This is the fourth and final section of my conversation with author Margaret Hall about her recent biography of Paul Gemignani titled Gemignani – Life And Lessons From Broadway And Beyond.

If you missed the previous episodes in this series, you may want to catch up on those before listening to this one.

Paul Gemignani served as the Music Director for more than 40 Broadway musicals, including those that are the focus of this episode — Sunday In The Park with George, Into the Woods, Crazy for You, as well as the revivals of She Loves Me and Kiss Me, Kate.

Many of Gemignani's collaborators are discussed in this episode, including Stephen Sondheim, James Lapine, Scott Ellis, Lonnie Price, Michael Cerveris, and Patti LuPone.

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This is the third part of my conversation with author Margaret Hall, whose captivating book is titled Gemignani – Life And Lessons From Broadway And Beyond.

If you missed the first two parts, you may want to catch up on those episodes before listening to this one.

As the title suggests, Margaret’s book is a biography of Paul Gemignani, who served as the Music Director for more than 40 Broadway musicals, including the 3 shows that are the focus of this episode. 

The first two are Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along, and Gemignani’s contribution to these musicals and his close working relationship with Stephen Sondheim and Hal Prince have been widely acknowledged but never to the level of detail and insight that Margaret brings to them. However, Gemignani’s enormous contribution to the development of Dreamgirls and his close collaboration with that show’s director and creator, Michael Bennett, have been closely guarded secrets for decades and were revealed for the first time in Margaret’s book. You will hear the reasons for all of this mystery and subterfuge later in the episode. 

We also focus briefly on Paul's work on the Broadway musical EVITA and his interactions with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Patti LuPone.

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This is the second part of my recent conversation with author Margaret Hall, the remarkable young theater historian whose new book is titled Gemignani – Life And Lessons From Broadway And Beyond.

If you missed part one, you may want to catch up on that episode before listening to this one.

Margaret spent much of the pandemic interviewing Paul Gemignani who is without a doubt one of the most significant figures in the history of modern Broadway musical. Beginning as a replacement with the original production of Follies in 1971 Gemignani served as the Music Director for more than 40 Broadway musicals including Sweeney Todd, Evita, Sunday In The Park With George, On The 20th Century, and Into The Woods to name only a few. 

Margaret’s book takes us behind the scenes of those acclaimed productions and illuminates the crucial role that music directors play in the creation, development, and success of a musical.

Paul Gemignani’s incredible talent and theatrical know how made him the first-choice music director, and indispensable collaborator of both Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince. As you will hear, after Sondheim and Prince ended their creative partnership and went their separate ways, Paul Gemignani was often pulled back and forth and caught in the middle between these two great artists and their various projects.

As we ended the previous episode the legendary Music Director Hal Hasting’s had unexpectedly died and Paul Gemignani has suddenly been drafted to replace him as the Music Director of A Little Night Music the new Prince and Sondheim musical that has just opened.  

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My guest this week is Margaret Hall, a remarkable young theater historian who is the author of the celebrated new book Gemignani – Life And Lessons From Broadway And Beyond.

As you will hear, Margaret spent much of the pandemic interviewing Paul Gemignani who is without a doubt one of the most significant, and at the same time most under-appreciated, figures in the history of modern musical. Since 1971 Paul Gemignani has served as the Music Director for more than 40 Broadway productions including Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Sunday In The Park With George, Into The Woods, and Crazy for You, to name only a few. His incredible talent and theatrical know-how made him the first-choice music director, and indispensable collaborator of Kander & Ebb, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Harold Prince.

Margaret’s book not only takes us behind the scenes and into the orchestra pit of many of the most significant and acclaimed productions in Broadway history, it also illuminates the crucial role that music directors play in the creation, development, and performance of a musical.

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This is the third and final part of my conversation with Ben Francis whose amazingly compelling new book is titled Careful the Spell You Cast — How Stephen Sondheim Extended the Range of the American Musical.

Just like the book, our discussion has been structured around Sondheim’s collaborators. In this episode we discuss his work with George Furth, John Weidman, Hugh Wheeler & James Lapine. And, as always, Sondheim’s mentor and surrogate father Oscar Hammerstein II plays a big role in this conversation as well.

Along the way nearing everyone of Sondheim’s musicals are discussed including A Little Night Music, Anyone Can Whistle, Assassins, Company, Do I Hear A Waltz?, Follies, Gypsy, Into the Woods, Merrily We Roll Along, Passion, Road Show, Sunday In The Park With George, Sweeney Todd, and West Side Story as well as Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Allegro.

Ben Francis’ other works include contributions to the Oxford Handbook Of Sondheim Studies, the Oxford Handbook of British Musicals, and the Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Music, as well as Christopher Hampton: Dramatic Ironist.

