Scene to Song

In this episode, performer and creator Victoria Gordon discusses Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's 1966 television musical Evening Primrose, looking at the contradictions of art vs. capitalism and inside vs. outside and at Charles and Ella's relationship. We also talk about the song "Storybook" from Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton's The Scarlet Pimpernel, specifically Linda Eder's version.

In this episode, writer and musician Kirk Hamilton discusses Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton, looking at the character of Eliza, how the show's visual elements work with the score, and the songs "Non-Stop" and "The Reynolds Pamphlet." We also talk about the songs "You'll Be Back," "What Comes Next?" and "I Know Him" from Hamilton.

In this episode, Warren Hoffman, author of The Great White Way: Race and the Broadway Musical, discusses his book, specifically whiteness and white identity in musical theater, in preparation for the book's second edition. We also talk about the song "Love Can't Happen" by Maury Yeston from the musical Grand Hotel. 

In this episode, composer and lyricist and theatrical producer Gregory Jacobs-Roseman discusses the musicals of composer and lyricist Jerry Herman. We also talk about the song "The Best of Times" from Herman's La Cage aux Folles. 

In this episode, seven of this season's guests--Mark Falconer, Anika Chapin, James Ballard, Jessica Fleitman, John Verderber, Marcus Scott, and BethAnn Cohen--return to discuss the topics from the season and listener-submitted questions and comments. 

In this episode, writer, director, and performer Andi Lee Carter discusses Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats--the plot, the songs, its similarities to A Chorus Line--as we prepare for the upcoming film. We also talk about the Overture from Cats. 

In this episode, writer Marcus Scott discusses rock musicals as a vehicle for coming-of-age stories and biographies, looking at Hedwig, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Passing Strange, and A Strange Loop, among others. We also talk about the song "Skid Row (Downtown)" from the Little Shop of Horrors. 

In this episode, writer and podcaster David Levy discusses the musical revue, from The Ziegfeld Follies to Forbidden Broadway. We also talk about the song "Something" from the revue Upstairs at O'Neals.

In this episode, Afrofuturist, womanist, black femme storyteller, and social activist AriDy Nox discusses musicals that grapple with racial and/or socio-economic politics in non-obvious ways. We also talk about the song "Why We Build the Wall" from Hadestown.

In this episode, bookwriter and playwright Orian Israelsohn discusses the Bock and Harnick musicals Fiddler on the Roof and The Rothschilds, looking at passive vs. active protagonists, time and place, and the song "If I Were a Rich Man" vs. the song "Everything." We also talk about the song "Molasses to Rum" from 1776.