Musical Theatre Radio presents "Be Our Guest"

Musical Theatre Radio presents "Be Our Guest"

By Jean Paul YovanoffArtsPerforming Arts
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Musical Theatre Radio presents "Be Our Guest" episodes

  • Be Our Guest with David Allen Dilsizian (Dear Mom, I'm Gay The Musical)

    Dear Mom, I'm Gay! The Musical

    Synopsis- Dan Sarkisian grew up in an evangelical home in a small town in Michigan. He moves to New York City to study fashion design, but quickly finds he has even more to learn about himself.

    Dan begins to explore his identity and sexuality. He slowly learns to embrace who he truly is, a part of himself that he has always suppressed. Dan falls in love with himself and another man.

    At Thanksgiving break, Dan finds himself back in Michigan visiting his mom. How will she respond to his newfound identity? Is a mother's love more powerful than culture or religion?

    *Based on a true story.

    20 min
  • Be Our Guest with Janet McMahan & David Huntsinger (Much Ado About Nothing)

    Janet McMahan has been working as a professional pianist since the age of sixteen. She has also worked as a writer, performing artist and producer of music, audio books and dramatic works.
    As a musician and singer, Janet has performed on the Grand Ole Opry, toured the United States and abroad as Roy Orbison's keyboard player and played for hundreds of society gigs, weddings, parties, etc. She has worked in the studio as a keyboard player, vocalist and vocal contractor/conductor on recordings for numerous artists including Carrie Underwood, Dolly Parton, Steve Winwood, Shirley Jones, John Denver, Sandy Patti, Michael Crawford and others. She has performed on jingles for McDonald's, Target, General Tire and numerous other regional and local commercials and has written and produced for Jubilate Music Group, Simon and Schuster, LifeWay, McGraw-Hill, Word, Gibson Publishing, Thomas Nelson, Sparrow, Brentwood/Benson and Sesame Street Records.
    David Huntsinger is a pianist, composer, songwriter, and arranger who moved from his native California to Nashville, TN, in 1976 and played for the Rambos. He co-wrote the song, "Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome", with ⁠Dottie Rambo⁠, as well as the children’s musical, Down By The Creek Bank.⁠⁠ In 1979 he left the Rambos to pursue a career as a studio pianist. He wrote and arranged music for the 1989 Grammy-winning album A Child’s Gift of Lullabyes,⁠ and arranged for and co-produced ⁠Andy Griffith⁠’s 1996 Grammy-winning album, I Love To Tell The Story: 25 Timeless Hymns.⁠He has worked with many artists, such as ⁠Sandi Patti⁠, ⁠Steve Green⁠, ⁠Kathy Troccoli⁠, ⁠Michael Crawford⁠, ⁠Glen Campbell⁠, ⁠Carman⁠, ⁠Larnelle Harris⁠, ⁠Johnny Cash⁠ and ⁠Dolly Parton⁠. He toured with ⁠Vince Gill⁠ for a Christmas tour in 1999, and in 2001 for the ⁠Amy Grant⁠/Vince Gill Christmas tour. He has also written a number of children’s musicals, as well as produced many albums of his own original works and arrangements.


    Much Ado About Nothing is set in 1945 as soldiers return from the war in the Pacific, this contemporary setting of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a unique combination of classic Shakespeare and modern Broadway.  In the style of a 1940’s musical, this version of Much Ado About Nothing was a run-away hit for the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s 2012 season. Shakespeare’s timeless humor combined with these expertly crafted original songs by two of Nashville’s premiere musical theater songwriters make this a slam-dunk audience pleaser.


    More Info about Much Ado About Nothing


    40 min
  • Be Our Guest with Christy Stutzman (When Calls the Heart)

    From original songs and lyrics for both church anthems and stage musicals, to mood and transition cues for theater productions and film scores, Christy Stutzman has a gift for interpreting and expressing deep emotions through music and poetry.  Whatever musical score your creative project needs, Christy will listen carefully, study the project and will craft a musical style and approach that matches your exact vision.   
    Janette Oke’s best-selling novel comes to life onstage in this brand new musical created by Christy Stutzman. A theatrical celebration of truth, adventure, faith and – above all – love, When Calls the Heart- The Musical is challenging and thrilling audiences as they take part in this riveting story, both on stage and off.

