South Pacific, Music Man, Hello, Dolly! — blockbuster musicals all, but not ours. They rose from our parents' — or grandparents' — experiences and tastes.

        Musical masterpieces remain viable for revival, but what do you revive for a generation that went to concerts and movies, not to theater?

        The first answer was obvious, and the past few years we've seen a spate of movies-to-musicals, including Footloose, Fame and Saturday Night Fever.

        Now for everyone who spent the '70s and '80s at concerts, welcome to the invention of the greatest hits musical.

        A few failed attempts slowed this trend (Barry Manilow's Copacabana and Jimmy Buffett's Don't Stop the Carnival), but the overwhelming success of Mamma Mia! (continuing at the Aronoff through June 2, 241-7469) should heat it to fever pitch.

        These aren't revues, like Smokey Joe's Cafe, and aren't the Who's Tommy, which came together as a concept of story and song. These are shows that start with a song list; a script comes later.

        This is a no-brainer, Broadway producer and North Avondale resident Rick Steiner observes. Risks on new musicals are so high that of course producers want to limit the downside. One way is to “tap an audience that's presold” on the material.

        Movin' Out, based on the songs and music of Billy Joel, will be next up. It opens on Broadway in the fall after a Chicago tryout starting next month. (The show's teaser: “Six lifelong friends. Two turbulent decades. 24 classic Billy Joel songs.”)

        Broadway in Cincinnati producer Brad Broecker agrees there's a trend out there, “but I don't think it will take over the industry.”

        “Reinventing the familiar,” Mr. Broecker observes, “is part of the business.”

        So what might the future bring? Some potential box office champs:

        • Multimedia show Beatlemania proved years ago that the Fab Four still have star power. Even if there's no way of licensing the work of the Beatles, there's always the solo works of Paul McCartney or John Lennon.

        • Elton John. He's already found a second career writing for Disney animated features (most of which will make their way onto the stage). Certainly there must be a musical scenario that could accommodate both “Crocodile Rock” and “Candle in the Wind.”

        • Dolly Parton. Reba McEntire cleared the way for women of country on Broadway with a stellar turn last year in Annie Get Your Gun. The Great White Way could use a feisty good ole gal or two.

        • Bob Dylan. Certainly the long career of rock's poet laureate would invite an intriguing plot line.

        • James Taylor. And if you wanted to make it a dramatically marital mix, throw in some Carly Simon.

        • Simon and Garfunkel. Chances are the new revival of The Graduate would have been a better show if Benjamin had taken a few minutes to musically ponder “The Sounds of Silence.”

        • A concept musical based on Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell. • Michael Jackson. (Think what a finale there could be in Liza Minnelli's latest wedding.)

        • Mr. Steiner wonders how long it might be before we see the first rap musical on Broadway. (Certainly Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk was a harbinger.) Call it — The Hip-Hop Kid.

        Mr. Broecker's vote goes to Glenn Miller. His staff couldn't decide between Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen.

        Me, I'd pay double to see a Tom Waits musical.

        A big thanks to the Ensemble Theatre staff for brainstorming on this one, and if you have any ideas for musicals you'd like to see — Blondie? Genesis? The Bee-Gees? Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young? — send them along. I'd love to hear from you.

        Raking in awards: CCM musical theater grad Justin Bohon continues to garner honors for his Broadway debut as Will (“Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City”) Parker in the Broadway revival of Oklahoma!

        Mr. Bohon has won the prestigious TDF/Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer on Broadway. His choreographer Susan (The Producers) Stroman won her umpteenth Astaire for Oklahoma! Sutton Foster won for best female dancer in the title role of Thoroughly Modern Millie.

        Millie is expected to be a front runner in several Tony Award categories. There's still time to join the fun next Sunday at a live broadcast party benefiting Ensemble Theatre. Tickets start at $25. Party attire: New York chic or “when all else fails, wear black!”

        Call ETC at 421-3555, Ext. 13, or visit www.cincyetc.com for details.

        Devoted arts lovers and their projects are profiled in today's Tempo. There wouldn't be a Performance Gallery at the Columbia Methodist Church if Lewis and Tawn Seiler hadn't bought the old church in 1997 with the intention of using it as an arts center.

        “Both my wife and I have a serious commitment to the arts,” Mr. Seiler says. “An active, diverse, multicultural arts scene is part of what makes any area come alive.”

        It's wonderful, he says, “to give people who are not established, not in the mainstream, an opportunity to perform. It makes (Cincinnati) a more exciting place.”

        The Seilers are attorneys. He's originally from Chicago. She's from New Richmond, which is why they settled in Cincinnati. Arts, he says, are a common thread in their extended family.

        It was the Seilers who put the original upgrades in the church, and Mr. Seiler laughingly recalls summer days “literally spent digging under a sewer.”

        When the building was ready to inhabit, the Seilers placed an ad in the Greater Cincinnati Foundation newsletter offering office space to artists.

        He sings the praises of Bi-Okoto and notes happily, “Imagine — a Nigerian drum and dance company in the East End! The point is, it's working. We're thrilled to have been able to give them a home.”

        You live somewhere, Mr. Seiler says, and “you think about what you'd like to have (there).” Helping to make that happen, he says, “is a dream come true.”

       Contact Jackie Demaline by phone: 768-8530; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: jdemaline@enquirer.com.
       

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