The Gospel of Musical Theatre

We’ve got the Lutherans to thank for this one.

It’s the worst-ever name for a musical, but Peter & Nathan think that 2001’s Urinetown, with music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis, is worthy of your attention – and some sustained theological reflection.

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We talk about:

You’ll hear:

You’ll hear Hunter Foster, John Cullum, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jeff McCarthy, Spencer Kayden and the Original Broadway Cast from the 2001 recording.

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

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Somewhere beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see?

There’s no more overtly theological (or more popular) musical than Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boubil’s 1980 Les Misérables, based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel.

From Valjean and Javert to Eponine and Fantine, this musical crams more pathos, prayer, and bad wigs into three hours than any other musical we know. Do you hear the people sing?

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We talk about:

• Prologue (the Bishop) / Stars / Javert’s Suicide – Javert, the police inspector, embodies a law-and-order version of the Christian gospel (shout-out to our Jansenist followers!) – and ultimately, the mercy he is shown destroys him. Are these competing atonement theories, or is there more subtlety in Les Mis’ treatment of the Christian gospel and its consequences?

You’ll hear Colm Wilkinson, Phillip Quast, Lea Salonga, Michael Ball and Judy Kuhn from the 1995 “Dream Cast Recording.”

You’ll also hear Anne Hathaway sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from the 2012 film soundtrack because she won an Oscar for it, and attention must be paid.

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera

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Immigration, capitalism, feminism, intersectionality, and the civil rights: this musical has it all!

Flaherty & Ahren’s 1998 musical Ragtime is a big, expensive show with lots of plot (never Peter’s strong suit) – but we love this musical and what it has to say about kingdoms of power and the kingdom of God.

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Peter & Nathan make some highly controversial claims:

And we wonder together about hearing "New Music," listening for resurrection, and what it means to live faithfully "‘Til We Reach That Day."

You’ll hear Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie, Peter Freidman, Judy Kaye and the cast of the 1998 Original Broadway Cast.

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

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What would you do? What will you do?

In the election run-up, Peter & Nathan are talking about musicals that deal with political unrest and social change (don't worry, it's still fun!). We begin with the 1966 Broadway classic Cabaret, one of the darkest, kinkiest, and most-enduring musicals of all time.

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We talk about:

– Willkommen / Two Ladies / The Money Song: The "decadence" depicted by the emcee and the performers of the Kit Kat Klub (KKK, anyone?) in 1930s Berlin on the eve of Nazism. Does Cabaret hold this very queer decadence as responsible for the rise of fascism, or is there something deeper at work?

– Married / So What / What Would You Do?   Bob Fosse’s 1972 film version of Cabaret eliminates most of the traditional musical theatre story exemplified in the romance between Fraulein Schneider & Herr Schultz. But these two characters—and the songs that Kander & Ebb wrote for them—carry much of the show’s political weight – and its emotional heart. Is Fraulein Schneider secretly Cabaret’s protagonist?

– Don’t Tell Mama & Cabaret:  We talk about one of Cabaret’s most well-known characters, Sally Bowles. What does she mean when she sings that "life is a cabaret?"

– Tomorrow Belongs to Me:  The incredible music of Cabaret – hymns, patriotic anthems, folk songs and music hall ditties – raises provocative questions about entertainment, pleasure, emotional release, and the rise of demonic ideologies. Religion traffics in some of the same territory. Is good music morally neutral... or not?

You’ll hear Joel Grey, Jill Haworth, Lotte Lenya, Jack Gilford and the cast of the 1966 Original Broadway Cast – as well as Mark Lambert on the 1972 film soundtrack singing “Tomorrow Belongs to Me”.

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

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What better way to celebrate summer than with a frozen cocktail of Disney Princess mania? It’s 2013’s Frozen, beloved by aspiring Elsas and Annas, reviled by parents and caretakers who threaten to lose it if they hear “Let it Go” one more time (trigger warning: you’ll hear it in this episode).

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You’ll also hear:

You’ll hear Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Santino Fontana, Josh Gad and the rest of the cast from the 2013 soundtrack recording.

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

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“A bit of madness is key to give us new colors to see.”

Today, we continue our Summer Movie Happy Hour Fizzy Summer Tour... thing... as we talk about 2016’s contemporary take on the classic film musicals of the 1940s, 50s and 60s: LaLa Land.

2016 feels like a La La Land ago. How does this film hold up almost a decade later?

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We talk about:

You’ll hear Emma Stone, John Legend, and Ryan Gosling singing the Pasek/Patel score from the 2016 film soundtrack.

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

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We fixed everything in the real world so all women are happy and powerful.

Just kidding... but we ARE talking about The Barbie Movie! We’re so excited to be joined by Arwen Myers, executive director of the podcast, musicals aficionado – and the person Barbie was made for – to talk about Greta Gerwig's blockbuster 2023 summer hit. Is it a musical? We think it is.

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We talk about:

You’ll hear Lizzo, Matchbox Twenty, America Ferrera, Ryan Gosling and Billy Eilish from the film’s 2023 soundtrack.

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

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Band Geeks of the world, unite!

We’re taking a fizzy summer tour through some of our favorite movie musicals – and what better way to observe the Fourth of July weekend in the USA than with one of the most patriotic and Americana-obsessed musicals of all time, the 1962 film version of Meredith Willson’s 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man!

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We talk about:

• "Rock Island" – One of the most impressive opening numbers in any musical, a laser-quick intro to the economics and social mores of early 20th-century America.

You’ll hear:

Robert Preston, Barbara Cook and the cast of the 1957 Broadway cast – because we love Shirley Jones, but there's only one Marian the Librarian.

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera

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Papa, can you hear me?

It's the last episode of our Season of Babs, and we're going out strong! That's right: today we look at Barbra Streisand's magnum opus, the 1982 film Yentl – which she both directed and starred in.

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We talk about:

• Prayer & Texts:  What it means to study sacred texts, and the critical differences between traditionally-Christian and traditionally-Jewish ways of understanding scripture.

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You’ll hear Barbra singing “Where Is It Written,” “No Wonder,” “Several Sins A Day” (cut from the final film) and “A Piece of Sky”.

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Never miss an episode! Sign up for our email list to get updates when new episodes are released, info about upcoming special events, and more.

________________________________

Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera

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Continue the conversation with us on Instagram (@gospelofmt).

Is it a musical? Is it a $6MM home movie? A contemporary Purim spiel? This is a weird movie, you guys.

The evergreen story of A Star Is Born has attracted legendary performers like Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and Lady Gaga. Today, Peter and Nathan focus on the 1976 film version with Barbra and Kris Kristofferson in the context of Gaga and Garland. 

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We talk about:

• The Backstory:  Dorothy Parker, Moss Hart, David O. Selznick, Joan Didion, and all the geniuses who should have made a better movie.

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You’ll hear:

• Kris Kristofferson and Barbra on the 1976 film soundtrack singing "Watch Closely Now," "The Woman in the Moon," and (of course) the 1976-Oscar-Winning classic, "Evergreen."

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Never miss an episode! Sign up for our email list to get updates when new episodes are released, info about upcoming special events, and more.

________________________________

Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera

________________________________

Continue the conversation with us on Instagram (@gospelofmt).