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For a just $7.00 a month you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. 

All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgement of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.

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Thank you in advance for your support!

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My guest on this episode is Ben Francis, author of the very compelling book titled Careful the Spell You Cast — How Stephen Sondheim Extended the Range of the American Musical.

Sondheim is without a doubt one of the most studied, examined, and analyzed Broadway creators of all time. In fact, we have done quite a bit of that right here on Broadway Nation. However, as you will hear, Ben Francis contends that in spite of all of that investigation, Sondheim continues to be very misunderstood. He is often labeled as being cynical and pessimistic, but Francis instead argues that Sondheim firmly belongs to the “Broadway aspirational tradition” — a tradition that celebrates dreams of a better life — and he suggests that Sondheim’s shows are to a great extent are a continuation of the work of his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II.

Ben Francis’ other works include contributions to the Oxford Handbook Of Sondheim Studies, the Oxford Handbook of British Musicals, and the Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Music, as well as Christopher Hampton: Dramatic Ironist

Become A PATRON of Broadway Nation!

This episode is made possible in part by the generous support of our newest Patrons:

Andy Wigginton and Mark Stanton.

If you would like to help support the work of Broadway Nation I will information at the end of the podcast about how you too can become a Patron.

If you are a fan ofBroadway Nation, I invite you too to become a PATRON!

For a just $7.00 a month you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussion that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. And you will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. And all patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgement of your vital support of this podcast.

And If you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.

If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:

⁠https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/⁠

Thank you in advance for your support!

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In this Encore Episode from 2021, author Rick Pender takes us inside the creation of The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia. 

Rick Pender is a longtime member and former chair of the American Theater Critics Association. He first began reviewing theater in 1985 for a public radio station he managed at Northern Kentucky University. He later became the theater critic for CityBeat – Cincinnati’s alternative weekly newspaper -- and eventually became its arts and culture editor. He also often contributed articles to The Sondheim Review, a quarterly magazine that I know many of you remember fondly, and for 12 years, from 2004 to 2016, he served as its managing editor.  His latest venture, The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia, is a 638 page overview of anything and everything related to Sondheim’s work, life and career. 

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This is the second of a three-part conversation with author Elizabeth T. Craft regarding her recent book, Yankee Doodle Dandy — George M. Cohan and the Broadway Stage, which is the first book about Cohan in fifty years. If you missed the first episode in this series you may want to catch up with that one before listening to this one.

This week, Elizabeth and I begin with a discussion of Cohan, the entertainer. He was, without a doubt, one of the first brand-name celebrities in the modern sense, and every aspect of his persona was perfectly integrated – his unique style of performance, the content of his plays and lyrics, the beat and rhythm of his music, all worked together in perfect unison. But what exactly was it that made Cohan such a distinctive and potent personality?

Become A PATRON of Broadway Nation!

This episode is made possible in part through the generous support of longtime Patron Club Member Anne Welsh.

If you are a fan of Broadway Nation, I invite you to become a PATRON!

For as little as $7.00 a month you can receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussion that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. And you will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. And all patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgement of your vital support of this podcast.

And If you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.

If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:

⁠https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/⁠

Thank you in advance for your support!

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My guest today is author Elizabeth T. Craft, whose terrific book, Yankee Doodle Dandy — George M. Cohan and the Broadway Stage, is the first book about Cohan in fifty years.

No one looms larger in the history of early Broadway than the Irish American writer, composer, lyricist, director, choreographer, producer, actor, singer, dancer, and musical theater legend George M. Cohan — who is often called “the father of musical comedy.” It is no mistake that Cohan’s is the one and only statue of a Broadway figure to have a place of honor in the center of Times Square.

As you will hear, Elizabeth Craft situates Cohan as a central figure in the invention of the Broadway musical and illustrates how his plays, musicals, songs, and persona indelibly shaped the American cultural landscape of his day and more than 100 years later continue to have enduring resonance.

Featured on this episode is music from The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra's outstanding album You're A Grand Old Rag — The Music of George M. Cohan, and the studio cast recording of Yankee Doodle Dandy (book by David Armstrong, music & lyrics by George M. Cohan, musical arrangements and additional music and lyrics by Albert Evans.)

Become A PATRON of Broadway Nation!

This episode is made possible in part through the generous support of longtime Patron Club Member Juan J. Neumeister.

If you are a fan of Broadway Nation, I invite you to become a PATRON!

For as little as $7.00 a month you can receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussion that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. And you will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. And all patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgement of your vital support of this podcast.

And If you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits.

If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link:

⁠https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/⁠

Thank you in advance for your support!

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