Broadway Binge

We take a look at 1959's The Sound of Music, the final collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein. While the 1965 film is universally beloved, it is possible that the original stage musical was...bad??? Hannah and Jeremy investigate.

Gypsy (1959) with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, and directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, is considered by many critics and scholars to be the greatest Broadway musical of all time? Do Hannah and Jeremy agree? Find out on this episode of Broadway Binge.

Today, Jeremy will tell you all you need to know about Rodgers and Hammerstein's forgettable and regrettable musical, Me and Juliet, from 1953, and then you'll never need to think about it again. It is not about Romeo and Juliet, and it is not an early-2000s teen comedy, as much as the title suggests it might be. Rodgers threw Hammerstein a bone by agreeing to do Allegro in 1947, and this show is Hammerstein returning the favor. There is one fun song though, so check this out for that.

Pete the Retailer from the Star Wars Minute, Alphabeatical, and ABCDEVO podcasts joins us to talk about The Music Man, which he acted in as a child. The Music Man has music and lyrics by Meredith Wilson, and is considered to be an American classic. But does it hold up today? And is Robert Preston wearing a toupee in the movie?? Here is a picture of him in The Music Man movie, and here is a picture of him in the movie SOB, in what the LA Times calls a "deep-pile toupee."  If you think he had a toupee in The Music Man tweet with #toupee to @Broadway_Binge, and if you don't think so, tweet with #notatoupee.

We finish off West Side Story with a deep dive into every number, discussing casting, the music, the lyrics, the dancing, the differences between the show and the film, and even conspiracy theories! And at the end, we rank it against all the other shows we've discussed so far.  See how it does!

Check out the Broadway Binge Listen-Along Spotify Playlist here, for all the best songs in all the musicals we've discussed!

We finally reach West Side Story! A show so important we're devoting two weeks to it. This week, we discuss how the 1957 show with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by rookie Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, directed and choreographed by Leonard Bernstein, came together for the stage. We also discuss the changes made for the 1961 movie, and we begin to dive into the show itself! Tweet your thoughts at us at @Broadway_Binge

One correction, we note in the episode that Heaven on Their Minds has a section in 7/4 time, and that When Your Mind's Made Up is in 5/4 time, but upon reflection, those might actually be 7/8 and 10/8. The scores will contain the truth.

In preparation for the upcoming West Side Story episodes, Jeremy takes us through the higlights of Wonderful Town (1953) and Candide (1956), Leonard Bernstein's two Broadway efforts in between On the Town and West Side Story. Wonderful town is basically a discount On the Town, and Candide is Bernstein going full operetta.

We're finishing off our Broadway song rankings, with Hannah's and Jeremy's top 5 songs.  Plus, a listener sent in her list, so we read that one too.

Hear all of our selections at the Broadway Binge Favorite Songs Playlist.

We're pleasantly surprised by Damn Yankees, the second and final musical by Adler and Ross after the disappointing Pajama Game.  Damn Yankees is surprisingly high concept, and surprisingly non-baseball focused.  West Side Story is up next, so if you want to watch the movie in preparation, now is the time.

Hannah and Jeremy rank their 10th through 6th favorite Broadway songs, plus some honorable mentions.  There are some oddball choices in here, to be sure.

Listen to all of our choices on this special Spotify Playlist, which will be updated when we release Part 2 with each of our top 5 songs.  Broadway Binge Favorite Songs Playlist.