The Unauthorized Critics Circle

By The Unauthorized Critics CircleArts Performing Arts

The Unauthorized Critics Circle episodes

December 19, 2024 THE SERIES FINALE: GYPSY-MANIA - Audra McDonald (Broadway, 2024)
For every podcast, there comes a time to wrap it up.
Untimely demise, you say?
Conclusions happen in their own time.
Keeping with our raison d'etre, we saw the 2024 production of Audra Gypsy.

Now we humbly offer our thoughts and takes one final time.
In this episode we discuss motherhood, passerelles, and key changes.
Come listen as we head out to the great white way in the sky.
Open your minds.
Listen with hope.
Enjoy
!
1 hr 19 min
July 07, 2023 87: Falsettos (Broadway Revival, 2017) Pro-Shot
Homosexuals... women with children... short insomniacs... and a teeny tiny band. No, that's not the description of my recent sex life – The Unauthorized Critics Circle is covering Falsettos! Tune in to this week's episode as we cover James Lapine's hugely popular revival of the work he himself directed a quarter century earlier, and listen to our anecdotes of Joshua's bar mitzvah, Daniel's deepest crushes, and the Lapine idea that Stephanie J. Block outright refused.

Tune in next time when we discuss Sweet Charity; specifically, the National Tour's performance from October 21st 1987!

Contact us:
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Twitter: @unccpodcast
Instagram: @unccpodcast
1 hr 22 min
June 23, 2023 86: Hello, Dolly! (Fourth Broadway Revival, June 28, 2017)
How it’s taken us this long to get to this we’ll never know. Joshua and Dan have FINALLY donned their Sunday clothes (Dan naturally in full headdress) to talk about none other than Donna Murphy in the most recent Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!
Tune in next time when we discuss Falsettos; specifically, the pro-shot recording of the Broadway revival from January 2017!
Contact us:
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Twitter: @unccpodcast
Instagram: @unccpodcast
1 hr 35 min
May 04, 2023 85: Critics LIVE! New York, New York (Broadway 2023)
Coming live from the Big Apple, hosts Joshua and Dan....
you know how some days are hard and you don't always think you can come up with terrific pithy descriptions? today is one of those days. we discuss the new Broadway musical New York, New York. John Kander wrote it. the man is a level above National Treasure and attention must be paid, if one has to quote Arthur Miller. Fred Ebb, as ever, is present. Lin Manuel Miranda contributed too. production by Susan Stroman. i think the episode is funny. it's also elegiac and celebratory and somber and excited. it's a series of contradictions, which in a way is exactly what musical theatre is. it's worth giving a listen, i think it might be one of our better eps.

Tune in to next week's episode when we discuss Hello, Dolly!; specifically, the Broadway revival performance from June 28th, 2017!

Contact us:
[email protected]
Twitter: @unccpodcast
Instagram: @unccpodcast
1 hr 39 min
May 04, 2023 84: Ragtime (Broadway, December 26th 1997)
Toot toot! Hop on the rag ship with Joshua and Daniel and make your way over to the five-star resort of Ellis Island, as we all explore the magical world of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s Ragtime together! Basking in the beautiful glow and optimism of turn-of-the-century America, our hosts relish in the warmth and social harmony of this world as they touch upon the idea of a musical theatre epic, the infinite failings of Livent, and Joshua’s unabashed Toronto theatre bullshit.
Tune in to the next episode when we discuss the premiere of New York, New York on Broadway as part of our Critics LIVE! series.
Contact us:
[email protected]
Twitter: @unccpodcast
Instagram: @unccpodcast
1 hr 31 min
April 13, 2023 83: Show Boat (San Francisco, June 2014)
Asserting their relevance like never before, Dan and Joshua are FINALLY getting to the hottest ticket in modern musical theatre - the 1928 Kern and Hammerstein musical Show Boat! Now that the embargo has finally dropped, our hosts are free to talk about this groundbreaking new work in a production recorded at the San Francisco Opera. Even if you haven't had the chance to check it out yet (we'll give you some more time), you should join our discussion on such topics as man of the year Garth Drabinsky, the moment musical theatre became serious, and Dan's business plan for a musical theatre opera house.

Tune in to next week's episode when we discuss Ragtime; specifically, the Broadway production's performance from December 29th, 1997.

Contact us:
[email protected]
Twitter: @unccpodcast
Instagram: @unccpodcast
1 hr 15 min
March 26, 2023 82: Critics LIVE! Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Broadway Revival, 2023)
Hosts Josh and Dan offer their appraisal on the current running Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd. Will Josh Groban raise the material up, or will this be another chapter in the history of wrong guys? Did the production cut the song Johanna as Anthony is literally Waving Through a Window during the number and the latter better plays to Jordan Fisher's strengths? What really is the Stranger Things kid's name? Did the Kail salad keep everyone in line and the trains running smoothly on time? All this and more will be revealed on our review of Sweeney Todd at the Lunt Fontanne.

Contact us:
[email protected]
Twitter: @unccpodcast
Instagram: @unccpodcast
1 hr 23 min
March 02, 2023 81: Critics LIVE! - Merrily We Roll Along (Off-Broadway Revival, 2022)
Would you believe it - New York Theatre Workshop has room for a cast of twenty-three, ten musicians, Jonathan Groff's perfectly spherical ass, and our two co-hosts! No wonder it felt so cramped. Daniel and Joshua break the cardinal rule of at least two Stephen Sondheim musicals (never look back!) and reflect upon the Broadway-bound production of Merrily We Roll Along. With a production that's British but still worth seeing, in this episode our hosts give you the revelations of this production, some theories related to its initial demise, a very brief Harry Styles joke, and possibly the funniest opening gag they've done so far.

Tune in next time when we talk about Show Boat; specifically, the 2014 pro-shot recording from the San Francisco Opera.

Contact us:
[email protected]
Twitter: @unccpodcast
Instagram: @unccpodcast
1 hr 18 min
February 16, 2023 80: Critics LIVE! Critics Cavalcade: Fall 2022 - Plays
In this episode hosts Joshua and Dan cover the Plays from the Fall season on Broadway in 2022. Topics include: Arthur Miller aging, Audra McDonald's virtuosity, and which Dog was really on Top.
PLUS: A report from the front (Toronto) regarding whether the upcoming Room is a musical or a play.

Tune in to next week's episode when the Cavalcade continues and we cover Merrily We Roll Along from the New York Theatre Workshop.

Contact us:
[email protected]
Twitter: @unccpodcast
Instagram: @unccpodcast
1 hr 6 min
February 02, 2023 79: Critics LIVE! Critics Cavalcade: Fall 2022 - Musicals
In this episode hosts Joshua and Dan cover the Fall 2022 Broadway Musicals and impart their usual pointed and specious thoughts.

Shows covered include:
& Juliet
KPOP
Almost Famous
Kimberly Akimbo
Into the Woods
1776
Some Like It Hot

Tune in to next week's episode when the Cavalcade continues and we cover the Fall 2022 Plays on Broadway

Contact us:
[email protected]
Twitter: @unccpodcast
Instagram: @unccpodcast
1 hr 29 min

About The Unauthorized Critics Circle

From the publisher's feed

The Unauthorized Critics Circle is a podcast about theatre, opinions, and "slime tutorials". Daniel and Joshua experience theatre history leaving no stone unturned as they offer opinions, make excellent snap judgements, and celebrate all that is excellent in show biz. Join them for a deeply unauthorized discussion of shows our hosts were definitely in the audience for.