    More Info about When Calls the Heart

    28 min
  • Be Our Guest with Kiki Moritsugu (A Woman Is...)

    A Woman Is ... a cabaret about family, identity, and becoming who you are.
    Triple-threat performer, Kiki Moritsugu, holds forth on her relationship with her larger-than-life mother. Sharing three generations of backstage stories from summer stock, Broadway, and shopping malls in Canada, Kiki reveals how one multi-racial woman defines herself in a world dominated by stereotypes.

    20 min
  • Be Our Guest with Jim Betts (Dancer A Musical in Ten Furlongs)

    Jim is not only a writer of Canadian Musical Theatre, but a teacher and advocate as well.

    His advanced age gave him an opportunity to study The Craft Of Writing For The Musical Theatre with Broadway Conductor and Composer Lehman Engel, whose tradition of teaching young musical theatre writers is still being continued at New York’s BMI Lehman Engel Workshop. After Leman’s passing in 1982, Jim helped found The Guild Of Canadian Musical Theatre Writers, where he and other of Lehman’s Canadian students tried to continue Lehman’s mentorship of aspiring composers, lyricists and librettists with classes based in Toronto. Jim has taught similar classes for almost 30 years, for awhile with Toronto’s ScriptLab, and most recently through a partnership between Smile Theatre and The Playwright’s Guild Of Canada.

    Jim is also interested in the history and development of the Musical Theatre in Canada, and founded the first college course in The History of The Canadian Musical Theatre at Sheridan College in Oakville.

    Also well known as a dramaturge and director of new Canadian Musicals.

    http://www.jimbetts.ca/

    Dancer is the winner of the 2023 Adams Prize For Musical Theatre. The inspirational story of Northern Dancer, the 'too small, too awkward, too feisty' colt who defied all odds to become the first Canadian horse to win The Kentucky Derby. Part high-concept musical, part high-octane ballet, Dancer celebrates a Canadian legend. Taking inspiration from his name, Northern Dancer and all the other horses are played by dancers, who communicate only through dance and movement. With a cast of 20, and award-winning creators and performers, Dancer is the show to place your bets on.
    https://dancerthemusical.ca/

    30 min
  • Be Our Guest with Dante Green and Ally Chozik (AN INCOMPLETE LIST OF ALL THE THINGS I'M GOING TO MISS WHEN THE WORLD IS NO LONGER)

    Dante Green (they/he/she) is a Black, Queer, multi-hyphenate born and raised in rural Pennsylvania. They are an alumnus of The Headlong Performance Institute as well as The University of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Directing, Playwriting, and Production focused on writing and directing for Musical Theatre. Dante is the Founding Artistic Director of the evolving company The Makers' Ensemble, which recently acquired its own flex performance/rehearsal space in Bushwick. Dante is a Network of Ensemble Theaters member, a Princess Grace Award Finalist, and the inaugural New Directions Fellow at Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. Dante's work has been seen at Ars Nova, Pig Iron Theater Company, FringeArts, and other places. Dante has worked internationally with companies such as The Public Theater, Virgin Voyages, Lantern Theater Company, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, The Assembly, and others. When Dante isn't working professionally, they are an Instructor of Theater at Wesleyan University, New York University, and Sheridan College in Toronto, Canada.

    www.dantegreen.com Instagram:

    Ally is a queer triple-threat performer and creator born and raised in Toronto, ON. They are a recent graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance program at Sheridan College.

    As a dramaturge and director, they are interested in cultivating new musical theatre works that feature dance and the ensemble in new and innovative ways.

    As a performer, they are most interested in how we can use music and dance to amplify the extremes of the human experience.

