Flopped and Forgotten

This week, we look at Dear World, Jerry Herman's attempt to further capitalize on the success of Mame and its star Angela Lansbury. Come on down to yet another restaurant basement with us for tales of big hats, the McDonald's in Times Square, and the world premiere of Hello, Bobby!

Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is one of the greatest books ever written, so how could the musical have flopped so badly? We're on a mission to find out how and on the way to our discovery we'll discuss breakfast cereals, gluten struggles, and of course, the famous novel itself.

Earthquakes and tidal waves and piranhas, oh my! This jukebox musical from Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick pays homage to popular disaster films of the 1970s and is filled with some of the biggest hits from that decade too. Put on your best bell bottoms because we're off on an adventure that includes gambling nuns, death by ice sculpture, and our least favorite aspic fillings of all time. Disaster! Act One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Pqptd9lOc

Disaster! Act Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXXetz0Qp0k

This week we are living out Truman Capote's Caribbean fantasy with his musical House of Flowers, known for its Calypso inspiration and stars Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. See you in the islands where we'll talk about a great turtle rescue, the perfect brothel snack, and Lisa's inability to remember a single name.

All aboard for our discussion of Sting's musical flop The Last Ship! How did one of the world's greatest songwriters manage to wreck this show? You'll have to listen to us talk through our shared fear of misplaced large machines, late night shopping at Kohl's, and (of course) our favorite songs by The Police to find out.

This week we are taking on one of the true titans of musical theater: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Aspects of Love was a smash success in the West End, but Broadway audiences did not fall in love with this 1990 show the same way as their British counterparts. Tune in for everything from 90s album art to a salute to Captain Tom.

Take a stroll with us down the famous Coney Island Boardwalk! We'll have a ball discussing millennial nostalgia, that one Bobby Darin song, our new favorite costumer designer, and some New York history that echoes loudly today. You won't need psychic powers to see how the fate of this 1964 musical turned out...

Video of Karen Morrow performing "I Had Ball": https://youtu.be/5vtTNnWHwa0

We're back! Play On! is both our first jukebox musical and the first show we've done with an all black cast. Join us as we set a Duke Ellington soundtrack to not only Shakespeare, but also our fantasy Antiques Roadshow musical and Lisa's "covid brain".

This week, we take a trip down the Yellow Brick Road to Wonderland. If you think we've just made a topical mistake, you might want to take a closer look at Frank Wildhorn's 21st century take on the classic Dorot--we mean, Alice tale. White rabbits and tea parties and existential crises, oh my!

Full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dInHF1Iilzo

Home Sweet Homer may have only lasted one day on Broadway, and it may have been all but erased from history, but that doesn't stop us from trying! No, really. We tried. In any case, join us for talks about our favorite myths, saganaki, and the current Broadway smash we'd clearly rather be discussing.