, and spent a lot of time at the Hammerstein residence, and Oscar took him under his wing, and taught him about the industry help develop Sondheim’s love of musical theatre.

Do you think family, and legacy has a bigger impact on talent, or on industry?