Throughout the world, the word "Broadway" conjures images of heavy dramas, robust comedies, and big splashy musicals presented in large, elaborate theatres.

In contrast to these, the Off-Broadway scene offered an alternative entertainment form: the "musical revue." This new form did not have an overarching storyline. Rather, a general theme served as the motto for a loosely related series of acts that alternate between musical performances, comedy sketches, and dance numbers, usually presented in a smaller, more intimate venue such as a cabaret. Various composers and lyricists, not to mention actors, began their careers creating these eclectic evenings. When I first arrived in NY to begin my career, I became enamored of the revue, its class and wit, its daring, its charm and variety, and luckily found myself performing and helping to create many in the following years, including performing in the last revue to play the famous "Upstairs at the Downstairs." With its political and social satire, song parodies, comedy sketches, and the occasional dance number, the form has continued to be a part of my theatrical career and life. So, to those audience members unfamiliar with the genre, I offer ALIVE AND KICKING: LAUGHTER NEVER GETS OLD as an introduction to a favorite theatrical form of mine, the "musical revue.”

-Stephan deGhelder

Director's Notes: