Join Barry Joseph and guests David Spira (Room Escape Artist) and Rachel Allen Duncan (Watson Adventures) to explore why Stephen Sondheim designed treasure hunts for decades, focusing on two with related names: the 1973 A Little Night Music Treasure Hunt at the Shubert Theatre and the 2011 A Little Jurassic Treasure Hunt at the American Museum of Natural History. Performers George Lee Andrews and Marti Morris recall the Shubert cast-party hunt co-devised with Anthony Perkins, where puzzle-photo team formation led to lyric-based clues hidden around the theater. Event producer Brigid Walsh describes producing the 2011 fundraiser hunt hosted by Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick for Friends In Deed, including wax-sealed packets, team coordinators, dinosaur-hall clue cards, a meta-puzzle, and a final reveal involving a freight elevator, toy dinosaurs, and a hidden prize.

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00:00 Sondheim Human Touch

01:43 Meet The Guests

03:24 Two Little Hunts

04:55 Show And Memories

06:43 Cast Interview Begins

11:19 Shubert Hunt Story

15:49 Ice Cream Interlude

17:12 Design Takeaways

24:35 Clue Sheet Breakdown

30:43 Weddings And Hunts

32:48 Wedding Puzzle Talk

33:47 Sondheim Museum Hunt Setup

35:47 Designing the Venue

39:20 Watching Players Lose It

41:55 Why Museums Work

43:46 Dino Hall Game Ideas

46:03 Inside the Hunt Packet

50:49 Rules and Meta Puzzle

55:55 Clues and Cheating

58:44 Spoilers Final Solve

01:01:37 Prizes and Reflections

01:04:15 Sondheim Takeaways

01:06:31 Plugs and Signoff

Special Links:

Room Escape Artist

Reality Escape Pod

Watson Adventures

AMNH Dinosaurs

Colm Molloy

Ann Morrison

Mateo Chavez Lewis

Thanks to everyone who contributed behind the scenes to this episode: the Musical Stingers composed by Mateo Chavez Lewis, our line producer Dennis Caouki, and the theme song to our podcast with lyrics and music by Colm Molloy and sung by the one only Anne Morrison, currently on the road starring in Kimberly Akimbo.

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