    https://www.allychozik.com/

    This cutting-edge electro-synth pop musical takes audiences on an electrifying journey exploring life, death, and life after death. Following a global announcement of the exact time the Earth, as we know it, will cease to exist, a community of friends and lovers gather together for one last rager. We invite you into a glance at the last party on Earth --interweaved through a retrospective of cherished and tragic memories-- to celebrate and mourn the delights and deceptions of the human experience. We’ve all been through our own nightmare, so why not go out with a bang?
    This cutting-edge electro-synth pop musical takes audiences on an electrifying journey exploring life, death, and life after death. Following a global announcement of the exact time the Earth, as we know it, will cease to exist, a community of friends and lovers gather together for one last rager. We invite you into a glance at the last party on Earth --interweaved through a retrospective of cherished and tragic memories-- to celebrate and mourn the delights and deceptions of the human experience. We’ve all been through our own nightmare, so why not go out with a bang?
    AN INCOMPLETE LIST OF ALL THE THINGS I'M GOING TO MISS WHEN THE WORLD IS NO LONGER: is a cutting-edge electro-synth pop musical that takes audiences on an electrifying journey exploring life, death, and life after death. Following a global announcement of the exact time the Earth, as we know it, will cease to exist, a community of friends and lovers gather together for one last rager. 

    https://makersensemble.org/list

    23 min
  • Be Our Guest with Jimmy Dowd, Kevin McCann & Nicole Vardon-Martin (Healter Skelter The Musical)

    With music & lyrics by Jimmy Dowd & Kevin McCann and book by Nicole Judy Vardon, 'Healter Skelter' has Moon

    dissatisfied with her noughties life and facing rejection from her father, she drops acid and escapes back in time to 1960s California, to meet the ultimate rock n' roller Charles Manson. Moon meets the Family at the height of their popularity and is quickly immersed. Little does Moon know, but she's about to play a part in the infamous Manson Family murders and trial. As we move in and out of Moon’s trip, through Moon’s eyes, we see the cracks in the various systems that still govern us today. But as the trip wears off, Moon is forced to confront her own inner demons, and how she too plays a big part in how demons and monsters are created. We allow people to build walls around us; is it for protection, out of fear, perhaps protecting our sense of what OUR TRUTH is regardless of facts? And how do we separate "the legend" from "the facts"? Or do we crown someone we love to hate? We needed a scapegoat and Charles Manson was perfect.

    https://www.healterskelterthemusical.com/

    31 min
  • Be Our Guest with Kenton Blythe & Lise Cormier (CURIOUS K EXPLORES THE PALEOZOIC)

    Kenton Blythe is a Canadian actor, singer, musician and writer based in Toronto, ON.  Kenton is most recognizable for his appearance with his wife Lise Cormier on season 2 of Canada's Got Talent. Together they performed a song Kenton wrote about the Permian Period.

    ​

    Kenton's professional stage career began after graduating from Randolph College for the Performing Arts, when he joined the international revival tour of Evil Dead: The Musical, produced by Starvox Entertainment & Jeffrey Latimier Entertainment. This critically acclaimed revival featured members of the original cast.  Following the tour he became a company member of The Shaw Festival, performing in the musical Cabaret, and the play Juno and the Payock.  He is currently developing a musical for the 2023 Toronto Fringe Festival called Curious K Explores the Paleozoic.  The musical features material he and his wife performed on Canada's Got Talent. 

    Lise Cormier is a Toronto-based Jewish and Acadian bilingual actor, voice actor, singer, dancer, and creator who hails from Halifax, where she performed with RAZZMATAZZ FOR KIDS, at Neptune Theatre, as well as in multiple movies of the week.     

    She is a two time Dora Award nominee for her performances in TALE OF A T-SHIRT with Fixt Point, as well as in ZINSPIRÉS 3D with Théâtre français de Toronto.  She  performed in the Dora-nominated THE BARBER OF SEVILLE at Soulpepper, in the award-winning CBC radio drama BACKBENCHER, in Netflix’s THE UMBRELLA  ACADEMY, and on Season 2 of Canada's Got Talent as KENTON AND LISE.


    CURIOUS K EXPLORES THE PALEOZOIC - When these best friends’ very friendship is on the rocks, a class trip to the museum finds Emma and Olivia in a hidden room with a ... robot that sings songs about the Paleozoic Era – the very topic of their homework! But can they work together to finish their assignment and get back to their class – in time?
    https://www.kentonblythe.com/curious-k

     


    24 min
  • Be Our Guest with Ryan Peters, Russel Citron and Noam Tomaschoff (Our Little Secret: The 23 & Me Musical)

