Breaking the Curtain

Rouge, baby! Happy Valentine's Day, chickens! Join us as we break down the history behind the real Moulin Rouge, Baz Luhrmann's iconic film and the process of adapting it for the stage, the 2020 Covid-19 Broadway Shutdown, our favourite songs in the show and more!

We're so thrilled to be joined by Rachel Webb to discuss Broadway's & Juliet, the hard work and dedication that goes into being an understudy, which pop/rock artist and Shakespeare play should get the & Juliet jukebox musical treatment and more!

On this episode of Breaking the Curtain, we're joined by the insanely talented and lovely Bradley Gibson and Isabelle McCalla who star as Hercules and Meg in the upcoming Paper Mill Playhouse production of Hercules! 

The inspired Disney animated film is now a mythical new musical adventure. HERCULES is the divinely funny story of an honest-to-Zeus hero on a quest to discover who he is and where he belongs. Is love a possibility too? Oh, Hades, yes! The roof-raising score by Alan Menken and David Zippel features all the hits you love from the film, including the Oscar-nominated song “Go The Distance,” as well as “Zero to Hero” and “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love),” along with new songs written for the stage. The show features a new book by Kwame Kwei-Armah (artistic director of London’s Young Vic) and Tony Award® winner Robert Horn (Tootsie), and direction by Obie Award-winning Lear deBessonet. This cheeky, Greeky MUSE-ical earned a New York Times’ Critic’s Pick for its original Public Theater production in Central Park, with the New York Post cheering it’s “wise-cracking, heartfelt and emotionally rich.” And that’s the gospel truth!

Hercules runs at Paper Mill Playhouse from Feb 16th - March 19th, 2023. Purchase your tickets today!

herculesthemusical.com

It's our first messy updates episode of Season 4! Join us as we recap Crissy's birthday, Groundhog Day The Musical ft. the death of Fred la Marmotte, Aaron Tveit's return to Moulin Rouge! on Broadway (our cheeks are ROUGE with adoration, baby!), Sunset Boulevard at the Kennedy Center, the icky Glee Documentary, our upcoming guests in February and more! 

We are so thrilled to have Julie Boardman join us to chat all about the Museum of Broadway!

Julie is an entrepreneur and Tony Award-winning producer. She recently conceived and produced I'm Still Here, a 90th anniversary celebration for the Billy Rose Theatre Division at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, featuring archival materials from the Theatre on Film and Tape archive, interviews with Broadway legends and emerging creatives and reimagined musical numbers with a cast of over 100 artists. In fall 2020 she produced In Our America: A Concert for the Soul of the Nation and Artists for Change. She is currently a co-producer on the Broadway revival of Funny Girl. Other Broadway credits include: An American in Paris (Tony nomination), Carousel (Tony nomination), Company (Tony Award), Dames at Sea, Head Over Heels, Hughie, Indecent (Tony nomination), and The Inheritance (Tony Award). Tours: An American in Paris, Dreamgirls, Peter and the Starcatcher. West End: An American in Paris (Olivier nomination), Academy Award winner Florian Zeller's The Son. Julie is a Tony voter and member of The Broadway League. She is on the Theatre Committee at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the Leadership Council for the Costume Industry Coalition, the Creative Advisory Board of Festival Internazionale del Musical Milano, the Musical Theatre Advisory Board for the University of Southern California, the Advisory Board for the Musical Theatre Conservatory at Orange Country School of the Arts, and an arts advocacy coalition of arts leaders in NYC.

Through her company Boardman Productions she has has worked with some of the worlds leading brands including Nike, Maybelline, Evian, Vogue, Victoria’s Secret, Microsoft, Diet Coke, VitaminWater, Samsung, Game of Thrones, Disney’s The Lion King and many more on their activations and fan experiences. With over 14 years working in experiential and promotional marketing, she is thrilled to combine all of her talents to create The Museum of Broadway.

themuseumofbroadway.com

In the early years of the 2000s, we began to see a rise in the modern movie musicals with film adaptations of Dreamgirls, Hairspray, RENT, The Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Mamma Mia and more. It was the era of Myspace, fansites and forums. The trilogy release of Disney’s High School Musical, would only mark the beginning of what would spiral into 'theatre fandemonium', with musical theatre making its way to the forefront of mainstream media outlets and finally gaining in popularity.

It took the following year after the final High School Musical film to set the world ablaze with covers of show tunes populating on YouTube and climbing the iTunes charts weekly. Soon enough, not only did the entire world know what it meant to be a ‘theatre geek’, they celebrated and dubbed themselves as a new word that would sweep social media in the years to follow - ‘gleeks.’

So, where exactly did the term ‘gleek’ come from? Well, if you clicked on the episode or you consider yourself a “Gleek’, then you already know it stems from the hit Fox TV Series Glee.

Join Cris and Joce as they recount the early days of the Glee Phenomenon, the impact the series and songs had on the theatre community, The Glee Project competition, the ultimate decline in viewer numbers and more!

Two stagey best friends interview their idols and break down the history behind your favourite musicals from popular shows like RENT and Beetlejuice to iconic flops like Carrie and Bonnie & Clyde - we cover them all!

And if you like what you hear, consider giving our show the ol’ razzle dazzle by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast!

In this very special BONUS episode of Breaking the Curtain, we're joined by the phenomenal Rob Colletti who stars as Lester Bangs in Almost Famous on Broadway!

We chat with Rob all about the genius that is Cameron Crowe, the wonderful support from the fans, the real Lester Bangs and the current state of Broadway in the era of Covid.

Almost Famous runs on Broadway until January 8th, 2023. You do not want to miss this special show!

SURPRISE! Last week, we took a trip to New York City to spend time under the bright lights of Broadway in preparation for our upcoming season to bring you even more exciting content! On this final episode of Season 3, we chat all about seeing Wicked, Almost Famous, Moulin Rouge and MJ. We also tell you all about our experience at the Museum of Broadway, visiting 508 and Rise NY!

In this episode, we're joined by Paul Salsini, the author of the memoir 'Sondheim & Me' , which tells the story of the relationship between American musical composer Stephen Sondheim and journalist Paul Salsini during the latter's time as the founder and editor of The Sondheim Review, the only publication devoted solely to Sondheim's work during his lifetime. The magazine was begun in 1994 and Salsini shares his unique experiences interviewing, corresponding with, and speaking on the phone with the composer-lyricist through the entire next decade.

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