This week, John and John delve into the 2005 musical "Little Women: The Musical". They talk about their issues with the script and how it glosses over some of Louisa May Alcott's divine characterizations, the score (especially the auditioners' favorite number 'Astonishing'), and some of their experiences with their own productions.

Music by Jason Howland

Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein

Book by Allan Knee

Based on the book "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes

John and John venture into the pie shop this week to talk about "Waitress". The pair discuss their thoughts on the music of Sara Bareilles, the effectiveness of the story, and their future hopes for this show.

Music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles

Book by Jessie Nelson

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes

The time has come to talk about the birth of the Megamusical era and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats". John and John sit down to talk about the enduring legacy of this show, their earliest experiences with the production, and their thoughts on the enduring legacy and its place on Broadway.

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics by T.S. Elliot, with additional lyrics by Trevor Nunn

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes 

John and John talk this week about Adam Guettel's 'The Light in the Piazza" and discuss their love for this score (despite some rather major stylistic issues), their bafflement at the story (#shetlandpony), and their view of this show's place in the 2000s canon of Broadway musical theatre.

Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel

Book by Craig Lucas

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes

Mix three sailors with three young women in World War 2 New York City - add in some madcap adventures, someone who "understands", and some incredibly interesting names - and you have "On the Town". Join John and John as they take a look at this monolith of a show, discuss their issues with the book, their thoughts on the music (before things start going off the rails...), and end with a brief discussion on this shows inclusion process.

Music by Leonard Bernstein

Book and Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes

We talk about orchestration, a lot.

I mean, it's kind of our thing. 

For this episode, John and John talk a little bit about orchestration and dive into the father of modern Broadway orchestrators - Robert Russell Bennett (1894 - 1981). The pair talk a little of his background, some of the projects he delved into, and his lasting legacy on Broadway today.

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes

John and John take a look at one of the highlights of the Golden Age of Broadway, as well as the show that started the phenomenon on "Rodgers and Hammerstein" by looking at their 1943 show, "Oklahoma". The duo talk about the role of ballet (and dance in general) in the narrative process, the necessary nature of a villain in a story, and the difference between creative vision and "tinkering".

Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II 

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes

In a bit of a departure - John and John discuss "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and spend the entire time talking about why this show shouldn't be done. They delve into the problematic portrayals within and discuss author Dick Scanlan's response to criticism about his show.

Music by Jeanie Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan, and book by Dick Scanlan and Richard Morris

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes

"The sound you are hearing is not a technical problem. It is not a musical cue. It is not a joke. It is the sound of one man's mounting anxiety. I... am that man."

Join John and John as they take a glance at the early work of composer and playwright Jonathan Larson and his work "Tick, Tick... Boom!". The pair discuss the tribulations of a small show, the trope of the "coming of age" story, and play a little "What if?".

Music, book, and lyrics by Jonathan Larson

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes

This week, John and John venture into new territory - and talk about a show that hasn't technically opened on Broadway yet (curse you, COVID!). The duo delves into "Six" and talk about their love of this show - from the clever wordplay to the costuming as well as the integration of 21st Century media and culture.... this show has it all. 

Music, lyrics, and book by Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow

Find the episode on your favorite podcast app or by going to https://anchor.fm/musicalminutes

Intro and outro music ("BeBop 25") provided under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

Have a question for John or John? Want to leave feedback or tell us how wrong we are? Email us at [email protected]

For more info on our hosts - please visit https://norine62.wixsite.com/musicalminutes