    Noam Tomaschoff: Writer & Performer
    Noam’s love for musicals came at the tender age of twelve, with his unforgettable performance as “Sam” in Camp Wahanowin’s production of Mamma Mia. From there, he made his best friends through musicals at high school, including this show’s composer, Ryan Peters; Producer, Russell Citron, and music arranger, Ben Deverett! After a sold-out run of the musical they all wrote together in Grade 12, Just A Regular Day, Noam studied drama at NYU’s Tisch School, and after graduation, went on tour with TheatreWorks USA as “Farmer Brown” in the award-winning children’s classic, Click Clack Moo. After moving to Los Angeles in 2017, he wrote and directed the feature film Tankhouse, starring Richard Kind and Christopher Lloyd (from Back to the Future!), which was a semi-autobiographical love letter to theatre and theatre kids. Tankhouse was distributed by Vertical Entertainment and released in 2022. 

    Ryan Peters: Composer
    Ryan Peters is a High School Drama and English teacher living in Toronto. Although his days performing onstage are likely behind him, Ryan has performed in musicals such as Cabaret, Kiss of the SpiderWoman, Into the Woods, Company, and The Last Five Years. In his spare time, he enjoys team-building, song-leading, and composing musicals about his close friends’ life-altering genetic discoveries. Ryan is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with his childhood and extremely talented friends on this meaningful project — their first musical theatre collaboration since High School. He can’t wait to share it with all of you!


    Russell Citron: Producer
    Russell Citron is an entrepreneur and Harvard MBA who is thrilled to be working with his high school friends to bring this musical to life. Russell’s theatrical history began (and peaked) in elementary school, with his performance as Simba in the Lion King and Thenardier in Les Miserables. It was mostly downhill from there, as his more talented friends Noam and Ryan took the lead roles and sent him to perform as secondary characters, like Benny in RENT, which he played (and loved) in three different shows. Russell has taken a few vocal lessons here and there and still somehow believes that he will perform on Broadway one day.
    Outside of theatre, Russell was the founder & CEO of CrowdChange, a fundraising technology company. He is also the co-founder of Feed the Deed, a viral social media campaign spreading 10,000+ acts of kindness across the world. Prior to CrowdChange, Russell was a management consultant at Monitor Group and Monitor Deloitte. He hasn’t produced a musical since their “five-pack” of high school friends co-produced their original musical, Just a Regular Day, but he has been dreaming of the day the group would get back together and is excited that it finally has come. He can’t wait for opening night and the journey ahead

    OUR LITTLE SECRET: THE 23&ME MUSICAL is the hilarious, moving, and completely true story of Noam Tomaschoff's discovery that he wasn't an only child, and he actually had more than 35 siblings around the world. 

    ​

    With a deft blend of comedy, drama, and wide ranging musical styles, Noam takes the audience on the roller coaster ride of emotions and discovery that he experienced over this past year, ending with a message of optimism that is sure to make you hold your family just a little bit tighter.

    https://www.ourlittlesecretmusical.com/
    “Brothers” Song preview video https://vimeo.com/834135156?share=copy

    23 min
  • Be Our Guest with Andrew Seok (The Man With the Golden Heart)

    Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Andrew Seok began his career as a Musical Theatre Singer & Composer, branching out into Singer / Songwriter, Record Producer, TV / Film Composer, Theatre Creator, and Filmmaker. He is currently the Artistic Director of Eclipse Theatre Company which he co-runs with Artistic Producer, Chilina Kennedy.

    With the success of his first stage musical, ‘ECHOES’, Andrew went on to produce and direct the feature film version, which premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival in 2018. He is currently in the final stages of post-production for his second musical feature film, ‘What Am I Without You?‘. Andrew has written and directed a musical short film starring Ma-Anne Dionisio and Jeff Madden, as well as a dance short film where the entire story is told through contemporary dance, both soon to be released. In 2019, Andrew wrote the Toronto Fringe Festival hit, ‘Unravelled’ as his second live stage musical project, and is now thrilled to be premiering ‘The Man With The Golden Heart‘ after a 3 year pandemic delay.

    The Man with the Golden Heart will be playing July 5-16th 2023 at the Toronto Fringe Festival

    https://fringetoronto.com/fringe/show/man-golden-heart

    21 min

About Musical Theatre Radio presents "Be Our Guest"

From the publisher's feed

A mystery guest or guests joins Jean-Paul Yovanoff to share their love of musical theatre. Some one famous or just a lover of showtunes, you never know who's going to be on the air each week.