On this episode of On Broadway, I speak with Henry H. Sapoznik, a Peabody Award-winning coproducer of NPR's Yiddish Radio Project, about his book - The Tourist's Guide to Lost Yiddish New York City. The book offers a new look at over a century of New York's history of Yiddish popular culture, telling the story in over a baker's dozen chapters on theater, music, architecture, crime, Blacks and Jews, restaurants, real estate, and journalism. For the podcast, we focus on the chapter about the Yiddish theater.

I speak with David Armstrong, an American stage director, writer, producer, podcaster, and educator, about his book, The Broadway Musical: How Immigrants, Jews, Queers and African-Americans Invented America's Signature Art Form. "A groundbreaking exploration that reveals the powerful impact of marginalized groups on the evolution of the Broadway Musical."

I interview Rupert Holmes, known for his Tony Award-winning musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. I spoke to him, primarily, on his adaptation of the Gilbert and Sullivan musical, The Pirates of Penzance. Retitled Pirates!, the reimaged production, which played last year on Broadway, has the setting now in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The show infuses the score with jazz, Caribbean, and blues influences.

We welcome back Sondheim scholar Rick Pender, who talks about his new book, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: Behind the Bloody Musical Masterpiece.

"An award-winning Sondheim expert dives into all facets of this unique, murder-filled masterpiece-its slimy roots, original production, characters from killers to lovers to bakers, soaring score, gripping storytelling, and lasting power."

I speak with Frankie Dailey, the New Works Director at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. The organization’s 37th Annual Festival of New Musicals will take place on October 23-24, 2025 at New World Stages in New York City.  

The Festival features eight new musicals in 45-minute staged reading presentations in front of an industry-only audience. This event brings together theatre producers, presenters and developers from around the world to celebrate the future of these promising new musicals!

I speak with Rob Ruggiero, the Artistic Director of TheaterWorks Hartford, who is directing the 50th anniversary production of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical, A Chorus Line, at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Ct.

I chat with Mike Hadge - comedy writer, content creator, producer and songwriter - about his musical Doofyland, where he wrote the book, music and lyrics.

A brief description of the show:

DoofyLand is a bawdy musical satire that explores how easily our happy place can become a cage and how its up to us to truly “embrace the enchanthood.” Featuring a score that echoes classic Disney composers with a pop-rock sprinkling.

I speak with Jeffrey Seller about his memoir Theater Kid, which is a coming-of-age tale from the most successful American producer of our time. He is one of the masterminds behind the Tony Award winning musicals Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights, and Hamilton.

A rollicking conversation with the composing team behind the current Broadway hit, Dead Outlaw - David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna. The two, life-long friends, engage in an entertaining and revealing discussion about the show and musical theater in general.

I interview with Daniel Jenkins (Big River, Big – the Musical), who is appearing in the new Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire revue, About Time. 

 About Time, which runs at Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theater in Chester, CT from May 24 - Jun 15, 2025, is the third revue created by the composing team. Here is a brief description of the show:

From long-ago love affairs and ambitions of the past to tech-savvy grandkids and lost keys, this funny and touching revue features all new songs about people navigating the joys and challenges of growing older while staying young in spirit.